The 2001 British Grand Prix (formally the 2001 Foster's British Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 15 July 2001 at the Silverstone Circuit, England, United Kingdom. It was the 11th of 17 rounds in the 2001 Formula One World Championship and was the 52nd time that the British Grand Prix had been included in the championship since 1950. McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen won the 60-lap race after starting second. The Ferrari duo of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello finished in second and third, respectively.
Heading into the Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship from McLaren's David Coulthard while Ferrari led McLaren in the World Constructors' Championship. Schumacher secured pole position after setting the fastest lap time in the one-hour qualifying session, with Häkkinen starting second. He led the first four laps before running wide at Copse corner, allowing Häkkinen to take the race lead. Häkkinen led throughout the majority of the race, except for the first round of pit stops, when he lost it to Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya for three laps, and won his first race since the 2000 Belgian Grand Prix as well as his 19th overall. Schumacher finished 33.6 seconds behind in second.
The Grand Prix result increased Schumacher's World Drivers' Championship lead to 37 championship points over Coulthard, who retired on lap three due to a suspension failure caused by a first-lap collision with Jordan's Jarno Trulli. Ferrari maintained a 56-point lead over McLaren in the World Constructors' Championship, while Williams remained third with six races left in the season.
Background
The 2001 British Grand Prix was the 11th of 17 Formula One races in the 2001 Formula One World Championship, held on 15 July 2001, at the Silverstone Circuit in England, United Kingdom. It was the 52nd British Grand Prix in the Formula One World Championship, which began in . Before the race, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 78 championship points, ahead of McLaren's David Coulthard on 47 championship points in second and Williams's Ralf Schumacher (30). Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello was fourth with 30 championship points and Williams's Juan Pablo Montoya was fifth on 12 championship points. Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship with 108 championship points, 52 ahead of the second-placed McLaren. Williams were third with 43 championship points. Sauber were fourth with 16 championship points, one championship point ahead of Jordan in fifth.
After heavy rain affected the previous year's British Grand Prix, necessitating the closure of Silverstone's car parks, forcing spectators to walk long distances to attend the event, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; Formula One's regulatory body) awarded the Motor Sports Association, the Grand Prix organisers, a reprieve after pledging to remedy the flaws, and the next British Grand Prix was tentatively scheduled for 13 May 2001. Although FIA president Max Mosley threatened to cancel the race due to Silverstone's poor facilities, a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Seville, Spain on 4 October 2000 saw it awarded a July date after the British Racing Drivers' Club, Silverstone's proprietors, were assessed to have improved the track; the organisers agreed to move the race from July to May to accommodate the British Grand Prix, following a request by Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone.
After the on 1 July, teams evaluated car components, settings, electronics and tyres at various European racing tracks from 3 to 6 July in preparation for the British Grand Prix. The Jordan, McLaren, Sauber, British American Racing (BAR) and Jaguar teams tested for four days at Italy's Monza Circuit. Jaguar's Eddie Irvine withdrew early from testing due to a reoccurring pain in the upper part of his cervical spine he had been suffering since June and was replaced by British Formula Three driver André Lotterer from the afternoon of the second day. The Benetton and Williams teams tested for four days at Spain's Circuit de Barcelona. Ferrari went to Italy's Mugello Circuit before heading to their private testing facility, the Fiorano Circuit, for three days, joined later on by BAR and Minardi. Luca Badoer spent two days at Fiorano testing the F2001's electronic launch control system and practice standing starts for the Silverstone race. Arrows held three days of straight-line aerodynamic car configuration tests with former Indy Lights driver Jonny Kane at Italy's Vairano circuit, while Williams did the same for three days at France's Lurcy-Lévis track.
Michael Schumacher, the bookmakers' pre-race favourite for the win, had the chance to tie Alain Prost's all-time record of 51 career victories at Silverstone. He stated that he was not prioritising statistics, but rather taking a race-by-race approach to achieving the "maximum possible" for both championships. Coulthard had won the British Grand Prix twice in succession in 1999 and 2000 and said he wanted to become the first driver to win the race three years running since Jim Clark in 1964. He added "I really need to win the British GP this year" because it would return him to championship contention and prevent Michael Schumacher from attaining an unassailable points advantage after securing one podium result in the previous four races.
Eleven two-driver teams competed, each representing a different constructor, with no changes to the entry list from the previous race. Lotterer was on standby to replace the injured Irvine for the Grand Prix, but the latter entered the event. Some teams modified their cars for the race. Ferrari reused a qualifying-spec engine and modified the F2001's lower front wing endplates slightly. McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen drove a qualifying-specification car for the race that had no end side chimneys to maximise the MP4-16 car's drag co-efficiency. Benetton had launch control for the first time. Jaguar added a revised floor and new bargeboards, while McLaren made minor aerodynamic changes, including new front brake ducts. Sauber had brought new brake ducts and revised their bargeboards. Williams also introduced redesigned bargeboards for the event and increased cooling by reducing the engine cover's rear edge above the rear suspension. Prost switched to an older undertray for Jean Alesi's car, which he preferred over the new version débuted for the race. BAR unveiled Honda-built rear suspensions with carbon fibre pushrods, while Jordan debuted a new rear wing. Arrows debuted new brake ducts with the middle part moved forwards to improve the A22 car's cooling. Minardi introduced no new components to their car because it was focused on building a new titanium gearbox.
Practice The race was preceded by four practice sessions, two one-hour sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday. The first session, held on Friday morning, was dry and cloudy. Michael Schumacher lapped fastest at 1:23.619 after 46 minutes, 0.786 seconds faster than teammate Barrichello in second. Häkkinen, Coulthard. Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Irvine, the BAR duo Olivier Panis and Jacques Villeneuve, Frentzen's teammate Jarno Trulli and Kimi Räikkönen (Sauber) were in positions three to ten. Räikkönen spun at Abbey corner but continued. Montoya spun into Vale corner after pushing hard with ten minutes left but continued. His Williams teammate Ralf Schumacher lost the rear of his car at the Bridge turn but was able to continue. Pedro de la Rosa stopped his Jaguar in the centre of the track with a fuel supply issue and set no lap times in the session.
The second session began sunny and windy, but heavy clouds formed low around Silverstone, and rain fell in the final ten minutes, creating a slippery track surface that slowed drivers. Häkkinen set the day's fastest lap of 1:22.827 with 14 minutes left, 0.067 seconds quicker than teammate Coulthard. The Ferrari pair of Barrichello and Michael Schumacher were third and fourth. Frentzen's car had an oil leak at the start of the session but duplicated his first-session result in fifth. Heidfeld, De la Rosa, Ralf Schumacher, Trulli and Räikkönen completed the top ten. Villeneuve lost control of his car's rear at Copse Corner, after the start/finish straight, owing to a front suspension failure, spun 360 degrees and damaged the front wing endplates. Fernando Alonso spun at Copse turn but returned to the pit lane with damage to the rear of his Minardi car. He spun again when he mounted the kerb driving onto the Hangar straight and spun into the grass. Alonso's undertray was damaged, and was unable to continue driving because the sodden grass prevented him from gaining traction.
It rained on the circuit during the third practice session before clearing up later, but it was cold. It took 15 minutes before cars circulated the track, and several drivers lost control of their cars on the sodden track surface; a large amount of spray was lifted from the circuit, reducing visibility. Michael Schumacher led with a lap of 1:31.430, followed by Frentzen, the McLarens of Häkkinen and Coulthard, Barrichello, Heidfeld, Trulli, Ralf Schumacher, Panis and Montoya. After 11 minutes, Villeneuve failed to set a lap owing to a gearbox issue, causing him to halt on the grass near the pit lane exit. Irvine had to drive slowly to the pit lane with a hydraulic throttle failure on his R2 car.
More rain fell between the third and fourth practice sessions, preventing most drivers from improving their lap times, which were more than four seconds slower than the previous session, and causing several to slide off the circuit. The rain later eased off slightly and the circuit dried slowly with standing water becoming less prevalent. Michael Schumacher remained fastest, ahead of Frentzen, Häkkinen, Coulthard, Barrichello, Heidfeld, Trulli, Räikkönen (who avoided hitting a hare that had breached circuit perimeters), Panis and Ralf Schumacher in positions two to ten. Tarso Marques was the only driver who did not set a lap time in the session when he lost control of his Minardi car while scrubbing his tyres and spun backwards into the gravel trap at Abbey chicane.
Qualifying