Belgian Grand Prix 2000

 Belgian Grand Prix 2000

Racing data
13th of 17 races of the Formula 1 World Championship 2000
Surname:	LVIII Foster's Belgian Grand Prix
Date:	August 27, 2000
Place:	spa
Course:	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Length:	306.592 km in 44 laps of 6.968 km
Weather:	wet but drying
Spectator:	~ 83,000
Pole position
Driver:	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren-Mercedes
Time:	1: 50.646 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Time:	1: 53.803 min (lap 30)
Podium
First:	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren-Mercedes
Second:	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari
Third:	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW

The Belgian Grand Prix 2000 took place on August 27th at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Spa and was the 13th race of the Formula 1 World Championship 2000 .

Reports

background

After the Hungarian Grand Prix , Mika Häkkinen led the drivers' standings with two points ahead of Michael Schumacher and six points ahead of David Coulthard . McLaren-Mercedes led the constructors' championship with one point ahead of Ferrari and with 88 points ahead of Williams-BMW .

With Michael Schumacher (four times) and David Coulthard (once) two former winners competed for this Grand Prix.

training

In free practice on Friday, Coulthard set the fastest lap time ahead of Häkkinen and Johnny Herbert . In Saturday's training his teammate Mika Häkkinen took over the leadership position ahead of Jenson Button and Jarno Trulli .

Qualifying

In qualifying, Mika Häkkinen again drove the fastest lap and took pole position in front of Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button .

Warm up

The Finn again achieved the fastest lap in the warm-up on Sunday. Michael Schumacher was second ahead of Button.

run

After the disappointment in Hungary, where the Ferraris were significantly slower than the McLaren from Häkkinen and Coulthard, the Scuderia absolutely needed a victory on the Spa-Francorchamps race track in Belgium. However, Mika Häkkinen proved in McLaren qualifying that he was the man to beat; Jarno Trulli also placed his Jordan-Mugen Honda in the front row and the surprising newcomer Jenson Button came third in the impressively fast Williams-BMW . Michael Schumacher struggled to finish fourth, even if his Ferrari clearly couldn't keep up with Häkkinen.

On Sunday it rained, the track was soaked and the stewards were forced to start the race under the safety car. This is because the start-finish straight is very short and leads directly into a sharp hairpin bend (“ La Source ”); There had been a number of accidents there in recent years, and safety concerns were also taken into account. It wasn't long before the safety car pulled into the pits again and the race began. In the early stages it wasn't a real race. Häkkinen pulled out in front in the wet conditions, his World Cup rivals Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard were caught in traffic. However, Schumacher's situation improved a lot when Jenson Button and Jarno Trulli collided at La Source so that the door could open for the German and he could take second place. Ralf Schumacher in the other Williams BMW inherited third place.

However, the racing line dried up quickly. The top drivers weren't prepared to take the risk of switching to dry tires, but Jean Alesi in the Prost-Peugeot had essentially nothing to lose and so tried his luck. After his tire change he was clearly the fastest driver on the track, which was the trigger for other teams to call in their drivers to do the same. McLaren made a tactical mistake by not bringing Häkkinen and Coulthard to the pits immediately, this cost them valuable time and allowed a Schumacher who was now turning up to close the gap. Meanwhile, Alesi's brilliant decision had brought him 4th place after the pit stops.

These semi-wet conditions obviously suited Michael Schumacher's wet-tuned car more than Hakkinen's dry-tuned car and the German began to close the gap to the Finn. Then Häkkinen spun on the track because of stagnant water, allowing Schumacher to take the lead. In the next few laps, Schumacher increased the gap to a comfortable lead. ITV commentator and former racing driver Martin Brundle suggested that Schumacher's skilful use of a still wet line on the long straight from Raidillon to Les Combes to cool his tires (and thereby maximize their performance) played a large part in that he could break away from Hakkinen so easily. Schumacher made his pit stop about halfway through the 44 laps to be driven and added enough fuel to finish the race. Häkkinen drove on for a while and then made his last pit stop.

Schumacher still had a sufficient lead, but the now apparently faster Hakkinen clearly caught up with the Ferrari. The track was now completely dry and Häkkinen was turning it up. Schumacher had adjusted his Ferrari for wet conditions because of the weather in the morning and drove with a fairly high wing downforce. He was slower, especially on the straight sections (especially through the Eau Rouge , through Raidillon and the Kemmel straight to Les Combes ). Häkkinen drove a dry tuned set-up in anticipation of a mostly dry race. This would prove to be decisive for the outcome of the struggle.

In the final stages of the race, Häkkinen used his speed advantage on the straight for the better and approached Schumacher from the inside on the Kemmel straight towards Les Combes . In typically robust fashion, Schumacher pulled over to the right and almost forced Häkkinen onto the grass at over 320 km / h. The Finn was unimpressed by this maneuver, and he didn't have to wait long for his compensation because it came in exactly the same place on the next lap (lap 40). As Schumacher was lapping Ricardo Zonta , the latter drove past the BAR driver on the left , but Häkkinen took the right side, overtook Zonta and braked Schumacher in the next corner of Les Combes . This maneuver is one of the most famous and is also known as the "maneuver of the century". Schumacher drove very well in the end, but could not do anything against a clearly faster Hakkinen in the end. Ralf Schumacher also showed a good performance by keeping David Coulthard behind in the second McLaren and securing the last podium place.

In the world championship, Häkkinen extended his lead to Schumacher and the rest of the field. In the constructors' championship, McLaren led the table with a larger gap ahead of Ferrari.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
West McLaren Mercedes	1	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren MP4 / 15	Mercedes-Benz 3.0 V10	B.
	2	David Coulthard
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	3	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari F1-2000	Ferrari 3.0 V10	B.
	4th	Rubens Barrichello
Benson and Hedges Jordan	5	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan EJ10B	Mugen-Honda 3.0 V10	B.
	6th	Jarno Trulli
Jaguar Racing	7th	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar R1	Cosworth 3.0 V10	B.
	8th	Johnny Herbert
BMW Williams F1 Team	9	Ralf Schumacher	Williams FW22	BMW 3.0 V10	B.
	10	Jenson Button
Mild Seven Benetton Playlife	11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton B200	Supertec 3.0 V10	B.
	12	Alexander Wurz
Gauloises cheers Peugeot	14th	Jean Alesi	Cheers AP03	Peugeot 3.0 V10	B.
	15th	Nick Heidfeld
Red Bull Sauber Petronas	16	Pedro Diniz	Clean C19	Petronas 3.0 V10	B.
	17th	Mika Salo
Arrows F1 team	18th	Pedro de la Rosa	Arrows A21	Supertec 3.0 V10	B.
	19th	Jos Verstappen
Telefonica Minardi Fondmetal	20th	Marc Gené	Minardi M02	Fondmetal 3.0 V10	B.
	21st	Gastón Mazzacane
Lucky Strike Reynard BAR Honda	22nd	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR 002	Honda 3.0 V10	B.
	23	Ricardo Zonta

Classifications

Qualifying

Item	driver	constructor	time	begin
01	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1: 50.646	01
02	Jarno Trulli	Jordan-Mugen	1: 51.419	02
03	Jenson Button	Williams-BMW	1: 51.444	03
04th	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	1: 51.552	04th
05	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1: 51.587	05
06th	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	1: 51.743	06th
07th	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR Honda	1: 51.799	07th
08th	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan-Mugen	1: 51.926	08th
09	Johnny Herbert	Jaguar Cosworth	1: 52.242	09
10	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	1: 52.444	10
11	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton Supertec	1: 52.756	11
12	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar Cosworth	1: 52.885	12
13	Ricardo Zonta	BAR Honda	1: 53.002	13
14th	Nick Heidfeld	Cheers Peugeot	1: 53.193	14th
15th	Pedro Diniz	Clean Petronas	1: 53.211	15th
16	Pedro de la Rosa	Arrows-Supertec	1: 53.237	16
17th	Jean Alesi	Cheers Peugeot	1: 53.309	17th
18th	Mika Salo	Clean Petronas	1: 53.357	18th
19th	Alexander Wurz	Benetton Supertec	1: 53.403	19th
20th	Jos Verstappen	Arrows-Supertec	1: 53.912	20th
21st	Marc Gené	Minardi fund metal	1: 54.680	21st
22nd	Gastón Mazzacane	Minardi fund metal	1: 54.784	22nd

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap
1	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	44	2	1: 28: 14.494	01	1: 54.469 (32nd)
2	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	44	2	+ 1.104	04th	1: 54.252 (18th)
3	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW	44	2	+ 38.096	06th	1: 55.473 (24.)
4th	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	44	2	+ 43.281	05	1: 54.131 (32nd)
5	Jenson Button	Williams-BMW	44	2	+ 49.914	03	1: 55.425 (33rd)
6th	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan-Mugen	44	2	+ 55.984	08th	1: 54.966 (33rd)
7th	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR Honda	44	2	+1: 12.380	07th	1: 55,511 (41st)
8th	Johnny Herbert	Jaguar Cosworth	44	2	+1: 27.808	09	1: 55.603 (31st)
9	Mika Salo	Clean Petronas	44	3	+1: 28.670	018th	1: 55.110 (30.)
10	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar Cosworth	44	2	+1: 31.555	012	1: 55,603 (42nd)
11	Pedro Diniz	Clean Petronas	44	2	+1: 34.123	015th	1: 55,153 (42nd)
12	Ricardo Zonta	BAR Honda	43	2	+ 1 lap	013	1: 57.269 (42nd)
13	Alexander Wurz	Benetton Supertec	43	2	+ 1 lap	019th	1: 56.726 (42nd)
14th	Marc Gené	Minardi fund metal	43	3	+ 1 lap	021st	1: 57.261 (19.)
15th	Jos Verstappen	Arrows-Supertec	43	4th	+ 1 lap	020th	1: 57.432 (26.)
16	Pedro de la Rosa	Arrows-Supertec	42	4th	+ 2 rounds	016	1: 56.770 (29.)
17th	Gastón Mazzacane	Minardi fund metal	42	2	+ 2 rounds	022nd	1: 57.263 (34.)
-	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	32	2	DNF	010	1: 53.803 (30.)
-	Jean Alesi	Cheers Peugeot	32	3	DNF	017th	1: 55,954 (15.)
-	Nick Heidfeld	Cheers Peugeot	12	1	DNF	014th	1: 58.831 (12.)
-	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton Supertec	8th	1	DNF	011	2: 02.148 (8th)
-	Jarno Trulli	Jordan-Mugen	4th	-	DNF	02	2: 07.154 (3rd)

World Cup stands after the race

The first six of the race got 10, 6, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point (s) respectively.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Mika Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes 74 02  Michael sSchumacher Ferrari 68 03  David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 61 04th  Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 49 05  Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 20th 06th  Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton Supertec 18th 07th  Jacques Villeneuve BAR Honda 11 08th  Jenson Button Williams-BMW 10 09  Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Mugen 7th 10  Jarno Trulli Jordan-Mugen 6th 11  Mika Salo Clean Petronas 6th 12  Eddie Irvine Jaguar Cosworth 3

Item driver constructor Points 13  Jos Verstappen Arrows-Supertec 2 14th  Pedro de la Rosa Arrows-Supertec 2 15th  Ricardo Zonta BAR Honda 1 16  Pedro Diniz Clean Petronas 0 17th  Alexander Wurz Benetton Supertec 0 18th  Johnny Herbert Jaguar Cosworth 0 19th  Marc Gené Minardi fund metal 0 20th  Nick Heidfeld Cheers Peugeot 0 21st  Gastón Mazzacane Minardi fund metal 0 22nd  Jean Alesi Cheers Peugeot 0 23  Luciano Burti Jaguar Cosworth 0

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  McLaren-Mercedes 125 02  Ferrari 117 03  Williams-BMW 30th 04th  Benetton Supertec 18th 05  Jordan-Mugen 13 06th  BAR Honda 12

Item constructor Points 07th  Clean Petronas 6th 08th  Arrows-Supertec 4th 09  Jaguar Cosworth 3 10  Minardi fund metal 0 11  Cheers Peugeot 0

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} "WM-Stand" ( Memento of the original from December 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on December 26, 2013)  
2. ↑ "1. Free training " ( Memento of the original from December 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on December 26, 2013)  
3. ↑ "2. Free training " ( Memento of the original from December 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on December 26, 2013)  
4. ↑ "3. Qualification training " ( Memento of the original from December 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on December 26, 2013)  
5. ↑ "4. Warm up “ ( Memento of the original from December 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Motorsportarchiv.de; accessed on December 26, 2013)  

Web links

• Weekend statistics at Motorsport-Total.com