The 2001 Japanese Grand Prix (formally the 2001 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held before 150,000 spectators on 14 October 2001, at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Mie, Japan. It was the 17th and final round of the 2001 Formula One World Championship. Ferrari's Michael Schumacher won the 53-lap race from pole position. Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya finished in second and McLaren's David Coulthard was third.
World Drivers' Champion Michael Schumacher qualified on pole position by setting the fastest lap time in the one-hour qualifying session. Montoya started from second, alongside Schumacher. The Ferrari driver held off Montoya's attack to take the lead on the first lap, losing it only during the race leaders' two pit stops. Schumacher won the race, with Montoya 3.1 seconds behind. Coulthard finished third, having been let past by McLaren teammate Mika Häkkinen in the final five laps of the Grand Prix, with the latter competing in his final Formula One Grand Prix, having won 20 races and two World Drivers' Championships throughout his ten-year career.
Schumacher's victory was his ninth of the season, tying his own record from and and Nigel Mansell from . As a consequence of the race, Schumacher finished the year with a season-record 123 championship points scored in the World Drivers' Championship, breaking Alain Prost's all-time record for most career points scored. Coulthard finished the season as the runner-up, 56 points behind Schumacher. Ferrari finished 77 points ahead of McLaren in the World Constructors' Championship.
Background
The 2001 Japanese Grand Prix was the 17th and final Formula One race of the 2001 Formula One World Championship, held on 14 October 2001, at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Mie, Japan.
Before the race, both the World Drivers' Championship and World Constructors' Championship were already won, with Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher having secured the World Drivers' Championship four races earlier in the and Ferrari took the World Constructors' Championship at the same event, with McLaren too many championship points behind to be able to catch them. In the battle for the runner-up spot, McLaren's David Coulthard led Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello by seven points. To gain second place in the championship, Barrichello had to win the Grand Prix and Coulthard finish fifth or below. Sauber were battling Jordan for fourth position in the World Constructors' Championship and were five points ahead, but an appeal against Jarno Trulli's disqualification from the preceding would have reduced their advantage by two points if successful.
Following the United States Grand Prix on 30 September, between 2 October and 6, most teams evaluated car components, aerodynamic packages, racing setups and tyres at various European racing circuits at several European racetracks in preparation for the Japanese Grand Prix. British American Racing (BAR), Sauber and Jordan each tested for three days at Italy's Mugello Circuit, The Arrows, Minardi and Prost teams did not test at the period, instead focussing on the development of their cars. Michael Schumacher commented he was "only interested in winning" but added there was a small possibility Ferrari could help Barrichello finish second.
There were eleven two-driver teams, each representing a different constructor, with no changes to the entry list from the previous race. This was the final Grand Prix for Jordan's Jean Alesi and McLaren's two-time World Champion Mika Häkkinen. It was also the last Grand Prix for the Prost squad, who went bankrupt and closed down the following off-season, and for the Benetton team as it was renamed as Renault in deference to the team's French owners for 2002. Several teams used experimental solutions to Japan to guide the development of their 2002 vehicles. Ferrari brought a lighter, more rigid F2001 chassis while McLaren introduced no particular innovations and Williams used a top-exit exhaust featured at the United States Grand Prix on both their racing cars. Renault provided Benetton with a new qualifying engine for the team's final race. Arrows installed the aerodynamic package used at the Hungarian Grand Prix on their A22 cars and Minardi installed new titanium gearboxes in both cars. The first practice session took place on Friday morning in sunny weather. Michael Schumacher posted the quickest lap time of 1:37.443 44 minutes in, 0.355 seconds ahead of Häkkinen. They were ahead of Williams's Juan Pablo Montoya, Barrichello, Alesi, Coulthard, Montoya's teammate Ralf Schumacher, Prost's Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa and Sauber's Nick Heidfeld. Some drivers went off the track during the session. With one minute left, but exited the car unaided as practice was red-flagged.
The weather remained sunny for the afternoon's second session. On a light fuel load, Halfway through the session, His car stopped in the circuit's centre, and he suffered a minor headache and debris was littered across the track. and practice was stopped for ten minutes.
The third practice session was held on Saturday morning in sunny conditions. Michael Schumacher was the first driver to lap under 1:35 all weekend, and he was also the fastest, lapping at 1:34.711 with eight minutes left. With three minutes left in the final session, Ralf Schumacher set the first sub-1:34 lap in Suzuka history, at 1:33.969. He outpaced teammate Montoya, Coulthard, Michael Schumacher, Button, Trulli, Heidfeld, Häkkinen, Barrichello, and BAR's Jacques Villeneuve in the next nine positions.
Qualifying
thumb|left|upright|[[Michael Schumacher (pictured in 2007), the 2001 World Drivers' Championship, qualified on pole position and went on to win the race the following day.]]
During Saturday's one-hour qualifying session, each driver was limited to twelve laps, with the starting positions determined by the drivers' fastest laps. The 107% rule was in force during this session, forcing each driver to stay within 107% of the quickest lap time in order to qualify for the race. and clinched his 11th pole position of the season and the 43rd of his career with a time of 1:32.484 on a new set of tyres. He broke Gerhard Berger's all-time lap record on the circuit, set in 1991. Montoya had a minor car balance issue on a low fuel load than Michael Schumacher, although he was faster in the track's faster sectors. He was seven-tenths of a second behind in second, Barrichello was unable to eliminate the understeer in his Ferrari, preventing him from lapping faster, and qualified fourth.
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Warm-up
On race morning, teams had a half-hour warm-up session to fine-tune their cars for the event in sunny weather. Michael Schumacher was the fastest driver in the session, with a lap time of 1:36.231. Coulthard was 0.454 seconds slower in second position. Heidfeld set a lap late on to go third-fastest. Trulli, Alesi, Häkkinen, Barrichello, Frentzen, Räikkönen and De la Rosa in the highest-placed Michelin-shod car occupied positions four to ten.
Race
thumb|right|upright|[[Juan Pablo Montoya (pictured in 2002) finished in second position]]
The 53-lap race began at 14:30 local time and drew 150,000 spectators. Yoong started from the pit lane in Alonso's spare Minardi car when his crew identified an electrical problem with his race car's gearbox. Bernoldi stalled on the dummy grid and could not restart his car, thus he was pushed into a gap into the pit lane, where he began. Michael Schumacher veered to the right to the inside line, blocking the fast-starting Montoya, to keep the race lead into the first corner. Ralf Schumacher briefly challenged his teammate but remained in third position. Fisichella made a fast start due to his car's powerful launch control system, passing Häkkinen for fifth. He overtook Ralf Schumacher on the inside for third into the left-hand 130R turn.
Michael Schumacher had a 3.6-second lead over Montoya after the first lap. because he was on a new set of tyres and not affected by aerodynamic turbulence, whilst Montoya began the race on a set of scrubbed tyres that required longer to operate in comparison to the Bridgestones. On lap two, Barrichello overtook Montoya on the inside on the approach to the chicane for second place, avoiding contact with the Williams driver by placing two wheels off the circuit. Approaching cars had to take evasive measures to avoid the detached wheels, On lap 50, He equalled his own record of the most wins in a single season in with Benetton, with Ferrari and Nigel Mansell with Williams in . he was in pain since his seat position had given him a back cramp. Montoya thought it was "a good race" to its conclusion and commented on the Michelin tyres, "The car was good, but while the tyres come in, we lose so much time, as we saw with Michael. When he was on new tyres and I was on scrubbed tyres, while the tyres take five or six laps to come in, there's just no competition." He commented that he was "so relieved that I did not hurt him as he spun right in front of me and there was no way I could avoid him. It is sad to finish my career this way, but that is motor racing and I have to accept this situation." Eddie Jordan, Jordan team principal, said he sympathised with Alesi but noticed the driver was philosophical about the crash.
thumb|left|upright|[[David Coulthard (pictured in 1999) finished in third place to end the season as runner-up in the World Drivers' Championship.]]
Häkkinen commented on his final race, "I want to thank everybody who I have worked with for the past nine years for all the effort they put into making my career so successful. I'm happy that David finished on the podium, and I must admit that by letting him past I wanted to give him something back for the occasions in the past when he has helped me." McLaren team principal Ron Dennis felt Häkkinen had much personal discipline and was hard-working to become a Grand Prix winner. Coulthard confessed that he would probably not fully appreciate Häkkinen as a teammate if that was no longer the case. However, he noted that Häkkinen had been his benchmark for measuring how well he performed, and he was unhappy that his teammate was going before he got the chance to beat him.
Ferrari honoured their 2001 season achievements in front of Ferrari fans at the Monza Circuit on 21 October. Following their duel during the race, Barrichello stated that he regarded Ralf Schumacher as "a bad loser," adding that he was ahead of the Williams driver at the final chicane and thought it unjust that he went straight. Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn acknowledged to taking a big risk by planning a three-stop strategy for Barrichello, believing he would be delayed behind the Williams cars, "The only way he was going to finish second in the Championship was to win the race so we chose an extreme strategy." Nevertheless, Ferrari sporting director Jean Todt praised Barrichello's performance in Japan, saying, "I wish to thank Rubens for the great contribution he has made to the team. He has finished third in the drivers' championship at the end of a faultless year."
Race classification
Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 85%;"
|-
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" | Driver
! scope="col" | Constructor
! scope="col" | Tyre
! scope="col" class="unsortable"|
! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Time/Retired
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" | Points
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| align="center" | 1
| data-sort-value="SCHM" | Michael Schumacher
| Ferrari
|
| align="center" | 53
| 1:27:33.298
| align="center" | 1
| align="center" | 10
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| align="center" | 6
| data-sort-value="MON" | Juan Pablo Montoya
| Williams-BMW
|
| align="center" | 53
| +3.154
| align="center" | 2
| align="center" | 6
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| align="center" | 4
| data-sort-value="COU" | David Coulthard
| McLaren-Mercedes
|
| align="center" | 53
| +23.262
| align="center" | 7
| align="center" | 4
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| align="center" | 3
| data-sort-value="HAK" | Mika Häkkinen
| McLaren-Mercedes
|
| align="center" | 53
| +35.539
| align="center" | 5
| align="center" | 3
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| align="center" | 2
| data-sort-value="BAR" | Rubens Barrichello
| Ferrari
|
| align="center" | 53
| +36.544
| align="center" | 4
| align="center" | 2
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| align="center" | 5
| data-sort-value="SCHR" | Ralf Schumacher
| Williams-BMW
|
| align="center" | 53
| +37.122
| align="center" | 3
| align="center" | 1
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| align="center" | 8
| data-sort-value="BUT" | Jenson Button
| Benetton-Renault
|
| align="center" | 53
| +1:37.102
| align="center" | 9
|
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| align="center" | 11
| data-sort-value="TRU" | Jarno Trulli
| Jordan-Honda
|
| align="center" | 52
| +1 lap
| align="center" | 8
|
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| align="center" | 16
| data-sort-value="HEI" | Nick Heidfeld
| Sauber-Petronas
|
| align="center" | 52
| +1 lap
| align="center" | 10
|
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| align="center" | 10
| data-sort-value="VIL" | Jacques Villeneuve
| BAR-Honda
|
| align="center" | 52
| +1 lap
| align="center" | 14
|
|-
! scope="row" | 11
| align="center" | 21
| data-sort-value="ALO" | Fernando Alonso
| Minardi-European
|
| align="center" | 52
| +1 lap
| align="center" | 18
|
|-
! scope="row" | 12
| align="center" | 22
| data-sort-value="FRE" | Heinz-Harald Frentzen
| Prost-Acer
|
| align="center" | 52
| +1 lap
| align="center" | 15
|
|-
! scope="row" | 13
| align="center" | 9
| data-sort-value="PAN" | Olivier Panis
| BAR-Honda
|
| align="center" | 51
| +2 laps
| align="center" | 17
|
|-
! scope="row" | 14
| align="center" | 15
| data-sort-value="BER" | Enrique Bernoldi
| Arrows-Asiatech
|
| align="center" | 51
| +2 laps
| align="center" data-sort-value="22" |
|
|-
! scope="row" | 15
| align="center" | 14
| data-sort-value="VER" | Jos Verstappen
| Arrows-Asiatech
|
| align="center" | 51
| +2 laps
| align="center" data-sort-value="20" | 21
|
|-
! scope="row" | 16
| align="center" | 20
| data-sort-value="YOO" | Alex Yoong
| Minardi-European
|
| align="center" | 50
| +3 laps
| align="center" data-sort-value="21" |
|
|-
! scope="row" | 17
| align="center" | 7
| data-sort-value="FIS" | Giancarlo Fisichella
| Benetton-Renault
|
| align="center" | 47
| Gearbox
| align="center" | 6
|
|-
! scope="row" data-sort-value="18" |
| align="center" | 19
| data-sort-value="DEL" | Pedro de la Rosa
| Jaguar-Cosworth
|
| align="center" | 45
| Oil leak
| align="center" | 16
|
|-
! scope="row" data-sort-value="19" |
| align="center" | 23
| data-sort-value="ENG" | Tomáš Enge
| Prost-Acer
|
| align="center" | 42
| Brakes
| align="center" | 19
|
|-
! scope="row" data-sort-value="20" |
| align="center" | 18
| data-sort-value="IRV" | Eddie Irvine
| Jaguar-Cosworth
|
| align="center" | 24
| Fuel rig
| align="center" | 13
|
|-
! scope="row" data-sort-value="21" |
| align="center" | 17
| data-sort-value="RAI" | Kimi Räikkönen
| Sauber-Petronas
|
| align="center" | 5
| Collision/suspension
| align="center" | 12
|
|-
! scope="row" data-sort-value="22" |
| align="center" | 12
| data-sort-value="ALE" | Jean Alesi
| Jordan-Honda
|
| align="center" | 5
| Collision
| align="center" | 11
|
|-class="sortbottom"
!colspan="9"|
|}
;Notes
- – Enrique Bernoldi and Alex Yoong started the race from the pit lane.
Final Championship standings
;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*
| 123
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| align="center"| 2
| David Coulthard
| 65
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| align="center"| 3
| Rubens Barrichello
| 56
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| align="center"| 4
| Ralf Schumacher
| 49
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| align="center"| 5
| Mika Häkkinen
| 37
|-
!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*
| 179
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| align="center"| 2
| McLaren-Mercedes
| 102
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| align="center"| 3
| Williams-BMW
| 80
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| align="center"| 4
| Sauber-Petronas
| 21
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| align="center"| 5
| Jordan-Honda
| 19
|-
!colspan=4|Sources: