2000 Italian F1 Grand Prix - Race report

2000 Italian Formula One Grand Prix
10th September, 2000. Monza, Italy. Round 14.
Sunny, temperature 25 Celsius. 53 laps, 305.548 kms distance.

1/ Michael Schumacher (Ferrari);
2/ Mika Hakkinen (McLaren); 3/ Ralf Schumacher (Williams);
4/ Verstappen (Arrows); 5/ Wurz (Benetton); 6/ Zonta (BAR)
View 1999 Italian grand prix race report here

Wow! Even more stunning than Michael Schumacher's win, was his reaction in the press conference afterwards - the Mr Cool of F1 broke down when he was reminded that this victory, his 41st, equalled Ayrton Senna's total. It obviously means a lot to this man to be compared to Ayrton.

Not taking anything away from Michael - he lead from go to whoa in a superb calculated drive at the Ferrari traditional home circuit - Monza.

The first corner produced it's usual incident, with Irvine going off and retiring. The third corner accident was much worse however - the two Jordans of Trulli and Frentzen came together with Barrichello, who then crashed into Coulthard - retiring them all. De La Rosa piled into the wreckage in front of him - cartwheeling over and into the cars in front. Luckily no-one was injured, although De La Rosa was trapped for a while in his car. The Doctor treated a marshal on the side of the track and he was taken away by ambulance.

This accident effectively ends the championship race for David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello.

The Safety Car was out for 11 laps following this accident. Just before the restart, 6th placed Jensen Button had too much pedal on and was caught out when Schumacher slowed the pack. Button came off into the wall and retired - showing his youthful exuberance and inexperience.

Ricardo Zonta showed early form, overtaking his way up to 3rd position by lap 19, before pitting and settling into 6th place. Villeneuve had a good race, in third position after the 3rd corner prang, until he retired on lap 14 when his engine stopped. Fisichella was running a consistent 4th place until a pit stop, where he lost the clutch on the pit jack, dropping him way down the field and out of the placings.

The gap in the Driver's Championship narrows to 2 points - Hakkinen leading with 80 points over M.Schumacher's 78. McLaren lead the Constructor Championship with 131 points over Ferrari's 127 points.

Looks like it will come down to the final race to decide the championship!
Next Grand Prix - Indianapolis

	2000 Italian Formula One Grand Prix
Lap	Race Report
Start	Barrichello (2nd on grid) has a bad start, dropping to 5th.
1st Corner	Herbert goes off and retires.
3rd Corner	Bad accident!! The two Jordans of Frenzten and Trulli come together with Barrichello, who then takes out Coulthard. De La Rosa piles into the accident behind them, flying through the air, crashing on top of cars in front of him. De La Rosa is trapped in his upturned car. Safety Car out!! The Doctor gives CPR to a Marshall on the side of the track.
Lap 1	1/ M.Schumacher; 2/ M.Hakkinen; 3/ Villeneuve; 4/ R.Schumacher; 5/ Fisichella; 6/ Button; 7/ Wurz; 8/ Verstappen; 9/ Gene; 10/ Heidfeld; 11/ Mazzacane; 12/ Diniz; 13/ Zonta; 14/ Salo; 15/ Alesi.
Lap 8	Salo pits with a long stop.
Lap 9	Ambulance removes stricken marshall - race still under Saftey Car.
Lap 11	Jensen Button, goes off and contacts the wall - Schumacher had slowed the field down, catching the young Wiwlliams driver unprepared. Button retires.
Lap 11	Saftey Car in - race restarts.
Lap 12	1/ M.Schumacher; 2/ Hakkinen; 3/ Villeneuve; 4/ R.Schumacher; 5/ Fisichella; 6/ Wurz.
Lap 12	Verstappen overtakes Wurz for 6th place Zonta overtakes Heidfeld for 10th place.
Lap 14	Zonta overtakes Wurz for 7th place.
Lap 14	1/ M.Schumacher; 2/ Hakkinen; 3/ Villeneuve; 4/ R.Schumacher; 5/ Verstappen; 6/ Fisichella ...
Lap 15	1/ M.Schumacher; (3.011 seconds) 2/ Hakkinen Heidfeld spins and retires
Lap 16	Zonta overtakes R.Schumacher for 4th place.
Lap 19	Zonta overtakes Verstappen for 3rd place - nice duel, but the Honda powered BAR is too strong.
Lap 21	M.Schumacher 1:26.623 Fastest Lap on this new circuit - chicane has been added.
Lap 22	M.Schumacher 1:26.428 Fastest Lap Zonta pits 7.2 seconds
Lap 23	Zonta overtakes and laps Alesi
Lap 26	1/ M.Schumacher; 2/ Hakkinen; 3/ Verstappen; 4/ R.Schumacher; 5/ Fisichella; 6/ Salo; 7/ Wurz; 8/ Gene; 9/ Mazzacane ...
Lap 28	Salo pits 11.4 seconds Mazzacane pits 11.8 seconds
Lap 29	1/ M.Schumacher; 2/ Hakkinen; 3/ Verstappen; 4/ R.Schumacher; 5/ Fisichella; 6/ Salo; 7/ Zonta; 8/ Gene; 9/ Diniz; 10/ Salo; 11/ Mazzacane; 12/ Alesi
Lap 30	M.Schumacher 1:26.008 Fastest Lap
Lap 31	Alesi pits 8.5 seconds
Lap 33	Verstappen pits 9.8 seconds
Lap 34	Gene pits 8.4 seconds
Lap 35	1/ M.Schumacher; (9.5 seconds) 2/ Hakkinen; 3/ R.Schumacher; 4/ Fisichella; 5/ Salo; 6/ Zonta; 7/ Verstappen; 8/ Diniz; 9/ Salo; 10/ Gene; 11/ Mazzacane; 12/ Alesi
Lap 36	M.Schumacher Fastest Lap 1:25.663
Lap 37	Zonta pits 7.0 seconds
Lap 38	Diniz pits 11.5 seconds
Lap 39	Race leader M.Schumacher pits 7.2 seconds, rejoins in 2nd position behind Hakkinen
Lap 42	Race leader Mika Hakkinen pits 6.6 seconds, rejoins behind Schumacher
Lap 43	1/ M.Schumacher; 2/ Hakkinen; 3/ R.Schumacher; 4/ Fisichella; 5/ Wurz; 7/ Verstappen ... Wurz pits 6.1 seconds
Lap 44	R.Schumacher pits 6.4 seconds
Lap 45	Fisichella pits 1:07 (& more) - lost clutch whilst on car jack.
Lap 46	1/ M.Schumacher; 2/ Hakkinen; 3/ R.Schumacher; 4/ Verstappen; 5/ Wurz; 6/ Zonta; 7/ Salo; 8/ Diniz; 9/ Gene; 10/ Mazzacane; 11/ Fisichella; 12/ Alesi.
Lap 50	Hakkinen Fastest Lap 1:25.595 (Michael taking it easy)
Lap 52	1/ M.Schumacher (5.9 seconds) 2/ Hakkinen
Lap 53 RACE END	1/ M.Schumacher (Ferrari); 2/ Hakkinen (McLaren); 3/ R.Schumacher(Williams); 4/ Verstappen (Arrows); 5/ Wurz (Benetton); 6/ Zonta (BAR); 7/ Salo; 8/ Diniz; 9/ Gene; 10/ Mazzacane; 11/ Fisichella; 12/ Alesi.

Italian Grand Prix Qualifying Session 9th September, 2000
Position	Driver	Team	Time	Comment
1/ - POLE 1st row	M.Schumacher	Ferrari	1:23.777
2/ 1st row	Barrichello	Ferrari
3/ 2nd row	Hakkinen	McLaren
4/ 2nd row	Villeneuve	BAR
5/ 3rd row	Coulthard	McLaren
6/ 3rd row	Trulli	Jordan
7/ 4th row	R.Schumacher	Williams
8/ 4th row	Frentzen	Jordan
Sorry - not accurate from here on down - will be updating this later today
9/ 5th row	Irvine	Benetton
10/ 5th row	Button	Williams
11/ 6th row	Verstappen	Arrows
12/ 6th row	Salo	Sauber
13/ 7th row	Fisichella	Jaguar
14/ 7th row	Herbert	Jaguar
15/ 8th row	Diniz	Sauber
16/ 8th row	Zonta	BAR
17/ 9th row	Alesi	Prost
18/ 9th row	Wurz	Benetton
19/ 10th row	Heidfeld	Prost
20/ 10th row	Gene	Minardi
21/ 11th row	Mazzacane	Minardi
22/ 11th row	De La Rosa	Arrows