| Course_mi = 3.641
| Distance_laps = 53
| Distance_km = 310.596
| Pole_Driver = Michael Schumacher
| Pole_Team = Ferrari
| Pole_Time = 1:35.825
| Fast_Driver = Mika Häkkinen
| Fast_Team = McLaren-Mercedes
| Fast_Time = 1:39.189
| Fast_Lap = 26
| First_Driver = Michael Schumacher
| First_Team = Ferrari
| Second_Driver = Mika Häkkinen
| Second_Team = McLaren-Mercedes
| Third_Driver = David Coulthard
| Third_Team = McLaren-Mercedes
| Lapchart = The event was contested by eleven teams (each representing a different constructor) comprising two drivers, with no changes from the season entry list. Sole tyre supplier Bridgestone sent the Medium dry compound as opposed to two dry compounds as it had one all-season, as well as the intermediate and full wet-weather compounds, to the event. The circuit was altered slightly in preparation for the race. To increase safety, the pit lane entry was moved from the end of the 130R's left-hand corner to the exit of the Casio chicane.
Ferrari's Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 88 championship points before the race, followed by McLaren teammates Mika Häkkinen on 80 and David Coulthard on 63. Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello was fourth with 55 championship points with Williams' Ralf Schumacher fifth with 24 championship points. The remaining two races had a maximum of 20 championship points available, therefore Häkkinen could still win the championship. Michael Schumacher had to win the race regardless of where Häkkinen finished because he would be more than ten championship points ahead of him with one race remaining. Otherwise, Häkkinen could win the Championship by outscoring Schumacher in the final race of the season in Malaysia. Michael Schumacher would win the Championship on win count-back if there was a championship points tie. Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship with 143 championship points, followed by McLaren and Williams with 133 and 34 championship points, respectively. Jordan were fifth with 17 championship points behind Benetton in fourth with 20. With two races left in the season and an eight-point disadvantage after losing the Drivers' Championship lead and 20 championship points available for the final two races, He approached the event similarly to the others. emphasised the pressure of leading the championship entering Japan: "It hasn't been a relaxing time at all and I still haven't completely got over the jetlag from the States. But I'm prepared to sacrifice this and a lot more to bring the title back to Maranello. And the same can be said of the entire team." Ferrari team principal Jean Todt and former World Champion Jody Scheckter urged Barrichello and Coulthard to race fairly after their teams ordered both drivers to support their teammates in the Championship battle.
Following the United States Grand Prix on September 24, the teams tested at five racing circuits between 26 and 29 September in preparation for the race. McLaren test driver Olivier Panis tested at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours to prepare for Suzuka and work on the 2001 car. Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer spent two days at the Fiorano Circuit evaluating mechanical components and Bridgestone's wet weather tyre compounds on an artificially wet track while Michael Schumacher was at the Mugello Circuit working on car setup on the F1-2000 car. Formula Renault champion Enrique Bernoldi and Kimi Räikkönen setup the Sauber C19 car's aerodynamic package, mechanical settings and weight distribution for the Suzuka circuit at Mugello. Stéphane Sarrazin, Prost's test driver, collected chassis design data for the future AP04 chassis at Magny-Cours. Benetton did not test but its test driver Mark Webber tried developments at the Circuit de Catalunya that were incorporated into their 2001 car.
At the Friday afternoon drivers meeting, Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Race Director Charlie Whiting announced that any potential blocking manoeuvres that interfered with the World Championship battle would result in a driver being shown a waved black and white flag to indicate unsportsmanlike conduct, followed by a black flag to signal disqualification from the race. Any driver found to have violated the new rule might also have faced a three-race ban. This came after Sauber's Norberto Fontana impeded Michael Schumacher's title rival Jacques Villeneuve at the 1997 European Grand Prix. He was particularly dissatisfied with the appointment of Italian lawyer Roberto Causo (who represented Ferrari at the 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix) as a race steward, believing that any ruling would favour Ferrari. Honda introduced a more powerful version of its V10 engine for Saturday's qualifying and the race. Sauber brought lighter components to lighten their vehicles, while Williams supplied a revised back wing.
Practice
Two one-hour sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday preceded Sunday's race. The Friday morning and afternoon sessions were held in dry, warm weather. Because teams were not permitted to test at Suzuka, several drivers entered the circuit for car checks. Michael Schumacher was the fastest in the first practice session, lapping at 1:38.474 with two minutes remaining, ahead of Häkkinen and Coulthard in second and third. When fourth-placed Barrichello spun at the hairpin between turns ten and eleven and crashed into the perimeter fencing, the session was yellow flagged. Ralf Schumacher was fifth fastest, with Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella sixth. Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jarno Trulli were seventh and ninth, separated by Jaguar's Eddie Irvine. British American Racing's (BAR) Villeneuve was tenth despite a spin off the circuit at Degner Curve, causing grass to penetrate his radiators.
thumb|right|upright|[[Jacques Villeneuve (pictured in 2010) spun a total of four times during all four free practice sessions.]]
In the second practice session, Michael Schumacher set the day's fastest lap, a 1:37.728, six-tenths of a second faster than Häkkinen. On his final run, Barrichello struggled to select first gear, but he improved his lap to third fastest. Coulthard, Button, Frentzen, Trulli, Arrows' Pedro de la Rosa, Villeneuve and BAR's Ricardo Zonta were in positions four through ten. Villeneuve had his second spin of the day, He hit the barrier with his car's right-front wheel.
Saturday morning's practice sessions were held in dry and warm weather. Michael Schumacher had the quickest time in the third practise, a 1:37.176, which was faster than his best time on Friday. Ralf Schumacher was second and Button was fourth. Barrichello, Irvine, Jaguar's Johnny Herbert and De la Rosa completed the top ten. Ten minutes into practice, the engine in Pedro Diniz's Sauber car failed; smoke and fire billowed from the rear of his car, and a large amount of oil was laid on the track. He returned to the pit lane rather than stop at the side of the track.
With 15 minutes remaining in the last practice session, Häkkinen lapped fastest at 1:37.037, one-tenth of a second faster than Michael Schumacher. Button, third, was happy with his car's performance. Despite another spin into the gravel traps, Barrichello maintained his consistent performance and was fourth-fastest. Coulthard was sixth, two-tenths of a second quicker than Fisichella, who finished seventh. Irvine, Benetton's Alexander Wurz and Villeneuve completed the top ten. Michael Schumacher secured his eighth pole position of the season, the 31st of his Formula One career, with a lap of 1:35.825 set with three minutes remaining after Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn sent him into a gap in traffic. Häkkinen, who was nine thousandths of a second slower than Schumacher and battled him for grid position throughout qualifying, joined him on the front row after being slow exiting the final turn, losing him time. Häkkinen's teammate Coulthard qualified third, closing in on the session's quickest two qualifiers. Button's first two timed laps were hampered by Häkkinen and Trulli, and he lapped fastest on his third try. Irvine, seventh, was slow into certain turns and had braking issues.
Villeneuve, ninth, had excess oversteer and failed to lap faster due to car alterations. Herbert, tenth, felt he could have qualified on the fourth row with a setup adjustment. Nick Heidfeld qualified 16th, ahead of Prost teammate Jean Alesi.
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Warm-up
The drivers took to the track at 10:00 Japan Standard Time (UTC +9) for a 30-minute warm-up session. This rendered the circuit damp, but it dried fast, and teams switched from wet to dry compound tyres. As competitors practised their starts, teams fine-tuned their cars' handling while running high fuel loads. Mazzacane lost control of his car in the final curve of the esses behind the pit lane with ten minutes left in warm-up, sustaining heavy car damage against the barrier.
Race
thumb|right|upright|[[Mika Häkkinen (pictured in 2009) finished second and conceded the Drivers' Championship to Michael Schumacher.]]
The 53-lap race ran over before approximately 151,000 people from 14:30 local time. The weather was dry and overcast for the race; He held off Schumacher's attempts to maintain the lead by veering right towards the McLaren car in an attempt to block his path into the first corner. Verstappen advanced from 14th to ninth at the end of the first lap, Häkkinen set the race's fastest lap on lap two and began to maintain the gap on Michael Schumacher as both drivers drew away from the rest of the field. Diniz took his first pit stop on lap 13, starting the first round of pit stops. At the front, Häkkinen extended his lead over Michael Schumacher to two seconds, who was ten seconds ahead of Coulthard in third. Häkkinen's team requested that he make a pit stop earlier than planned on lap 22. He fell behind Häkkinen since his pit stop was slightly longer. Ralf Schumacher became the race's sixth retirement when he lost control of his car's rear mounting a kerb and spun into the gravel trap while attempting to lap Gené at turn two on lap 42. Fisichella was forced onto the gravel to avoid contact. in a time of 1'29:53.435, at an average speed of . Michael Schumacher won the 2000 Drivers' Championship as Häkkinen could not catch his championship points total in the one remaining race. He also became Ferrari's first World Drivers' Champion since Jody Scheckter in . He also added that his team made adjustments during the first stop, which contributed to his fast pace. Häkkinen congratulated Michael Schumacher on winning the Drivers' Championship and said that, while he was naturally disappointed, "to be a good winner, sometimes you have to be a good loser." Across Italy, events were held to celebrate Michael Schumacher's championship victory. Candido Cannavò, director of the Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport described the moment as: "On the dawn of a luminous autumn Sunday Ferrari reconciled itself with history." He also thanked the Ferrari team, their worldwide fan base, Ferrari's majority owner FIAT, and the team's sponsors and suppliers for their continued support. Scheckter praised both Ferrari and Michael Schumacher, but expressed disappointment at losing his status as Ferrari's last World Champion. Todt said Ferrari would not be fully satisfied until they had won the World Constructors' Championship: "We need three points for the constructors' title and we won't let go. But let's not worry about the future right now. Let's enjoy the present for at least five minutes." However, former Italian President Francesco Cossiga criticised Michael Schumacher's behaviour during the Italian National Anthem, where the German traditionally imitated a conductor when it was played. Michael Schumacher apologised if his behaviour was seen as disrespectful and that he respected the national anthem.
Off track, the argument over the new race rules and the inclusion of lawyer Roberto Causo as a race steward was renewed. FIA president Max Mosley published a letter to Ron Dennis dated 19 October accusing him of tarnishing Formula One with his recent statements on the issues. Mosley also backed Whiting's proposal for the use flags to eliminate unsportsmanlike racing. Dennis apologised for his statements, saying he did not mean to bring Formula One into disrepute or to disrespect Causo. "It certainly has not ever been my intention to damage a sport to which I have devoted most of my working life." he said.
As a result of the race, Michael Schumacher won the World Drivers' Championship with a 12-point lead over Häkkinen, who was confirmed as the Championship runner-up. Coulthard maintained third with 67 championship points, nine ahead of Barrichello and 43 ahead of Ralf Schumacher.
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Championship standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%;"
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" | Driver
! scope="col" | Points
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| align="center" | 1
| Michael Schumacher*
| 98
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| align="center" | 2
| Mika Häkkinen
| 86
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| align="center" | 3
| David Coulthard
| 67
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| align="center" | 4
| Rubens Barrichello
| 58
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| align="center" | 5
| Ralf Schumacher
| 24
|-
!colspan=4|Sources:
|}
;Constructors' Championship standings
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%;"
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" | Constructor
! scope="col" | Points
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| align="center" | 1
| Ferrari*
| 156
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| align="center" | 2
| McLaren-Mercedes
| 143 <!-- Please do not change this to 153: McLaren were penalised 10 points at the Austrian GP, so McLaren's points total is not equal to Häkkinen's points plus Coulthard's points -->
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| align="center" | 3
| Williams-BMW
| 36
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| align="center" | 4
| Benetton-Playlife
| 20
|-
|align="left"| 10px 1
| align="center" | 5
| BAR-Honda
| 18
|-
!colspan=4|Sources: