2000 Austrian Grand Prix

Background

The 4.326 km A1-Ring hosted the tenth round of the 2000 Formula One World Championship, the 2000 Austrian Grand Prix, on 16 July 2000. It was the fourth time that the A1-Ring had hosted the Austrian Grand Prix since its alternation. The event featured eleven teams (each representing a different constructor), each with two drivers, with no changes from the season entry list. Tyre supplier Bridgestone brought the Soft and Medium dry compound tyres to the event. Before the race, minimal safety upgrades were made to the A1-Ring. New kerbs were erected across the track, with flagstones inside to prevent dust from gathering on the circuit. At each corner, an additional row of tyres was installed to increase absorption in the event of a collision.

Before the race, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 56 championship points, followed by McLaren's David Coulthard on 44 championship points and his teammate Mika Häkkinen on 38 championship points. Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello was fourth with 32 championship points and Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella was fifth with 18 championship points. Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship with 88 championship points, six championship points clear of second-placed McLaren. Benetton were third with 18 championship points, Williams fourth with 17 championship points, and Jordan fifth with 11 championship points.

Following the on 2 July, six teams tested for three days at the Silverstone Circuit in Britain from 4 to 6 July in preparation for the Austrian Grand Prix at the A1-Ring. On the first day of testing, Heinz-Harald Frentzen led Sauber's Pedro Diniz. Alexander Wurz's car had a gearbox problem, limiting Benetton's testing time. Jaguar's Eddie Irvine was fastest on the second day. Arrows' Jos Verstappen was fastest on the final day of testing, although his car's front wing was damaged when his engine cover detached from its chassis. Ferrari and McLaren tested at the Mugello Circuit, concentrating on aerodynamic and suspension set-ups between 4 and 7 July. Ferrari spent an extra day at the Fiorano Circuit shaking down their cars with its test driver Luca Badoer. Williams and British American Racing (BAR) tested at the Circuito do Estoril from 5 to 7 July, with tyre, engine, aerodynamic and set-up optimisation.

Some teams modified their cars for the event. McLaren brought an extractor profile that had not been utilised in qualifying or the race at the French Grand Prix, as well as a tweaked rear suspension and a new Mercedes-Benz engine. Ferrari tweaked their car's aerodynamic profile and continued to test chimney stacks in free practice. BAR completed its package of aerodynamic modifications developed with Honda in a wind tunnel and introduced in France. Jordan wanted to develop the car further and create more spare parts. However, this was the EJ10's final race before the EJ10B débuted at the next race.

Practice

There were four practice sessions before Sunday's race: two one-hour sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday. Friday's practice sessions were held in dry conditions. Within the first five minutes of the first practice session, 17 drivers completed explanatory laps. After 15 minutes, teams determined that there was enough grip for cars to be sent onto the track for examination. Lap times fell as the track's conditions improved and drivers re-acquainted themselves with it. Barrichello led the first session at 1:13.603 seconds, soon before the session ended, two-tenths of a second faster than Jordan's Jarno Trulli. BAR's Ricardo Zonta was third, followed by Verstappen, Michael Schumacher, Coulthard, Fisichella, Jaguar's Johnny Herbert, BAR's Jacques Villeneuve, and Sauber's Mika Salo. Häkkinen's car had a mechanical fuel pump failure that prompted him to stop at Remus Kurve corner, limiting him to one out lap and was slowest overall.

Coulthard lapped faster each time, setting the day's fastest lap, a 1:12.464, after running into the gravel during the second practice session. Häkkinen had a trouble free season and was second-fastest. Salo ran quicker during the session and was third-fastest. Michael Schumacher and Barrichello set the fourth and seventh quickest times, separated by Zonta and Trulli. Villeneuve, Diniz, and Fisichella rounded out the top ten. Ralf Schumacher's Williams car stopped five minutes into the session due to an electrical system failure that stalled his engine. Irvine slowed, entered Coulthard's path and the two drivers collided.

Irvine withdrew from the event after the second session. When he arrived at the circuit, he felt ill and was diagnosed with suspected appendicitis at the infield medical centre. On the advice of FIA medical delegate Sid Watkins, Irvine went to London for additional surgical consultation. According to hospital tests, Irvine experienced abdominal pain brought on by an enlarged intestine. He was replaced for the rest of the Grand Prix by Jaguar test driver Luciano Burti. Practice on Saturday morning sessions was held in dry weather, then later on a wet track with low grip, forcing some drivers onto the grass after sliding off the circuit. Häkkinen's time of 1:11.355 was the quickest in the third practice session, with Coulthard second. Both Ferrari drivers finished third and fourth, with Barrichello ahead of Michael Schumacher. Verstappen maintained his fast pace, finishing fifth fastest ahead of Fisichella and Villeneuve. Zonta, Trulli, and Herbert were ranked eighth to tenth. Burti was limited to one installation lap and would need to familiarise himself with the course during the final session.

Despite running a wheel on the grass exiting the uphill right-hand Jochen Rindt Kurve corner and getting beached in the gravel trap before the start/finish straight with ten minutes left in the final practice session, Häkkinen set the fastest lap, a 1:11.336, despite a brief heavy rain shower that barely affected proceedings 25 minutes in. His teammate Coulthard remained second-quickest. Michael Schumacher was third-fastest ahead of teammate Barrichello. Villeneuve was fifth-fastest, ahead of Herbert in sixth. Frentzen, seventh, was able to establish a comfortable setup after being one of the slowest drivers in the previous three practice sessions. Salo, Fisichella and Arrows' Pedro de la Rosa made up positions eight to ten. Zonta lost control of his vehicle and reversed back into the path of an incoming driver, who veered onto the grass to avoid him.

Qualifying

New car aerodynamic packages put Zonta and Villeneuve sixth and seventh respectively, both drivers spun during the session. Fisichella, eighth, lost a bargeboard when he went off the track. He felt he could have started fifth but was slowed by a yellow flag. Salo and Verstappen were ninth and tenth. Diniz missed qualifying in the top ten by two-thousands of a second and spun off while setting lap times, triggering a yellow-flag. De La Rosa, 12th, struggled with the conditions during the session. He qualified ahead of Prost driver Nick Heidfeld and Wurz. Frentzen, 15th, used hard compound tyres and set his laps early in qualifying before track conditions improved. Frentzen explained that he did so because he expected rain near the end of qualifying. Herbert started from 16th after stopping on one run due to a broken left rear suspension caused by a loose suspension bracket at the Niki Lauda Kurve. A back wishbone was also flexing. Jean Alesi qualified his Prost car 17th. Jenson Button, 18th, used the spare Williams car set up for Ralf Schumacher since Button's race car experienced an engine failure, balance issues on the low-grip circuit, and slow-speed corners when on the harder tyre compound. Button also had difficulty driving the spare car. Ralf Schumacher, his teammate, qualified 19th, the Williams team's worst qualifying performance of the season. The two Minardi drivers of Marc Gené and Gastón Mazzacane experienced a lack of grip and qualified 20th and 22nd. Burti in 21st separated the two in his first Formula One qualifying session.

Qualifying classification

Warm-up

The drivers took to the track in cloudy, dry weather at 09:30 Central European Summer Time (UTC+2) for a 30-minute warm-up session. Coulthard was second, and his teammate Häkkinen was third after being quickest until Barrichello's time. Verstappen finished fourth after leading after 15 minutes. Michael Schumacher was fifth in the other Ferrari. Zonta finished sixth, 1.1 second slower than Barrichello. No major incidents occurred in warm-up. Häkkinen went into the gravel at the final right turn. His teammate Coulthard ran wide at the same corner and slid onto the grass before requiring a new nose cone after colliding with a Jordan car.

Race

The race, which commenced before 85,112 spectators at 14:00 local time, lasted 71 laps over 307.146 km. Before the race, the weather was cool, dry and overcast. The air temperature ranged from 17 to with the track temperature between 18 and; weather forecasts indicated a 30% chance of rain. Burti's car experienced a sudden drop in water pressure while on a reconnaissance lap, forcing him to start in his team's backup car from the pit lane exit. Michael Schumacher also drove his team's spare car. When the race began, Häkkinen maintained the lead into the first corner. Coulthard drove alongside his teammate, who was on the outside, but chose to remain second on the dirty inside of the track. The Ferrari duo had slow starts, bunching up the field behind them. Michael Schumacher was on the inside line, with Barrichello on the outside and Zonta close by, but braked alongside Barrichello and compromised his entry to turn one. Barrichello was reportedly instructed to let Schumacher through heading into turn two since his teammate was on a two-stop strategy. McLaren also used team orders, which allowed the driver who entered the first turn first to avoid being challenged.

Further back, Diniz lost control of his car's rear after swerving to avoid hitting Verstappen ahead of him. Consequently, Diniz veered right across the track and into Fisichella on the inside at around 200 km/h; Fisichella veered sharply right into the barrier. Ahead of them, Zonta outbraked himself and slammed into the rear of Michael Schumacher's car, sending Schumacher into a 180-degree spin. Schumacher stopped on the kerbs beside the outside grass. Trulli struck Michael Schumacher's right-front suspension. Instead of driving straight, approaching drivers had to decide whether they wanted to steer left or right. Diniz collided with Salo's vehicle's sidepod when his teammate observed the wreckage and slowed, throwing Diniz into a spin. To avoid a collision, both the BAR and Prost drivers drove onto the gravel. Ralf Schumacher spun and stopped near Diniz and Fisichella's stationary vehicles but was able to restart his car and drive away.

Race director Charlie Whiting decided that the incident did not justify stopping the race and instead deployed the safety car. Marshals cleared debris and removed the stricken cars on the outside just off the racing line with recovery vehicles. Verstappen took 15.5 seconds to conduct a pit stop to replace a damaged front wing. Barrichello (nursing a damaged right-rear diffuser) and Frentzen overtook Button who fell to eighth on lap three. At the third lap's completion, the race order was Häkkinen, Coulthard, Salo, De La Rosa, Herbert, and Barrichello. Both McLaren drivers began to pull away from the rest of the field and exchanged fastest laps, as De La Rosa passed Salo for third at the start of lap four. Barrichello passed Herbert for fifth on that lap. With an engine failure on lap five, Frentzen's Jordan became the race's fourth retirement and spun off on oil that was dripping from his car. On the sixth lap, Verstappen set a new fastest lap as he quickly gained on Diniz in 17th place. Alesi overtook his teammate Heidfeld for tenth on the next lap.[[File:Barrichello 2002.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Rubens Barrichello]] (pictured in 2002) finished third after [[Pedro de la Rosa]] retired with mechanical problems.]]By the eighth lap, Coulthard and De La Rosa were separated by five seconds because of Häkkinen's consistent fastest laps. Ralf Schumacher made a pit stop for a new front wing while Barrichello overtook Salo for fourth place on the same lap. Ralf Schumacher entered the garage for repairs to his left-front brake on the following lap. By lap 13, Häkkinen had a two-second lead over Coulthard, who was ten seconds ahead of De La Rosa. Although he was pulling away from Salo in fifth, Barrichello was six seconds behind De La Rosa. Verstappen became the race's fifth retirement on lap 15 due to gearbox failure. On lap 16, Diniz and Zonta were given ten-second stop-go penalties, both for their roles in the lap one accidents following a review of television coverage. They took their penalties immediately. Ralf Schumacher emerged from his garage to rejoin the race two laps later. Häkkinen's lead over Coulthard was increased to 10.9 seconds by lap 24. Alesi, who was on a two-stop strategy, became the first driver to make a scheduled pit stop on the same lap and exited the pit lane in 13th place. When Zonta attempted to pass Mazzacane at Castrol Kurve corner on lap 25, he collided with him, promoting Diniz to 14th.

By the 30th lap, Häkkinen had a 15.2-second advantage over Coulthard, his teammate, McLaren opted to slightly slow them by displaying pit boards instructing them to reduce their revolutions per minute to preserve their engines. After Arrows noticed unusually high gearbox temperatures on lap 33, De La Rosa retired from third place in the pit lane due to an gearbox oil leak. This moved Button to sixth position. Wurz dropped to tenth after running eighth by lap 34. Häkkinen's lead had grown to more than 17 seconds when he made his one and only pit stop on lap 38, emerging in second position. His teammate Coulthard led the next three laps before his sole pit stop on lap 42. Coulthard returned to the track behind Häkkinen, who was quick with a full tank of fuel and wanted to ensure that his teammate was not close enough to challenge for victory. Salo, Herbert, Barrichello, Button and Villeneuve all made pit stops over the next five laps. On lap 43, Alesi, who was 14th but had not yet completed his final pit stop, collided with teammate Heidfeld, and the two retired after an unsuccessful pass.

At the conclusion of lap 50, with the scheduled pit stops completed, the running order was Häkkinen, Coulthard, Barrichello, Villeneuve, Button, and Salo. Button ran wide challenging Villeneuve for fourth on lap 51 but remained ahead of Salo. On lap 60, Zonta experienced engine overheating issues and retired in the gravel at the Remus Kurve corner. Salo completed the points scorers in sixth. Herbert, Gené, Diniz and Wurz were in the next four positions, albeit one lap behind the winner, with Burti and Mazzacane the final classified finishers.

Post-race

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to receive their trophies and at the following press conference. Häkkinen expressed satisfaction with winning, believing it would help raise his confidence for the rest of the season. Häkkinen said that his team displaying pit boards left him confused whether he had a problem or was being told not to go faster. He said that finishing second would not cause him to think about his potential of winning the Drivers' Championship. Barrichello explained that his car was loose from contact with Trulli early in the race, preventing him from challenging De La Rosa.

Villeneuve was pleased to finish fourth, stating that despite an inclement start, his strategy allowed him to go faster when there were no back markers slowing him. After Button came fifth, the Williams team principal Frank Williams commented on his performance, "Jenson really excelled himself again driving in difficult circumstances at the end of the race and under a lot of pressure". Salo earned his third points of the season after finishing fifth in the . While he was happy, he said he struggled with excess oversteer in the track's fast corners. De La Rosa believed he might have reached lap 37 while saving fuel by being on a lean fuel map before retiring. He praised his car and its engine, adding: "It was a shame really, because it would have been good to finish so high." Both Heidfeld and his Prost teammate Alesi attributed their lap 43 accident to poor communication with their team.

The race should have been stopped, according to Michael Schumacher, who was involved in the first lap incident. He did, however, applaud the marshals who helped recover the cars involved. He also thought Zonta had "overestimated his ability" and promised to have a "quiet word" with him. Zonta believed the incident was not his fault and that Michael Schumacher braked harder than him, although he apologised for retiring from the race. He apologised to Schumacher via fax. Fisichella also agreed that the race should have been stopped, saying, "Three of the protagonists are out and it was stupid not to red flag."

At a routine post-race inspection, the FIA investigated irregularities with Häkkinen's car after technical delegate Jo Bauer discovered a missing necessary paper seal on the electronic box. Additional samples from the electronic box (impounded by the FIA's technical delegates) were taken following the race; this was software downloaded that found no issues with the FIA's software coding. A spokesman for the McLaren team said: "No one changed the software, so there's no reason for us to be worried." The FIA concluded on July 25 that Häkkinen gained no competitive advantage from the missing seal and therefore Häkkinen's victory stood. McLaren, on the other hand, was deducted 10 points and fined $50,000 for violating Article 7 of the 2000 Formula One Sporting Regulations, which stipulated that competitors had to maintain some safety and eligibility criteria during the event. McLaren did not appeal the penalty, and managing director Martin Whitmarsh stated, "We now consider the matter closed." Norbert Haug, vice-president of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, criticised the decision and believed that the seal was never applied to Häkkinen's car. Haug also said that he would not pursue the matter further.

Michael Schumacher's lead in the World Drivers' Championship decreased to six championship points as a result of his first-lap retirement. Coulthard was second with 50 championship points, two more than teammate Häkkinen and eight more than Barrichello. Fisichella retained fifth with 18 championship points despite not finishing. In the World Constructors' Championship, Ferrari maintained their lead with 92 championship points, while McLaren's 10-point penalty kept them second with 88 championship points. Williams moved third on 19 championship points, pushing Benetton into fourth on 18 championship points, and BAR overtook Jordan for fifth on 12 championship points, with seven rounds remaining in the season.

Race classification

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold.

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

Name_of_race = Austrian Grand Prix | Year_of_race = 2000 | Previous_race_in_season = 2000 French Grand Prix | Next_race_in_season = 2000 German Grand Prix | Previous_year's_race = 1999 Austrian Grand Prix | Next_year's_race = 2001 Austrian Grand Prix

References

1. "2000 Austrian GP". ChicaneF1.
2. "Austrian Grand Prix 2000 results". [[ESPN]].
3. Evans, Ben. (16 July 2020). "Schumacher crashes, Hakkinen wins – but McLaren lose their points". RaceFans.
4. "Formula One 2000 Austrian Grand Prix Information". Motorsport Stats.
5. Tytler, Ewan. (12 July 2000). "The Austrian GP Preview". [[Autosport.
6. (13 July 2000). "Safety changes for A-1 Ring". Formula1.com.
7. Jones, Bruce. (2001). "The Official Grand Prix Guide 2001". [[Welbeck Publishing Group.
8. (4 July 2000). "Austrian GP preparations begins today". F1Racing.net.
9. (7 July 2000). "Formula One Update: 7 July 2000". [[Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile]].
10. (5 July 2000). "Frentzen Fastest at Silverstone Testing – Day One". [[Autosport.
11. (5 July 2000). "Irvine quickest at Silverstone test". GrandPrix.com.
12. (6 July 2000). "Verstappen fastest at Silverstone last day". GPUpdate.
13. (7 July 2000). "Testing July 6th: Mugello Day 3". Formula1.com.
14. (9 July 2000). "Shakedown at Fiorano". [[Autosport.
15. (7 July 2000). "Testing July 7th: Estoril Day 3". Formula1.com.
16. Piola, Giorgio. (24 July 2000). "Jordan evo rimandata o bocciata?". Autosprint.
17. (13 July 2000). "Jordan delays launch of EJ10 B". Formula1.com.
18. (12 July 2000). "Jordan holds back on new car". [[Autosport]].
19. (28 July 2000). "EJ10B makes impressive debut". GPUpdate.
20. (2000). "Formula 1 Yearbook 2000–2001". Parragon.
21. (14 July 2000). "Free Practice". [[Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile]].
22. (14 July 2000). "Free practice 1: Barrichello goes fastest".
23. (14 July 2000). "Rubens Barrichello takes First Free Practice". F1Racing.net.
24. Gardner, John. (14 July 2000). "Austrian GP: McLarens Rule Friday Practice". [[Speed (TV network).
25. (14 July 2000). "Friday First Free Practice – Austrian Grand Prix". [[Autosport.
26. (14 July 2000). "Free Practice 2: DC first, Salo the surprise".
27. Melnik, Alexander. (August 2000). "Гран При Австрии: Неоконченная пьеса без главного героя". Formula 1 Magazine.
28. Goodman, Louise. (2000). "Beyond the Pit Lane: The Grand Prix Season from the Inside". [[Headline Publishing Group]].
29. Henry, Alan. (14 July 2000). "Alan Henry's Austria Notebook – Friday". [[Speed (TV network).
30. (20 July 2000). "Doctors diagnose Irvine illness". F1Racing.net.
31. (15 July 2000). "Saturday Free Practice – Austrian GP". [[Autosport.
32. (15 July 2000). "Session Times: Free 2". Gale Force F1.
33. (15 July 2000). "Saturday practice 1: Hakkinen dominates".
34. (15 July 2000). "Saturday practice 2: Hakkinen on the edge".
35. (15 July 2000). "McLaren lead Ferrari in Second Free". F1Racing.net.
36. Gardner, John. (15 July 2000). "Austrian GP: Hakkinen Tops Saturday Practice". [[Speed (TV network).
37. (16 July 2000). "Grand Prix of Austria". Gale Force F1.
38. Gardner, John. (15 July 2000). "Austrian GP: Hakkinen Takes Pole". [[Speed (TV network).
39. (16 July 2000). "Hakkinen bounces back with A1 pole".
40. Henry, Alan. (February 2001). "Mercedes in Motorsport: Pioneers to Perfection". [[Haynes Publishing]].
41. (15 July 2000). "Hakkinen fight-back with Austrian Pole". F1Racing.net.
42. (2000). "Formula One – The 2000 Season". Mixing Medienprodukt.
43. (15 July 2000). "Hakkinen on Pole; Qualifying Results – Austrian GP". [[Autosport.
44. (15 July 2000). "Free Practice + Qualifying". [[Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile]].
45. "Grand Prix Results: Austrian GP, 2000". GrandPrix.com.
46. (15 July 2000). "2000 – Round 10 – Austria: A1-Ring: Live Qualifying Report". Formula1.com.
47. (15 July 2000). "Arrows in 'good shape' for Austrian GP". Formula1.com.
48. (15 July 2000). "Today's Selected Quotes – Austrian GP". [[Autosport.
49. (15 July 2000). "Austrian GP Saturday qualifying". [[Motorsport.com]].
50. Gardner, John. (16 July 2000). "Austrian GP: Barrichello Hot in Warm-Up". [[Speed (TV network).
51. (16 July 2000). "Barrichello fastest in morning warm-up". [[Autosport]].
52. (16 July 2000). "Warm-Up". [[Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile]].
53. D'Alessio, Paolo. (October 2000). "Formula 1 2000: World Championship Yearbook: The Complete Record of the Grand Prix Season". Voyageur Press.
54. (16 July 2000). "2000 Round 10 Austria: A-1 Ring". Formula1.com.
55. (17 July 2000). "A1-Finn! Hakkinen answers his critics at a canter".
56. Cooper, Adam. (18 July 2000). "Anatomy of a shunt".
57. Elizalde, Pablo. (19 July 2000). "The Austrian GP Review". [[Autosport.
58. (16 July 2000). "Schumacher out as Hakkinen leads". F1Racing.net.
59. (19 July 2000). "Race Analysis".
60. Cooper, Adam. (17 July 2000). "De la Rosa Q&A".
61. (2002). "Jenson Button: My Life on the Formula One Rollercoaster". [[Bantam Press]].
62. Knutson, Dan. (16 July 2000). "Race Report: Austrian Grand Prix: Hakkinen's Victory In Question As FIA Investigates McLaren Electronics". USGP Indy.
63. (16 July 2000). "McLaren head the Constructors' table after Austria 1–2". Formula1.com.
64. (16 July 2000). "Post-Race Press Conference – Austrian GP". [[Autosport.
65. (16 July 2000). "BAR claim 5th in the Constructors' after Austrian GP". Formula1.com.
66. (16 July 2000). "Button Shines after Reassurance from Williams". [[Autosport.
67. (16 July 2000). "Sauber make their point in Austria". Formula1.com.
68. (16 July 2000). "Schumacher Says Race Should Have Been Halted". [[Autosport.
69. (19 July 2000). "Shunt wasn't my fault – Zonta". GPUpdate.
70. (16 July 2000). "Benetton Slam F1 Rivals' Driving Antics". [[Autosport.
71. (16 July 2000). "Hakkinen's Win Put Under FIA Investigation". [[Autosport.
72. Legard, Jonathan. (21 July 2000). "Don't punish Hakkinen". [[BBC Sport]].
73. (18 July 2000). "McLaren quietly confident of keeping Austrian win". Formula1.com.
74. (25 July 2000). "Hakkinen's Austria win stands, but team lose constructors' points". GrandPrix.com.
75. (28 July 2000). "Missing seal fiasco was FIA's fault, claims Haug". [[Autosport]].
76. "2000 Austrian Grand Prix". Formula1.com.
77. "Austria 2000 – Championship". StatsF1.