2001 Australian Grand Prix

2001 Australian Grand Prix
Race 1 of 17 in the 2001 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Race details[1][2]
Date	4 March 2001
Official name	LXVI Qantas Australian Grand Prix
Location	Albert Park Circuit, Albert Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Course	Temporary street circuit
Course length	5.303 km (3.295 miles)
Distance	58 laps, 307.574 km (191.118 miles)
Weather	Cloudy, sunny later
Attendance	128,500
Pole position
Driver	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Time	1:26.892
Fastest lap
Driver	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Time	1:28.214 on lap 34
Podium
First	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Second	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes
Third	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
Lap leaders [3]

The 2001 Australian Grand Prix (officially the LXVI Qantas Australian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 4 March 2001 at the Albert Park Circuit in Albert Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, before a crowd of 128,500 people. It was the first round of the 2001 Formula One World Championship and the 16th Australian Grand Prix that counted towards the Formula One World Championship. Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher won the 58-lap race from pole position. David Coulthard of the McLaren team finished second and Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello third. It was Schumacher's fifth consecutive victory in Formula One and the 45th of his career.

Michael Schumacher won the 33rd pole position of his career by recording the fastest lap in qualifying. He maintained the lead until a major accident on lap five involving Williams' Ralf Schumacher and British American Racing (BAR) driver Jacques Villeneuve resulted in the death of spectator marshal Graham Beveridge, who was struck in the chest by Villeneuve's right-rear wheel. The incident necessitated deploying the safety car. The race restarted eleven laps later with Michael Schumacher in first place until the pit stop phase for fuel and tyres. Coulthard led for three laps until his stop before Michael Schumacher regained the lead which he maintained to win the race.

Graham Beveridge was the second marshal to die from injuries sustained during a Formula One race after Paolo Gislimberti at the 2000 Italian Grand Prix just under six months before. His death was investigated by the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), who concluded it was a "freak accident". A coroner's report concluded the organisers of the race, the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, were responsible for the accident and it was "avoidable".

Following this, Michael Schumacher left Australia as the leader of the World Drivers' Championship with ten points. Coulthard was four points behind in second and Barrichello a further two adrift in third. Nick Heidfeld of Sauber and Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen were fourth and fifth. In the WorldConstructors' Championship, Ferrari led with fourteen points and McLaren were second with eight points. Sauber and Jordan followed in third and fourth with sixteen races left in the season.