The 2001 European Grand Prix (formally the 2001 Warsteiner Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One motor race held on 24 June 2001 at the Nürburgring, Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It was the ninth race of the 2001 Formula One World Championship and the sixth European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. It was also the last race on this layout until the track was modified in 2002. Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher won the 67-lap race from pole position. Williams's Juan Pablo Montoya finished second and McLaren's David Coulthard was third.
Going into the race, Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship by 18 championship points over Coulthard and Ferrari led McLaren in the World Constructors' Championship. Michael Schumacher took pole position after setting the quickest lap in the one-hour qualifying session. He led for most of the race, despite being pushed by his brother Ralf Schumacher, until the Williams driver was penalised for crossing the white line at the pit lane exit following his first pit stop on lap 28. Michael Schumacher finished 4.1 seconds ahead of Montoya for his fifth victory of the season and 49th of his career.
Michael Schumacher's victory increased his World Drivers' Championship lead to 24 championship points over Coulthard and 42 ahead of Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello. With eight races left in the season, Ferrari maintained their World Constructors' Championship lead, 41 championship points ahead of McLaren and 57 ahead of Williams.
Background
The 2001 European Grand Prix was the ninth of seventeen Formula One races in the 2001 Formula One World Championship, held on 24 June 2001, at the clockwise Nürburgring, Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany; It was one of two Grands Prix to be held in Germany preceding the by a month. The Nürburgring's layout was used for the final time; it was made longer beginning in .
Before the event, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 58 championship points; McLaren driver David Coulthard was second on 40 championship points. Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello was third with 24 championship points, with Williams's Ralf Schumacher and Coulthard's teammate Mika Häkkinen on 22 and 8 championship points respectively. Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship on 82 championship points and McLaren were second on 48 championship points, with Williams third on 28 championship points. Sauber were fourth with 15 championship points while Jordan were fifth with 13 championship points. the teams tested car setups, components and tyres at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire from 12 to 14 June to prepare for the European and British Grands Prix. Jaguar's Eddie Irvine and Sauber's Nick Heidfeld withdrew from testing because of a neck pain and a minor headache. Jarno Trulli (Jordan) and British American Racing's (BAR) Olivier Panis led the first two days. Alexander Wurz, McLaren's test driver, was fastest on the final day, more than six-tenths of a second faster than Häkkinen. Minardi cancelled a two-day test at Italy's Fiorano Circuit to investigate a driveshaft problem with their car.
With 90 championship points available in the next nine Grands Prix, pundits speculated that McLaren may use team orders to favour Coulthard over teammate Häkkinen in the championship race. Coulthard said he was focused on winning races while Häkkinen stated McLaren expected him to win but acknowledged the complexity of the situation. Michael Schumacher was the favourite to win the race, having won four of the previous eight Grands Prix. Despite this, he expressed caution about winning a fourth world title, believing his 18-point lead over Coulthard was insufficient to give him confidence given the large number of championship points still available. Williams's Juan Pablo Montoya had finished only one race across the season and hoped to score championship points in Germany.
The event featured eleven teams (each representing a different constructor) with two drivers each, with one change from the season entry list. Having missed the previous event due to a concussion, a headache and dizziness resulting from a crash during Friday practice for the Canadian Grand Prix, Jordan driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen was declared fit to race by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's (FIA) Medical Delegate Sid Watkins and returned to his seat taken over by temporary replacement Ricardo Zonta, the team's test driver. Zonta was on standby to replace Frentzen if required. Similarly, Irvine recovered from his injured neck, and Heidfeld was suffering from migraines and disorientation after an accident in Canada; both were passed fit to race.
Few teams made significant technical improvements to their cars for the race. Ferrari, McLaren and Williams each installed the same rear wings onto their cars as did at the , while Williams added new aerodynamic side appendages in front of the air intakes, which necessitated the installation of rubber coverings on the outer edges to protect mechanics when the car were parked. BAR introduced a redesigned front suspension and a new nose with lower-section aerodynamic appendages. Jaguar fitted its Monaco-specification front wing and curved sidepod winglets onto its R2 cars. Sauber revised their front wing endplates only for the day before the race and Minardi modified Tarso Marques's pedals for his large feet. The first practice on Friday morning was overcast with cold ambient and track conditions. The circuit was dirty, forcing some drivers to lose control and run into the gravel trap. Coulthard posted the fastest lap time of 1:16.888 late in the session, one-tenth of a second faster than teammate Häkkinen. The Ferrari duo of Michael Schumacher and Barrichello, Trulli, Sauber's Kimi Räikkönen, the BAR duo of Panis and Jacques Villeneuve, Heidfeld and Ralf Schumacher followed in the top ten. Häkkinen set the day's quickest lap, a 1:16.408; Coulthard was second-fastest. Luciano Burti's Prost stopped on track with an engine failure after ten minutes. Michael Schumacher set the session's fastest time with a lap of 1:16.308, almost three-tenths of a second faster than Ralf Schumacher. The McLaren drivers ran slower—Häkkinen ahead of Coulthard. Barrichello, Montoya, Villeneuve (who spun into the gravel at turn five with ten minutes remaining), Frentzen, Panis and Heidfeld occupied positions five to ten.
It continued to be sunny for the final practice session, and although more cars left the track, there were no collisions. Ralf Schumacher was fastest at 1:15.355 in the final minute, almost four tenths of a second faster than teammate Montoya. Barrichello was third, with Häkkinen and Coulthard fourth and fifth respectively. Michael Schumacher in sixth had a minor hydraulic malfunction, thus limiting his running to only the final 15 minutes. Because the track was cold, no driver qualified until after 15 minutes. Michael Schumacher completed eight of his 12 laps, and took his seventh pole position in nine races in 2001. after adjusting his car's aerodynamics to extract more downforce. Ralf Schumacher qualified second, two tenths of a second slower, and held pole until Michael Schumacher lap. Montoya, third, made a car setup error between two runs and reported excessive oversteer. Coulthard and Häkkinen were fifth and sixth, their best times six thousands of a second apart. Coulthard attempted to lap faster after modifying his McLaren's front to try to strike the kerbs. Yellow flags were waved and every driver had to slow.
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Warm-up
On race morning, a 30-minute warm-up session was held in sunny and warm conditions. Teams concentrated on preparing their cars for the race, and some drivers used spare cars. Both Ferrari drivers continued their outstanding performance from qualifying; Barrichello achieved the quickest time of 1:18.209 with five minutes left; his teammate Michael Schumacher was second. Ralf Schumacher was just off Michael Schumacher's pace in third, with Irvine, Coulthard, Montoya, early pacesetter Trulli, Häkkinen and the Sauber duo of Heidfeld and Räikkönen following in the top ten. The conditions were dry, warm and sunny for the race. The air temperature ranged from and the track temperature was between ; conditions were forecast to be constant, with a 20% chance of rain. Michael Schumacher, driving a spare Ferrari, came to a halt at the bottom of the hill at the Dunlop hairpin while on a reconnaissance lap due to a fuel pump failure. He commandeered a motor scooter back to the pit lane before it was closed and drove his racing car to the grid. Autosport wrote that race strategy would be concerned with limiting damage since inclement weather in the past two years and tyre degradation.
When the five lights went out to begin the race, Michael Schumacher's launch control system was not correctly tuned, Montoya maintained his grid position of third. Behind the leading trio, Barrichello made a slow start due to a launch control issue, dropping from fourth to seventh.
thumb|left|upright|[[Ralf Schumacher (pictured in 2002) was behind his brother for much of the race until he was penalised with a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for crossing the white line at the pit lane exit.]]
Michael Schumacher and Ralf Schumacher began to pull away from the rest of the field, with the former gaining an advantage over the latter due to his light fuel load. Marques became the Grand Prix's first retirement on lap eight, pulling over to the side of the track due to a gearbox failure caused by voltage fluctuations. On lap 27, Montoya set the race circuit lap record of 1:18.354, closing in on the battle for first and second place. Both drivers chose a two-stop strategy, while Michael Schumacher's teammate Barrichello and the McLaren drivers followed a one-stop strategy. Montoya took the lead on lap 29 before making his first of two pit stops, returning to the track in fourth. Montoya registered his second race finish of the season, finishing second, 4.1 seconds behind Michael Schumacher. Coulthard, who was off the pace, finished third 20 seconds back. Montoya said he "had pretty good luck" and added that he was relieved to finish second after errors in the preceding two races. He stated that he was pushing after his second pit stop since his car could go fast and he was able to handle it in a way that allowed him to drive smoothly. He would not discuss the start, but did issue a statement in which he expressed his disappointment in receiving a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for crossing the white line at the pit lane exit, which he believed may have lost him the race victory. Michael Schumacher contended that reaching the first corner in the lead was his first aim, and that his manoeuvre was permissible under the one-move rule. Coulthard agreed that the manoeuvre was legal, but he thought that requiring a driver to take evasive action or brake was not the right thing to do. BMW Motorsport director Gerhard Berger said he was unsurprised over the manoevure, calling it "hard, but that's racing."
thumb|right|upright|[[Ron Dennis (pictured in 2000) defended McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen's form]]
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo called the race outcome "one of Schumacher's best ever wins with Ferrari" and that victory against their primary rivals in their home nation of Germany was "even more satisfying and motivating." Barrichello attributed his fifth-place finish to running a one-stop strategy and carrying a lot of fuel, which prevented him from racing with competitors close behind him, adding, "It was just one of those days which didn't work out right." Häkkinen expressed disappointment with his sixth-place finish, claiming that tyre vibration and early pitting cost him spots. McLaren team principal Ron Dennis defended Häkkinen, stating the driver slowed due to a tyre issue and resulting vibrations, preventing him from finishing fourth.
The race result saw Michael Schumacher extend his World Drivers' Championship lead with 68 championship points. Coulthard was second with 44 championship points, 18 ahead of Barrichello in third, and 19 ahead of Ralf Schumacher in fourth. Montoya's second-place finish moved him from eleventh to fifth.
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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
| 68
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 2
| David Coulthard
| 44
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 3
| Rubens Barrichello
| 26
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 4
| Ralf Schumacher
| 25
|-
|align="left"| 10px 5
|align="center"| 5
| Juan Pablo Montoya
| 12
|-
!colspan=4|Sources:
|}
;Constructors' Championship standings
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%;"
|-
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" | Driver
! scope="col" | Points
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 1
| Ferrari
| 94
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 2
| McLaren-Mercedes
| 53
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 3
| Williams-BMW
| 37
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 4
| Sauber-Petronas
| 15
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 5
| Jordan-Honda
| 13
|-
!colspan=4|Sources: