2000 Monaco Grand Prix
The 2000 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 4 June 2000 at the Circuit de Monaco in Monaco. It was the seventh round of the 2000 Formula One World Championship and the 58th Monaco Grand Prix. McLaren driver David Coulthard won the 78-lap race starting from third position. Rubens Barrichello finished second for the Ferrari team with Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella third.
World Drivers' Championship leader Michael Schumacher driving for World Constructors' Championship leaders Ferrari started from pole position alongside Jordan driver Jarno Trulli after recording the quickest lap time in the previous day's one-hour qualifying session. The race was stopped due to race director Charlie Whiting accidentally hitting the red flag button instead of the pit exit open button and a subsequent collision between Jenson Button and Pedro de la Rosa that created a traffic jam. Michael Schumacher led into the first corner of the second start. After the second round of pit stops, Michael Schumacher's exhaust pipe failed, resulting in a left rear suspension failure and his retirement from the race. On lap 56, Coulthard, who was running in second place, took the lead. Coulthard led the remainder of the race to achieve his second win of the season and ninth in Formula One, with Barrichello a further 15.8 seconds back.
Coulthard's victory cut Michael Schumacher's lead in the World Drivers' Championship to 12 championship points. Häkkinen maintained third place, with Barrichello trailing by seven championship points. In the World Constructors' Championship, Ferrari's lead over McLaren was reduced to five championship points. Fisichella's third-place result reduced the gap to third-placed Williams to a single championship point, with ten races of the season remaining.
Background
The 2000 Monaco Grand Prix was the seventh of seventeen rounds in the 2000 Formula One World Championship, taking place on 4 June 2000, at the clockwise Circuit de Monaco in Monaco on the French Riviera. It was the 58th edition of the Monaco Grand Prix since the race was first held in 1929, and included eleven teams, each with two racing drivers. Control tyre supplier Bridgestone brought the soft and extra soft dry tyre compounds to the race.Ferrari's Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 46 championship points entering the race, followed by McLaren's Mika Häkkinen on 28 championship points and his teammate David Coulthard on 24 championship points. Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello was fourth with 16 championship points, and Williams' Ralf Schumacher was fifth with 12 championship points. Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship with 62 championship points, ten ahead of McLaren. Williams were third with 15 championship points, Benetton fourth with 10 championship points and Jordan fifth with 9 championship points.
Following the on 21 May all teams tested across European circuits between 23 and 27 May to prepare for the Grand Prix. Jordan, Sauber, Benetton, Jaguar and Arrows tested at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo circuit which made its Formula One testing début, garnering mixed reviews from the drivers. Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen led the first day of testing, from Sauber test driver Enrique Bernoldi. Arrows' Jos Verstappen set the second day's quickest times. Late in the session, Fisichella collided with Jordan driver Jarno Trulli's right-rear tyre, flipping his Benetton and temporarily stopping testing. Fisichella experienced mild thumb bruising, and Benetton withdrew second driver Alexander Wurz from testing. Sauber's Mika Salo led the final day's running. Williams and British American Racing travelled to the Circuit Paul Armagnac circuit to conduct shakedown runs and test car setups. BAR tested a new control system named "Athena 2000," which managed the software of the engine and several chassis parts. Ferrari spent five days testing at their private test facility, the Fiorano Circuit, where test driver Luca Badoer and Michael Schumacher concentrated on aerodynamic and tyre testing, as well as testing different set-ups and driving on an artificially wet circuit.
Because of the Circuit de Monaco's configuration, with its low average speed and quantity of low-speed corners, combined with the low-grip nature of the public road surface, the teams all set their cars up to produce the maximum amount of downforce and mechanical grip possible. Benetton modified the suspensions on the B200 car to work better on the circuit's low-speed corners. The Minardi vehicles were outfitted with a new titanium cast gearbox and rear springs. McLaren sent an additional spare car to the event, giving Häkkinen and Coulthard a total of four. The team also shipped in six extra monocoques for the race. Jordan debuted an improved version of its Mugen-Honda V10 engine in the Grand Prix, while Jaguar added a reworked engine hood and a new front wing to its two cars. The Williams team installed an extra fin on the engine hood, two minor fins on the sides, and new front and back wings to their car.
Practice
Before the race on Sunday, there were two one-hour sessions on Thursday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday. The practice sessions on Thursday morning and afternoon were held in hot, dry weather. Michael Schumacher set the first session's fastest time, 1:23.039, faster than Häkkinen by three-tenths of a second. Coulthard was third, behind Fisichella and Frentzen. Despite gearbox troubles that prompted him to pull up on the track, Alesi was sixth. Jaguar's Eddie Irvine, Williams' Jenson Button, Barrichello and Salo made up positions seven to ten. Ralf Schumacher collided with the barrier near the tunnel's entrance, necessitating pit lane repairs. Minardi's Gastón Mazzacane spun and lost his front right wheel in an accident at La Rascasse turn.Häkkinen recorded the day's fastest lap in the second practice session, a 1:21.387; Coulthard finished third. Michael Schumacher separated the McLaren drivers. Eddie Irvine lapped faster and was fourth, ahead of Frentzen and Ralf Schumacher. Alesi, seventh, continued to struggle. Arrows' Pedro de la Rosa, Trulli and Barrichello completed the top ten. Wurz's car collided at the Swimming Pool complex, breaking his front wing and removing one of his wheels. Nick Heidfeld lost control of his Prost car and damaged its right-hand side against the barrier at La Rascasse corner. Pedro Diniz's Sauber car collided with the barrier at the same turn, dropping a considerable amount of oil that marshals attempted to clean up.
After taking Friday off – a race-exclusive feature – for leisure time, sponsor functions and for teams to prepare their cars for the second day of practice, the weather remained hot and dry for the Saturday morning practice sessions. Track evolution was observed during the third session. Michael Schumacher set the third session's quickest lap, 1:20.762; Barrichello was third. Häkkinen was second fastest, one-tenth of a second slower than Michael Schumacher. Alesi kept improving and was fourth, faster than Coulthard, Frentzen, Irvine, Trulli, Fisichella and Sauber's Johnny Herbert. Frentzen and Wurz went off the circuit during the session but avoided damaging their vehicles.
On Saturday morning before practice, Alex Ribeiro crashed into the railings of the medical car at Tabac. He was unhurt, but FIA medical representative Sid Watkins suffered three broken ribs. Coulthard led the final practice session with a lap of 1:20.405, 0.142 seconds quicker than teammate Häkkinen's 1999 pole lap; he stalled the engine after running down the escape road at Ste Devote to avoid a collision with the guardrail barrier. Slower cars prevented Coulthard from lapping faster. Michael Schumacher was nearly a tenth slower in second. Fisichella chose a softer damper and was third fastest. Trulli, Häkkinen, Barrichello, Alesi, Wurz, Frentzen, and Ralf Schumacher filled positions four through 10. Irvine crashed at the swimming pool complex, ending his session early.
Qualifying
During Saturday's one-hour qualifying session, each driver was allowed twelve laps, with the grid order determined by the quickest laps. The 107% rule was in force during this session, which required each driver to lap within 107% of the fastest lap to qualify for the race. The session took place in hot, dry weather. Michael Schumacher took his second pole position of the season and the 25th of his career with a time of 1:19.475 with seven minutes left; he struck the metal guardrail at Portier corner entering the tunnel with his rear-left wheel but continued. Trulli, who was 0.271 seconds slower and had his best qualifying performance of the season on soft tyres and made car adjustments for better handling, joined him on the grid's front row. Coulthard qualified third and said he could have lapped quicker as he saw a yellow flag out on the track. Trulli's teammate Frentzen qualified fourth but criticised Irvine for an apparent blocking manoeuvre in the tunnel. Häkkinen took fifth in his worst qualifying result of 2000, with understeer on his second qualifying run and slower traffic on all four. Barrichello took sixth despite driving a nervous car, five places behind his teammate Michael Schumacher. Alesi, seventh, had alternator problems in his race car early in qualifying and switched to the spare Prost car.Fisichella qualified eighth and noticed a severe deterioration in his handling. Ralf Schumacher and Irvine rounded out the top ten; Ralf Schumacher reported excessive understeer and that his best lap was affected by Irvine, who suffered a power steering failure on his fastest lap. Herbert qualified eleventh, five hundredths slower than his teammate, and reported excessive oversteer. He was ahead of Wurz in the slower Benetton car in 12th. Despite a misunderstanding with his race engineer over a yellow flag, Salo qualified 13th. Similarly, Button, who took 14th in the other Williams, was caught out by the waved yellow flags. Understeer, traction, and brake issues slowed Button. The two Arrows drivers were Verstappen and De La Rosa ; the latter crashed at the Rascasse chicane. BAR's Jacques Villeneuve started from 17th after an engine failure into Lowes corner led him to stop at the furthest place from the pit lane and lay oil on the circuit. Villeneuve had to drive the spare BAR car for the rest of qualifying. Heidfeld experienced a lack of grip and understeer. He qualified ahead of Diniz and BAR's Ricardo Zonta, who were 19th and 20th, respectively. Marc Gené and Mazzacane of Minardi qualified 21st and 22nd, respectively, but both crashed at Rascasse turn.