2001 Season

Driver changes

Juan Pablo Montoya joins Williams, replacing Jenson Button, who has been loaned to Benetton on a two-year deal. Montoya won the CART title in his first attempt in 1999 and the Indianapolis 500 in 2000; he has been tied to Williams since 1998. Button’s move makes way for him to replace Alexander Wurz, who fell out of favour with Benetton boss Flavio Briatore and takes a test role at McLaren.

Olivier Panis leaves his test position at McLaren to take a full-time race seat at BAR, replacing Ricardo Zonta. Zonta moves to Jordan as a test driver.

Fernando Alonso steps up from a test role at Minardi to a race seat, replacing Marc Gené, who lost his place due to sponsorship problems. Gené signs as a Williams test driver. Gastón Mazzacane’s other Minardi seat is taken by Tarso Marques, returning after stints with the team in 1996 and 1997.

Mazzacane moves to Prost to replace Nick Heidfeld, who joins Sauber. Kimi Räikkönen — who dominated the British Formula Renault 2.0 series in 2000 — is signed alongside Heidfeld at Sauber after a December test session at Jerez convinced Peter Sauber to offer him a full-time drive. His grant of a super licence passed by a 24-to-1 vote at the FIA World Motor Sport Council. Pedro Diniz does not return as a Sauber driver; he purchases a 40% stake in Prost and takes a management role there.

Johnny Herbert leaves Jaguar — his subsequent Champ Cars deal fell through — and joins Arrows as a test driver. Luciano Burti steps up from Jaguar’s test role to the race seat Herbert vacated. Pedro de la Rosa loses his Arrows race seat to Enrique Bernoldi and signs as a reserve driver with Prost.

Team changes

Renault returns to Formula One for the first time since 1997 as an engine supplier, providing power to the Benetton team. Peugeot withdraws from the sport after seven years; the assets of its Formula One programme are purchased by Asia Motor Technologies France, with the 2000-spec engines rebadged as Asiatechs and supplied to Arrows free of charge.

Michelin returns as a tyre supplier for the first time since 1984, providing rubber to Williams, Benetton, Prost, Jaguar and Minardi. Bridgestone supplies the remaining six teams. The return of a second tyre manufacturer — Goodyear was the last to challenge Bridgestone before leaving after 1998 — immediately raises competition and raises top speeds in testing, with drivers setting lap times below 2000 levels.

Calendar

The 2001 season retains the same seventeen Grands Prix as 2000, running from the Australian Grand Prix on 4 March to the Japanese Grand Prix on 14 October.

Regulation changes

The front wing must be raised 50 mm, positioned at least 100 mm above the reference plane. The upper section of the rear wing is limited to a maximum of three elements, and the lower section to just one. The safety cell and cockpit opening are enlarged to reduce leg injury risk, the roll hoop must withstand four times greater impact force than previously, and the side impact test is now conducted at 10 m/s instead of 7 m/s. Tyre tethers are doubled to two per wheel.

Traction control, launch control, and fully automatic gearboxes — banned since 1994 — will be legalised partway through the season. The FIA agreed with all teams to permit the systems from the Spanish Grand Prix onwards to end persistent suspicions of illegal use and because existing policing methods could not distinguish traction control from torque mapping.

Following a meeting at Heathrow Airport in August 2000, teams agreed that drivers may use three extra tyre sets during Friday practice sessions. From the 2001 season, in-season testing in August is banned; a three-week summer break is implemented during that period.

Pre-season testing

Ferrari exceeded their own target of completing more than 4,000 km in pre-season testing. Michael Schumacher described it as the most thorough preparation of his career, saying the F2001 “has performed brilliantly at Fiorano and Mugello.” The new Michelin tyres arrived with a tread design that brought more surface area into contact with the road, immediately driving lap times below 2000-levels despite the reduction in aerodynamic downforce from the new front wing rules.