2000 Spanish Grand Prix

Championship standings

Schumacher leads with 34 points. Coulthard is second on 14 after his Silverstone win — the first time McLaren has beaten Ferrari this season. Häkkinen is third on 12.

Previous race

At Silverstone, Coulthard won, ending Schumacher’s run of three consecutive victories. Häkkinen finished second, giving McLaren a 1–2. Coulthard said before the weekend that winning at home would be “just the business,” and his victory left him confident his “best years are still ahead.”

Between-race developments

In the week before the race, Coulthard was a passenger on a Learjet that crash-landed at Lyon-Satolas airport after a ball-bearing failure shut down an engine over France. The two pilots died. Coulthard, his girlfriend, and his trainer survived; he drives this weekend with three cracked right-side ribs and a bruised chest wall. FIA medical delegate Sid Watkins declared him fit to race.

Also during the previous race, Ferrari’s chief mechanic Nigel Stepney suffered a compound fracture of the tibia when Schumacher’s wheel struck him during a pit stop. Stepney is ruled out for this and the next race.

Villeneuve suffered a back injury in Brazil when his seat worked loose during the race. Worsening effects forced him to withdraw from testing in Barcelona. Darren Manning, BAR’s test driver, was on standby. Villeneuve was cleared to start.

Car upgrades

Minardi debuts Formula One’s first titanium-constructed gearbox, 5 kg lighter than magnesium alternatives and providing greater rigidity. BAR installs a new aerodynamic package with revised bargeboards and rear wings.

Weather

Dry and overcast.

Tyre choices

Bridgestone brings soft and medium dry compounds.

Practice

Four sessions are held: two one-hour sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday. Previous rainfall makes the Friday track dirty, limiting clean lap counts. Schumacher leads the first session; de la Rosa beaches his Arrows in the gravel in the second session, and Fisichella spins 360 degrees backwards into the Renault corner gravel then spins again at the next turn.

Coulthard leads FP3 with a 1:21.370, two-tenths clear of Häkkinen — both on new tyres. Schumacher leads the final session at 1:21.088.