2000 Belgian Grand Prix
Encyclopedia
The 2000 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 race held on August 27, 2000 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is the venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix and the Spa 24 Hours endurance race. It is also home to the all Volkswagen club event, 25 Hours of Spa, run by the Uniroyal Fun Cup. It is one of the most challenging race tracks in the world, mainly due to its...

 in Spa
Spa, Belgium
Spa is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liège. It is situated in a valley in the Ardennes mountain chain, some southeast of Liège, and southwest of Aachen. As of 1 January 2006, Spa had a total population of 10,543...

, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. It was the thirteenth race of the 2000 Formula One season
2000 Formula One season
The 2000 Formula One season was the 51st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2000 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 12, 2000, and ended on October 22 after seventeen races...

. Mika Häkkinen
Mika Häkkinen
Mika Pauli Häkkinen is a Finnish racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion...

 took pole position and won the race ahead of Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...

.
__FORCETOC__

Report

After the disappointment of the Hungarian Grand Prix
2000 Hungarian Grand Prix
The 2000 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Hungaroring on August 13, 2000.-Report:Qualifying had Michael Schumacher on pole position with David Coulthard second, Mika Häkkinen third, Ralf Schumacher fourth, Rubens Barrichello fifth and Heinz-Harald Frentzen sixth.At the start,...

 where they were clearly slower than the McLaren's of Häkkinen and Coulthard, Ferrari desperately needed a win at the Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. In qualifying though, Mika Häkkinen in the McLaren again proved he was the man to beat, Jarno Trulli dragging his Jordan-Mugen Honda onto the front row and with rookie Jenson Button a surprise 3rd quickest in the impressively quick Williams-BMW. Michael Schumacher was struggling in 4th, clearly his Ferrari not up to pace with Häkkinen.

The rain arrived on Sunday, drenching the circuit and forcing race stewards to start the race under the safety car. The start-finish straight is short, leading into a sharp hairpin (La Source) which has been the site of many incidents in past races. Thus, safety concerns were heeded. It was not long before the safety car entered the pits and the race began. The early stage was no contest. Häkkinen was pulling away in the wet conditions, with championship rivals Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard trapped in traffic. However, Schumacher's job was made a lot easier with Jenson Button and Jarno Trulli colliding into La Source, leaving the door open for the German to push up into 2nd. Ralf Schumacher in the other Williams-BMW now inherited 3rd.

However, dry lines started to appear. The front-runners were clearly not prepared to take the gamble and switch to dry tyres, but Jean Alesi in the Prost Peugeot basically had nothing to lose and tried his luck. After his tyre change, he was clearly the fastest driver on the circuit, triggering teams to call their drivers in to do the same. McLaren made a tactical error by not calling Häkkinen and Coulthard into the pits immediately, costing them valuable time and allowing a now charging Michael Schumacher to close the gap. Meanwhile, Alesi's inspired decision had earned him a net 4th place after the pitstops.

These semi-wet conditions obviously suited Michael Schumacher's wet set-up car more than it did Häkkinen's dryer set-up car, and the German started to close the gap to the Finn. Then, Häkkinen had a spin on standing water and allowed Schumacher to take the lead. For the next handful of laps, Schumacher was comfortably extending the gap. ITV commentator Martin Brundle believed that Schumacher's clever use of the remaining wet line from Raidillon to Les Combes to cool his tyres (hence maximise their performance) was playing an integral role in his ability to pull away so easily from Häkkinen. Schumacher pitted at about half distance of the 44 lap race and filled his car with enough fuel to complete the race. Häkkinen kept going for a short while and he too completed his final pitstop.

Schumacher was still comfortably in front, but now obviously faster Häkkinen was clearly closing on the Ferrari. The track was now fully dry and Häkkinen was on a charge. Schumacher had set up his Ferrari for wet conditions due to the morning weather, meaning he had a fairly high downforce setting. He was particularly slow down the straights (notably through Eau Rouge, through Raidillon and up the Kemmel Straight approaching Les Combes). Meanwhile, Häkkinen had a more dry-weather based set-up in anticipation of a primarily dry race. This would prove crucial in the outcome of the battle.

In the final stages of the race, Häkkinen was using his straight-line speed advantage to good effect as he aimed a move up the inside of Schumacher up the Kemmel Straight approaching Les Combes. In typically robust fashion, Schumacher was going to have none of this and almost forced Häkkinen onto the grass at over 200 miles an hour. The Finn was unimpressed with that manoeuvre. He would not have to wait long for payback, in fact the very next lap at the same spot. As he and Schumacher were about to lap Ricardo Zonta, Schumacher went around the BAR driver to the left but Häkkinen went around Zonta's right and outbraked Schumacher into Les Combes. Michael Schumacher put in a good drive but in the end, he could not contain a simply faster Häkkinen. Ralf Schumacher also put in a great performance to take the final step of the podium, outracing David Coulthard in the second McLaren.

Häkkinen now led the championship with 74 points, with Schumacher 6 points behind.

Classification

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1   Mika Häkkinen
Mika Häkkinen
Mika Pauli Häkkinen is a Finnish racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion...

McLaren-Mercedes 44 1:28:14.494 1 10
2 3   Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...

Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....

44 +1.104 4 6
3 9   Ralf Schumacher
Ralf Schumacher
Ralf Schumacher is a German racing driver, and the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher...

Williams
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...

-BMW
44 +38.096 6 4
4 2 David Coulthard
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons...

McLaren-Mercedes 44 +43.281 5 3
5 10 Jenson Button
Jenson Button
Jenson Alexander Lyons Button MBE is a British Formula One driver currently signed to McLaren. He was the 2009 World Drivers' Champion.Button began karting at the age of eight and achieved early success, before progressing to car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship and the British...

Williams
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...

-BMW
44 +49.914 3 2
6 5   Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Heinz-Harald Frentzen is a German racing driver most famous for his career in Formula One. At various times driving for Williams, Jordan, Sauber, Prost, and Arrows, he achieved three race wins before his retirement from F1 in 2003.-Early career:He was born in the West German city of...

Jordan
Jordan Grand Prix
Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team is named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan...

-Mugen-Honda
44 +55.984 8 1
7 22   Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve, , is a Canadian musician and automobile racing driver. He is the son of the late Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve, and is the namesake of his uncle...

BAR
British American Racing
British American Racing was a Formula One constructor that competed in the sport from 1999 to 2005. BAR began by acquiring Tyrrell, and used Supertec engines for their first year...

-Honda
44 +1:12.380 7  
8 8 Johnny Herbert
Johnny Herbert
John Paul Herbert is a British racing driver from England. He competed in Formula One, winning three races, and also in sports cars winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1991 driving a Mazda 787B...

Jaguar
Jaguar Racing
Jaguar Racing was a Formula One team that competed in the FIA Formula One World Championship from 2000 to 2004. It was formed from the purchase by Ford of Jackie Stewart's Stewart Grand Prix Formula One team in June 1999. Ford renamed the team Jaguar Racing as part of its global marketing...

-Cosworth
Cosworth
Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...

44 +1:27.808 9  
9 17   Mika Salo
Mika Salo
Mika Juhani Salo is a Finnish racing driver. He competed in Formula One between and . His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999. He also won the GT2 class in the 2008 and 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans....

Sauber
Sauber
Sauber F1 Team is a Swiss Formula One team. It was founded in the 1970s by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in 1993....

-Petronas
Petronas
PETRONAS, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company that was founded on August 17, 1974. Wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia, the corporation is vested with the entire oil and gas resources in Malaysia and is entrusted with the responsibility of developing and...

44 +1:28.670 18  
10 7 Eddie Irvine
Eddie Irvine
Edmund "Eddie" Irvine, Jr. is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He grew up in Conlig, County Down, and was influenced by his parents, who were also involved in motor racing...

Jaguar
Jaguar Racing
Jaguar Racing was a Formula One team that competed in the FIA Formula One World Championship from 2000 to 2004. It was formed from the purchase by Ford of Jackie Stewart's Stewart Grand Prix Formula One team in June 1999. Ford renamed the team Jaguar Racing as part of its global marketing...

-Cosworth
Cosworth
Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...

44 +1:31.555 12  
11 16   Pedro Diniz
Pedro Diniz
Pedro Paulo Diniz is a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 99 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on March 26, 1995...

Sauber
Sauber
Sauber F1 Team is a Swiss Formula One team. It was founded in the 1970s by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in 1993....

-Petronas
Petronas
PETRONAS, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company that was founded on August 17, 1974. Wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia, the corporation is vested with the entire oil and gas resources in Malaysia and is entrusted with the responsibility of developing and...

44 +1:34.123 15  
12 23   Ricardo Zonta
Ricardo Zonta
Ricardo Luiz Zonta is a Brazilian racing driver.-Early career:Born in Curitiba, Brazil, Zonta began karting in 1987, winning his first race shortly thereafter. The following year, he was runner-up for the Curitiba Karting Championship, and in 1991, he won the title...

BAR
British American Racing
British American Racing was a Formula One constructor that competed in the sport from 1999 to 2005. BAR began by acquiring Tyrrell, and used Supertec engines for their first year...

-Honda
43 +1 Lap 13  
13 12   Alexander Wurz
Alexander Wurz
Alexander Wurz is an Austrian racing driver. He competed in Formula One from until , and is also a two-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours....

Benetton
Benetton Formula
Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000 the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for...

-Playlife
Playlife
Playlife is a fashion company based in Treviso, Italy.The company is owned by the Benetton family and is the sporting label of the clothes manufacturer....

43 +1 Lap 19  
14 20   Marc Gené
Marc Gené
Marc Gené i Guerrero is a motor racing driver, from Catalonia, Spain. He is best known as a tester for Williams and Ferrari in Formula One, Minardi Formula One driver and factory driver for Peugeot's Le Mans team, with which he won the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans...

Minardi
Minardi
Minardi was an automobile racing team and constructor founded in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following of fans...

-Fondmetal
Fondmetal
Fondmetal is a Italian wheel manufacturer, founded by Gabriele Rumi.It also was a Formula One constructor from 1991 through 1992, as well as a Formula One engine supplier in 2000 and sponsor of several teams throughout this period...

43 +1 Lap 21  
15 19   Jos Verstappen
Jos Verstappen
Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen nicknamed "Jos the Boss" is a Dutch racing driver. He is the most successful Dutch Formula One driver, and has also won races in A1 Grand Prix and Le Mans Series LMP2 races...

Arrows
Arrows
Arrows Grand Prix International was a British Formula One team active from to . For a period of time, it was also known as Footwork.-Origins :...

-Supertec
Supertec
Supertec was a Formula One engine supplier in 1999 and 2000. Supertec supplied Renault-designed, Mecachrome-built 1998 season engines updated for 1999 and 2000....

43 +1 Lap 20  
16 18   Pedro de la Rosa
Pedro de la Rosa
Pedro Martínez de la Rosa is a Formula One driver who has participated in 87 Grands Prix for the Arrows, Jaguar, McLaren and Sauber teams, debuting on 7 March 1999, becoming one of very few drivers to score a point at his first race...

Arrows
Arrows
Arrows Grand Prix International was a British Formula One team active from to . For a period of time, it was also known as Footwork.-Origins :...

-Supertec
Supertec
Supertec was a Formula One engine supplier in 1999 and 2000. Supertec supplied Renault-designed, Mecachrome-built 1998 season engines updated for 1999 and 2000....

42 +2 Laps 16  
17 21   Gastón Mazzacane
Gastón Mazzacane
Gastón Hugo Mazzacane is a racing driver from Argentina. He participated in 21 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on March 12, 2000. He scored no championship points....

Minardi
Minardi
Minardi was an automobile racing team and constructor founded in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following of fans...

-Fondmetal
Fondmetal
Fondmetal is a Italian wheel manufacturer, founded by Gabriele Rumi.It also was a Formula One constructor from 1991 through 1992, as well as a Formula One engine supplier in 2000 and sponsor of several teams throughout this period...

42 +2 Laps 22  
Ret 4   Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Gonçalves "Rubinho" Barrichello is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He is currently racing for Williams F1.Barrichello has scored the seventh highest points total in Formula One history. Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to , as Michael Schumacher's teammate, enjoying considerable...

Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....

32 Fuel pressure 10  
Ret 14   Jean Alesi
Jean Alesi
Jean Alesi is a French racing driver of Italian origin. His Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell, Benetton, Sauber, Prost, Jordan and most notably Ferrari where he proved very popular among the tifosi...

Prost
Prost Grand Prix
Prost Grand Prix was a Formula One racing team managed by former world champion Alain Prost. The team participated in five seasons from 1997 to 2001.-Purchase of Ligier:...

-Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...

32 Fuel pressure 17  
Ret 15   Nick Heidfeld
Nick Heidfeld
Nick Lars Heidfeld is a German racing driver.Despite scoring regular podium finishes in and , Heidfeld has yet to win a race since entering Formula One in . This means that amongst the current drivers, he has had the most GP starts without standing at the top spot on the podium...

Prost
Prost Grand Prix
Prost Grand Prix was a Formula One racing team managed by former world champion Alain Prost. The team participated in five seasons from 1997 to 2001.-Purchase of Ligier:...

-Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...

12 Engine 14  
Ret 11   Giancarlo Fisichella
Giancarlo Fisichella
Giancarlo Fisichella , also known as Fisico, Giano or Fisi, is an Italian racing driver. He has driven in Formula One for Minardi, Jordan, Benetton, Sauber, Renault, Force India and Ferrari. Nowadays, he drives for AF Corse's GT2 Ferrari in various sportscar events...

Benetton
Benetton Formula
Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000 the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for...

-Playlife
Playlife
Playlife is a fashion company based in Treviso, Italy.The company is owned by the Benetton family and is the sporting label of the clothes manufacturer....

8 Electrical 11  
Ret 6   Jarno Trulli
Jarno Trulli
Jarno Trulli is an Italian Formula One racing driver. He has been a regular in Formula One since 1997, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault and Toyota. He won the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix for Renault, his only Grand Prix victory to date. He is known for being a qualification expert...

Jordan
Jordan Grand Prix
Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team is named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan...

-Mugen-Honda
4 Collision 2  

Standings after the race

  • Bold text indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1   Mika Häkkinen
Mika Häkkinen
Mika Pauli Häkkinen is a Finnish racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion...

74
2   Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...

68
3 David Coulthard
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons...

61
4   Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Gonçalves "Rubinho" Barrichello is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He is currently racing for Williams F1.Barrichello has scored the seventh highest points total in Formula One history. Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to , as Michael Schumacher's teammate, enjoying considerable...

49
5   Ralf Schumacher
Ralf Schumacher
Ralf Schumacher is a German racing driver, and the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher...

20


Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 McLaren
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited, trading as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, is a British Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed and won in the Indianapolis 500 and Canadian-American Challenge Cup...

-Mercedes
125
2   Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....

117
3 Williams
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...

-BMW
30
4   Benetton
Benetton Formula
Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000 the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for...

-Playlife
Playlife
Playlife is a fashion company based in Treviso, Italy.The company is owned by the Benetton family and is the sporting label of the clothes manufacturer....

18
5   Jordan
Jordan Grand Prix
Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team is named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan...

-Mugen-Honda
13

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK