2001 Canadian Grand Prix

2001 Canadian Grand Prix
Race 8 of 17 in the 2001 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Race details[1][2][3]
Date	10 June 2001
Official name	Grand Prix Air Canada 2001
Location	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Quebec[4]
Course	Street circuit
Course length	4.421 km (2.747 miles)
Distance	69 laps, 305.049 km (189.549 miles)
Weather	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Time	1:15.782
Fastest lap
Driver	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW
Time	1:17.205 on lap 50
Podium
First	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-BMW
Second	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Third	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders

The 2001 Canadian Grand Prix (formally the Grand Prix Air Canada 2001) was a Formula One motor race held on 10 June 2001 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec in front of a crowd of 111,000 people. It was the eighth round of the 2001 Formula One season and the 33rd Canadian Grand Prix as part of the Formula One World Championship. The 69-lap race was won by Williams driver Ralf Schumacher after starting from the second position. Ferrari's Michael Schumacher finished second and McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen came third.

Michael Schumacher won the thirty-eighth pole position of his career by posting the fastest lap in qualifying and he maintained his lead going into the first corner. He opened up his lead to 1.1 seconds until Ralf Schumacher's tyres reached their optimum operating temperatures and he lowered his advantage to four-tenths of a second until a safety car was required on lap twenty for separate accidents for Rubens Barrichello and Juan Pablo Montoya. It was on track for the next three laps although Michael Schumacher extended his lead once again at the restart, Ralf Schumacher again reduced it as he sought his way past on the track but he did so after the pit stop cycle on lap fifty-one. Ralf Schumacher held the lead for the last eighteen laps to claim his second victory of the season and it marked the first time siblings had finished first and second in Formula One.

The result of the race meant Michael Schumacher increased his lead at the top of the Drivers' Championship to eighteen points ahead of David Coulthard who retired due to an engine failure in the final fifteen laps of the race. Barrichello maintained third position despite his crash, Ralf Schumacher stayed in fourth and Häkkinen rounded out the top five. Ferrari increased their advantage over McLaren in the Constructors' Championship to 38 points and Williams retained third with nine rounds left in the season.