2001 San Marino Grand Prix

Championship standings

Schumacher leads with 26 points, six ahead of Coulthard. Barrichello is third on 10, Heidfeld fourth on 7, and Frentzen fifth on 6.

Previous race

At Interlagos, Coulthard won after Montoya’s stunning debut move — passing Schumacher from the inside before the safety car came out — ended when Jos Verstappen hit him from behind while being lapped. Rain changed the race: Ferrari led with intermediates as rivals took full wets, but Coulthard passed Schumacher on lap 16 in a move reminiscent of Häkkinen’s famous overtake at Spa in 2000. Schumacher’s six-race winning run was ended.

Between-race developments

Testing at Silverstone, Magny-Cours, Jerez and Fiorano from 4 to 7 April saw most teams run. Ferrari debuted a more powerful Type 050 V10 engine and worked on traction control systems in an F1-2000 chassis in preparation for the Spanish Grand Prix, where the systems become legal. McLaren worked on chassis handling. Coulthard’s win moved him to within six points of Schumacher; he said “there is no reason why I cannot win here again.”

Regulation note

This is the final race before the legal reintroduction of traction control, launch control and fully automatic gearboxes at the following Spanish Grand Prix.

Practice

Wet and damp conditions dominated all four sessions. Barrichello was fastest in FP1, with three drivers losing control on a wet turn 17. Coulthard went off and was beached in the Acque Minerali gravel trap in FP2 with a gearbox issue — McLaren worked overnight to repair his car. Montoya suffered an engine problem early in FP2. The third session on Saturday was wet after overnight rain, with times around 11 seconds off 2000 pole pace. Schumacher led FP3, with Coulthard close behind; Burti lost control at Tosa and heavily damaged his front suspension on the tyre barrier, missing the final session while his mechanics repaired the car.