The 2001 San Marino Grand Prix (formally the Gran Premio Warsteiner di San Marino 2001) was a Formula One motor race held before between 80,000 and 100,000 spectators at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy on 15 April 2001. It was the fourth race of the 2001 Formula One World Championship and the 21st San Marino Grand Prix. Williams's Ralf Schumacher won the 62-lap race, starting from third. McLaren's David Coulthard finished second, and Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello finished third.
Going into the event, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship from Coulthard while Ferrari led McLaren in the World Constructors' Championship. After setting the fastest lap in the one-hour qualifying session, Coulthard started the race on pole position alongside teammate Mika Häkkinen. Ralf Schumacher from third overtook both McLaren drivers into the Tamburello chicane and retained the lead for the entire race, taking his maiden victory and Williams's first since the 1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix; Coulthard ended 4.3 seconds back in second place. Barrichello finished third after switching from a two– to a one–pit stop strategy.
Coulthard's second-place finish put him in the joint lead of the World Drivers' Championship with Michael Schumacher, but Schumacher retained the lead overall because he had won two races to Coulthard's one despite retiring from the race. Barrichello was third, 12 championship points behind the two, but Ralf Schumacher's victory moved him from seventh to fourth. McLaren decreased Ferrari's World Constructors' Championship lead to ten championship points, while Williams moved from sixth to third with 13 races remaining in the season.
Background
thumb|The [[Imola Circuit|Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari (pictured in 2010), where the race was held|alt=Aerial view of the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari]]
The 2001 San Marino Grand Prix was the race's 21st edition, the fourth of seventeen races in the 2001 Formula One World Championship, the season's first European round, and one of two in Italy. It was held on 15 April 2001 at the 17-turn, anti-clockwise Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, outside of San Marino which lacks the facilities to host Formula One races. It was the last race before the legal reintroduction of electronic driver aids at the following in late April.
Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 26 championship points heading into the race, with McLaren driver David Coulthard second on 20 championship points. Rubens Barrichello, Schumacher's Ferrari teammate, was third with 10 championship points, ahead of Sauber's Nick Heidfeld in fourth with seven championship points and Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen in fifth with six championship points. Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship with 36 championship points, 15 ahead of second-placed McLaren. Sauber was third with eight championship points, followed by Jordan with seven championship points and British American Racing (BAR) on three championship points. BAR, Jordan and McLaren tested for three days in inclement weather at Northamptonshire's Silverstone Circuit. Jordan's test driver Ricardo Zonta led the first day, while BAR's Jacques Villeneuve and McLaren's test driver Alexander Wurz were fastest on the second and third days. Arrows, Prost, Sauber and Williams tested for three days in variable weather at France's Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. Benetton tested for three days at Spain's Circuito de Jerez, with Jaguar joining on the second and third days. Arrows collected aerodynamic data from driver Jonny Kane during straight line speed testing at France's Lurcy-Lévis track. Minardi did not test since it was awaiting the arrival of equipment from Brazil. Coulthard stated he was satisfied with how the first three races went and spoke about his prospects of victory at Imola, "I have won here before and there is no reason why I cannot do so again." Williams won six races at Imola in the 1990s. Driver Juan Pablo Montoya was acquainted with Imola from International Formula 3000 in 1998 and felt his car would be suited to the circuit but not performing as well as in Brazil, adding, "I have only been here once before in my life. It doesn't make a great difference, but it does help a little bit."
Multiple teams updated their cars for the race, while several squads experimented with different brake ducts for improved cooling and installed downforce-reliant aerodynamic packages. After being outpowered by the BMW engine, Ferrari created a more powerful Type 050 V10 engine by increasing its revolutions per minute limit. McLaren made various changes to the MP4-16 to improve its handling when mounting kerbs. It also debuted a redesigned rear wing and a stronger Mercedes V10 engine. BAR modified the 003's bodywork to incorporate new wings and narrower side flip-ups in the rear wheel. The first practice session began on a damp, wet track after overnight rain had left parts of the circuit wet,
thumb|upright|[[Juan Pablo Montoya (pictured in 2002) had his running restricted in Friday practice due to an engine problem.|alt=Juan Pablo Montoya in 2002]]
Barrichello recorded the fastest time of 1:31.998, ahead of teammate Michael Schumacher. McLaren's Mika Häkkinen and Coulthard were third and fourth, followed by the Jordan pairing of Jarno Trulli and Frentzen, Sauber's Kimi Räikkönen, BAR's Olivier Panis, Jaguar's Eddie Irvine and Panis's teammate Villeneuve in fifth to tenth. Three drivers lost control of their cars at the wet turn 17 during the session. Verstappen was unable to set a lap time when his car stopped, owing to a drop in fuel pressure on his first lap after leaving the pit lane.
The track had dried sufficiently after the first session, allowing teams to mount slick tyres on their cars for the second session, which provided a more accurate indicator of the pace of drivers. With around 15 minutes to go, Michael Schumacher set the day's quickest time of 1:25.095, with his teammate Barrichello second. Williams's Ralf Schumacher, Häkkinen, Panis, Räikkönen, Irvine, Villeneuve, Trulli and Jaguar's Luciano Burti were in the next eight placings. Coulthard went off the circuit after losing control of his car and becoming stuck in the Acque Minerali corner's gravel trap with 13 minutes left in the session due to a gear selection issue. This meant McLaren's engineers worked overnight to repair Coulthard's car. Montoya suffered an engine problem caused by a piece of gauze dropping into the engine early in the session. resulting in lap times that were around 11 seconds slower than the 2000 pole position lap time. The cooler air caused the track to dry slowly. Several drivers were taken off guard on the wet track as their cars lost traction. On his second lap of the session, Burti lost control of his car's rear entering Tosa corner, severely damaging the front suspension hitting the tyre barrier. Michael Schumacher set the fastest lap of 1:30.737, followed by teammate Barrichello in second. Coulthard, Räikkönen, Frentzen, Heidfeld, Ralf Schumacher, Panis, Arrows's Enrique Bernoldi and Häkkinen occupied positions three to ten.
Qualifying
thumb|right|upright|alt=David Coulthard in 2007|[[David Coulthard (pictured in 2007) took the eleventh pole position of his career in qualifying.]]
Each driver was limited to twelve laps during Saturday's one-hour qualifying session, with the starting order determined by their fastest laps. The 107% rule was in force during this session, which required each driver to set a time within 107% of the fastest lap to qualify for the race. There were dark clouds over Imola just before qualifying began, so most drivers, except Coulthard, set lap times early in case it rained. Coulthard adjusted his car's setup for his final run after rear-end stability issues and took the 11th pole position of his career with a time of 1:23.054 on his final qualifying lap late on. He broke Villeneuve's outright track lap record from 1997 and prevented Michael Schumacher from equalling Ayrton Senna's record of eight consecutive poles set between the and seasons. Coulthard was 0.228 seconds faster than teammate Häkkinen in the final runs, setting his time late in qualifying's final runs. Ralf Schumacher qualified third, feeling his Michelin tyres were quite competitive.
Panis was pleased with the improvements to his car and took eighth.
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Warm-up
On the morning of the race, there was a 30-minute warm-up session to finalise car setups and test the teams' racing strategy. The weather was dry and sunny as teams tested their race and spare cars. Coulthard had surgery to remove an abscess from the left rear that was causing vibrations in his ear the evening before the race. He lapped fastest at 1:26.440, Räikkönen's running was restricted by a broken starting shaft in the backup Sauber car, and his race vehicle had an electrical failure.
Race
The 62-lap race began at 14:00 local time in sunny weather, The air temperature was between , and the track temperature ranged from ; conditions were expected to remain dry for the event. During the start sequence, Coulthard moved slightly before applying the brakes to stop and stabilise his car. Coulthard experienced excess wheelspin in his rear tyres when the race began, This allowed Ralf Schumacher to go to the inside after Coulthard gave him space; he avoided contact with Coulthard and passed both McLarens for the lead at the fast left-hand turn on the drive to the Tamburello chicane. Ralf Schumacher and Coulthard began pulling away from Trulli, who was battling Häkkinen for third, and a pack of cars formed behind them. Michael Schumacher appeared to slow exiting the final curve ending lap three after reportedly selecting third gear when mounting the kerbs and his right rear wheel was off the track surface. This confounded the electronic gearbox system, preventing the upshift and keeping him in second gear after leaving the corner. Two laps later, Although Räikkönen was unhurt, Marshals pushed Marques's car off the road and into a secure place, allowing him to depart. Ralf Schumacher led the rest of the race, securing his first win and becoming the first Grand Prix winner's brother to win on his own. It was Williams's first win since the 1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix. Barrichello finished third on the podium, 30 seconds behind Coulthard. He said of the victory, "It's a great experience, and I hope for it to be one of many. I've waited long enough for it, I guess. Since I joined Williams, we've had a lot of work to see that and it paid off today." Jaguar team principal and three-time world champion Niki Lauda heralded Ralf Schumacher's win as "the perfect race", adding, "The first Grand Prix win is always the most difficult. The next ones come easier. It will be a big boost for his confidence." Williams technical director Patrick Head characterised Schumacher's form at Imola as "perfect", stating, "Winning for the first time helps you a lot. What's happened will be very good for him."
Häkkinen said his opportunity to win the race ended at the start but was happy to finish fourth: "It is very pleasant to get some points, although unfortunately the overall position was not very good for me. It would have been nice to win, but I am happy." Trulli called his fifth-place finish "a good result" and that he "was able to show once more that when I have a good car and everything is working well, I can be right there." Frentzen blamed a slow start for his inability to compete for a better finishing position but said, "Scoring a point for sixth place was some consolation but, to be honest, we need to step up our performance a bit more." Montoya claimed he might have finished on the podium and said that a cockpit warning light informed him of a clutch issue five laps before his second pit stop.
Coulthard's second-place finish and podium finishes in the first four races put him in joint first place in the World Drivers' Championship with Michael Schumacher with 26 championship points each; Schumacher had won two races to Coulthard's one and so remained first overall. Barrichello retained third with 14 championship points as Ralf Schumacher's victory moved him from seventh to fourth. Heidfeld's failure to score dropped him from fourth 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
| 26
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 2
| David Coulthard
| 26
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 3
| Rubens Barrichello
| 14
|-
|align="left"| 10px 3
|align="center"| 4
| Ralf Schumacher
| 12
|-
|align="left"| 10px 1
|align="center"| 5
| Nick Heidfeld
| 7
|-
!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
| 40
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center"| 2
| McLaren-Mercedes
| 30
|-
|align="left"| 10px 3
|align="center" | 3
| Williams-BMW
| 12
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center" | 4
| Jordan-Honda
| 10
|-
|align="left"| 10px 2
|align="center" | 5
| Sauber-Petronas
| 8
|-
!colspan=4|Sources: