NewsOnF1 - 2001 Spanish GP

Michael Schumacher wins his 3rd race of the season in an unusual way after Mika Hakkinen suffers from a hydraulic leak on the final lap of the race while leading. Juan Pablo Montoya was second with Jacques Villeneuve in 3rd place. Jarno Trulli, David Coulthard and Nick Heidfeld make the top 6.

The race started with problems for David Coulthard as he stalled before the formation lap started. He was relegated to the back of the grid.
At the start, Michael Schumacher kept the lead ahead of Mika Hakkinen and Rubens Barrichello. Ralf Schumacher was in 4th with Trulli in 5th and Juan Pablo Montoya made a superb start and moved to 6th from 12th. Heinz Harald Frentzen had a terrible start and looked like he stalled the car. He drops back to 17th place. David Coulthard who started last makes contact with Enrique Bernoldi and damages his front wing. He pits and loses more time. A few laps later, Frentzen tries to overtake de la Rosa, they both touch and retire.

The order remains static with no overtaking on the track apart from Coulthard who is passing much slower cars. Just before the first round of pits stops for the top teams, Ralf Schumacher spins and retires. During the first round of pit stops, Juan Pablo Montoya manages to get ahead of Jarno Trulli and so does Jacques Villeneuve.

Order after first pit stops: Michael Schumacher ahead of Mika Hakkinen and Rubens Barrichello. Montoya, Villeneuve and Trulli make the top 6.

The order remains static until the second round of pit stops. Michael Schumacher pits while Mika Hakkinen stays out for a few more laps. Hakkinen makes up enough time to pit and rejoin in the lead. Rubens Barrichello retires with a suspension problem. David Coulthard has managed to get up to 8th place.

Order after second pit stops: Mika Hakkinen leads Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya, Jacques Villeneuve, Jarno Trulli and Nick Heidfeld make the top 6.

Michael Schumacher doesn't appear to make any effort in catching Hakkinen as the gap starts to grow every lap. It became clear that Schumacher was having some problem and he later described the problem as tyre vibration. Michael was lapping over 3 seconds slower than Hakkinen. He was also being caught by Montoya but there weren't too many laps left for Montoya to catch him. Hakkinen was given the 'easy' sign but it seems that is was a bit too late, on the final lap he lost drive and had to retire. McLaren described the problem as a hydraulic leak.

Although Michael Schumacher was handed the win by Hakkinen's failure, Mika Hakkinen was pushing his car even though Michael Schumacher was much slower behind him. He was given an 'easy' sign by his team but it was too late. Hakkinen should have slowed down as there was no threat whatsoever from Michael. The hydraulic leak that his car suffered might have been prevented had he reduced his pace. Whatever the reason he kept pushing even though Michael behind him was struggling would be anyone's guess. Now his title hopes are even further diminished after what appeared to be a great recovery for the Finn.

So Michael Schumacher now has 36 points and is now 8 points ahead of David Coulthard in the Drivers' Championship while Ferrari extend their lead in the Constructors' Championship to 50 points, 18 points ahead of McLaren.

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