2001 Monaco Grand Prix

Championship standings

Schumacher leads with 42 points, four ahead of Coulthard. Barrichello is third on 18, Ralf Schumacher fourth on 12, and Heidfeld fifth on 8.

Previous race

In Austria, the Williams cars out-dragged Schumacher into turn one. After Ralf retired with a brake problem, Schumacher attempted to pass Montoya for second but both went into the gravel, rejoining sixth and seventh. Coulthard jumped Barrichello in the second round of stops and won. Barrichello yielded second to a recovering Schumacher on the final lap.

Milestones

Michael Schumacher has won Monaco three times and is targeting Graham Hill’s record of five Monaco Grand Prix victories.

Entrants

Jordan and Arrows each introduced elevated front wing devices — Jordan’s positioned in front of the driver, Arrows’s mounted on vertical uprights above the wing — in Thursday practice. FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer judged both designs to infringe regulations and both teams were required to remove them, with a warning that their use again risked exclusion.

Launch control concerns at Monaco: Williams technical director Patrick Head and Jordan’s Trulli voiced safety fears over cars stalling on the narrow circuit after four drivers failed to move at the Austrian Grand Prix start due to launch control failures. FIA president Mosley ruled out banning the aid for Monaco but allowed teams to rehearse starts at the end of Thursday’s sessions and the Sunday warm-up. Jordan deactivated launch control and switched to a manual system.

Practice

Thursday’s two sessions were dry and warm. Schumacher led the morning; Häkkinen led the afternoon. Crashes were plentiful: de la Rosa hit a barrier at Portier, Marques spun into a wall at La Rascasse and could not return (spare cars are not permitted until qualifying), and Alonso damaged his rear suspension at La Rascasse. Montoya damaged the rear of his car at La Rascasse with 15 minutes left, stopping the session for four minutes. Ralf Schumacher crashed the front-left of his car at the Swimming Pool complex; two marshals retrieving his front wing narrowly avoided being struck by Bernoldi’s passing car.

Saturday’s practice began after Friday was taken off — Monaco’s unique feature. Ralf Schumacher complained of head and neck pain from his Thursday crash and rested until Saturday but still led FP3. Verstappen’s engine failed at La Rascasse, laying oil and causing a 15-minute stoppage. Burti’s Prost had a mechanical failure and veered into the Sainte-Dévote tyre wall with three minutes left, narrowly missing stationary recovery vehicles. In FP4, Häkkinen was fastest but multiple incidents — Alonso spinning at Loews, Räikkönen and Bernoldi crashing at the Swimming Pool and La Rascasse, Fisichella blocking the circuit — disrupted the session.