Japanese F1 Grand Prix - Race report - Formula One Information

2000 Japanese Formula One Grand Prix
8th October, 2000. Suzuka International Racing Course. Round 16.

1/ Michael Schumacher (Ferrari);
2/ Mika Hakkinen (McLaren); 3/ David Coulthard (McLaren);
4/ R.Barrichello (Ferrari); 5/ J.Button (Williams); 6/ J.Villeneuve (BAR)

It's Official - Michael Schumacher has clinched the 2000 World Championship with his great win at Suzuka. Ferrari have not had a World Champion since Jody Scheckter in 1979 - 21 years!

Michael had pole position but was unable to shut out the Flying Fin Mika Hakkinen from reaching the all important first corner in the lead. Michael kept the pace up to Mika and was never further than a couple of seconds behind the Mclaren. Both drivers were on a 2 pit stop strategy, and on the second stop Michael was able to take advantage of intermittent light rain and come out ahead.

Schumacher cannot be beaten in the 2000 Driver's Championship with 98 points to Mika Hakkinen's 86. The Constructor's Championship goes down to the final race in Malaysia - presently Ferarri lead with 156 points to McLaren-Mercedes on 147, although McLaren will probably need a 1-2 finish to overtake their rivals.

	2000 Japanese Formula One Grand Prix
Lap	Race Report
Start	M.Schumacher on pole moves across to try and block Mika (2nd on grid) in the race to the first corner, however Mika was too quick and took the lead.
1st Corner	Hakkinen leads, R.Schumacher goes up 2 places to 4th, Irvine overtakes 2 cars to go to 5th position.
Lap 1	1/ Hakkinen; 2/ M.Schumacher; 3/ Coulthard; 4/ R.Schumacher; 5/ Irvine; 6/ Barrichello; 7/ Button; 8/ Herbert; 9/ Villeneuve; 10/ Verstappen; 11/ Frentzen; 12/ Trulli; 13/ De La Rosa; 14/ Wurz; 15/ Salo; 16/ Alesi; 17/ Heidfeld; 18/ Zonta; 19/ Diniz; 20/ Fisichella; 21/ Gene; 22/ Mazzacane.
Lap 4	Slight rain begins to fall.
Lap 5	1/ Hakkinen; (1.010 seconds) 2/ M.Schumacher; (5.5 seconds behind leader) 3/ Coulthard; (8.6 secs) 4/ R.Schumacher; (11.399) 5/ Irvine; (14secs) 6/ Barrichello...
Lap 8	Villeneuve overtakes Herbert
Lap 9	1/ Hakkinen; (1.741 seconds) 2/ M.Schumacher; (8.3 seconds behind leader) 3/ Coulthard; (14.9 secs) 4/ R.Schumacher; (18.75 secs) 5/ Irvine; (20.3 secs) 6/ Barrichello...
Lap 9	Hakkinen Fastest Lap 1:39.824
Lap 9	Verstappen retires his Arrows in pits - transmission.
Lap 10	1/ Hakkinen; 2/ M.Schumacher; 3/ Coulthard; 4/ R.Schumacher; 5/ Irvine; 6/ Barrichello; 7/ Button; 8/ Villeneuve; 9/ Herbert; 10/ Trulli; 11/ Frentzen; 12/ De La Rosa; 13/ Wurz; 14/ Salo; 15/ Alesi; 16/ Heidfeld; 17/ Zonta; 18/ Diniz...
Lap 11	1/ Hakkinen; (2.02 seconds) 2/ M.Schumacher...
Lap 11	Hakkinen Fastest Lap 1:39.7
Lap 15	Trulli pits 6.2 seconds
Lap 16	Irvine pits 10.2 seconds, rejoins in 10th place
Lap 18	Hakkinen Fastest Lap 1:39.569
Lap 19	Herbert pits 8.2 seconds Wurz; Salo; Alesi all pit stops
Lap 20	R.Schumacher pits from 4th place, 8.3 seconds Villeneuve pits 6.9 seconds, Frentzen pits
Lap 20	Alesi blows an engine and retires his Prost
Lap 21	Barrichello pits from 4th place - 6.7 seconds Button pits from 5th place - 7.8 seconds
Lap 22	Wurz goes off, but resumes race
Lap 22	Race leader Hakkinen pits - 6.8 seconds
Lap 24	Race leader M.Schumacher pits - 7.4 seconds, rejoins behind Hakkinen
Lap 24	Slight rain 1/ Coulthard; 2/ Hakkinen; 3/ M.Schumacher; 4/ Barrichello; 5/ R.Schumacher; 6/ Button; 7/ Irvine; 8/ Villeneuve; 9/ Herbert; 10/ Frentzen; 11/ Trulli; 12/ Diniz; 13/ Zonta; 14/ Salo; 15/ De La Rosa; 16/ Heidfeld; 17/ Fisichella; 18/ Gene ...
Lap 24	Race leader David Coulthard pits 6.6 seconds, rejoins ahead of Barrichello
Lap 25	Hakkinen Fastest Lap 1:39.189 Villeneuve overtakes Irvine
Lap 29	Trulli 2nd pit stop 9.7 seconds
Lap 30	Rain getting heavier - still slight - M.Schumacher closes up on race leader Hakkinen Frentzen retires his Jordan
Lap 33	Rain - lap times down to 1:41.339 for Hakkinen Hakkinen & M.Schumacher lap up to 10th place
Lap 34	Rain stops M.Schumacher nearly touches Zonta who had moved over to allow Schumacher to take the racing line into a corner
Lap 35	1/ Hakkinen; 2/ M.Schumacher; 3/ Coulthard; 4/ Barrichello; 5/ Button; 6/ R.Schumacher; 7/ Villeneuve; 8/ Herbert; 9/ Irvine; 10/ Zonta; 11/ De La Rosa; 12/ Salo; 13/ Trulli; 14/ Heidfeld; 15/ Diniz; 16/ Fisichella; 17/ Gene; 18/ Wurz ...
Lap 36	R.Schumacher pits - slight rain again
Lap 37	Hakkinen pits 7.4 seconds M.Schumacher is stuck behind Irvine in heavier rain, when he wants to do fast laps while Hakkinen is in pits
Lap 38	M.Schumacher overtakes Herbert & Irvine
Lap 39	Barrichello pits 8.5 seconds Button pits 7.7 seconds - rain eases
Lap 39	1/ M.Schumacher; 2/ Hakkinen; 3/ Coulthard; 4/ Barrichello; 5/ Button; 6/ R.Schumacher; 7/ Villeneuve; 8/ Herbert; 9/ Irvine; 10/ Zonta; 11/ Salo; 12/ ; 13/ Diniz; 14/ Trulli; 15/ Fisichella; 16/ De La Rosa; 17/ Gene; 18/ Wurz ...
Lap 40	Wurz spins his Benetton in front of M.Schumacher who avoids him just before the entrance to the pits Race leader M.Schumacher pits 6.0 seconds - rejoins in 1st place
Lap 43	1/ M.Schumacher (4.7 seconds); 2/ Hakkinen
Lap 47	R.Schumacher spins out and retires, Villeneuve moves up to 6th place 1/ M.Schumacher (3.97 seconds); 2/ Hakkinen
Lap 48	1/ M.Schumacher (4.2 seconds); 2/ Hakkinen - heavier rain 1:44.485 lap times - much slower in the rain
Lap 48	1/ M.Schumacher; 2/ Hakkinen; 3/ Coulthard; 4/ Barrichello; 5/ Button; 6/ Villeneuve; 7/ Herbert; 8/ Irvine; 9/ Zonta; 10/ Salo; 11/ Diniz; 12/ Trulli...
Lap 49	Gene retires 1/ M.Schumacher (5.8 seconds); 2/ Hakkinen - heavier rain
Lap 50	1/ M.Schumacher (5.6 seconds); 2/ Hakkinen
Lap 51	1/ M.Schumacher (6.1 seconds); 2/ Hakkinen - heavier rain
Lap 52	1/ M.Schumacher (4.8 seconds); 2/ Hakkinen - heavier rain
Lap 53	1/ M.Schumacher (4.2 seconds); 2/ Hakkinen - heavier rain
Lap RACE END	1/ Michael Schumacher (Ferrari); (2.03 seconds) 2/ Mika Hakkinen (McLaren); 3/ David Coulthard (McLaren); 4/ Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari); 5/ Jensen Button (Williams); 6/ Jacques Villeneuve (BAR); 7/ Herbert; 8/ Irvine; 9/ Zonta; 10/ Salo; 11/ Diniz; 12/ Trulli;

Japanese Grand Prix Qualifying Session 7th October, 2000
Position	Driver	Team	Time	Comment
1/ - POLE 1st row	M.Schumacher	Ferrari
2/ 1st row	Hakkinen	McLaren
3/ 2nd row	Barrichello	Ferrari
4/ 2nd row	Coulthard	McLaren
5/ 3rd row	R.Schumacher	Williams
6/ 3rd row	Villeneuve	BAR
7/ 4th row	Trulli	Jordan
8/ 4th row	Frentzen	Jordan
9/ 5th row	Irvine	Benetton
10/ 5th row	Button	Williams
11/ 6th row	Verstappen	Arrows
12/ 6th row	Salo	Sauber
13/ 7th row	Fisichello	Jaguar
14/ 7th row	Herbert	Jaguar
15/ 8th row	Diniz	Sauber
16/ 8th row	Zonta	BAR
17/ 9th row	Alesi	Prost
18/ 9th row	Wurz	Benetton
19/ 10th row	Heidfeld	Prost
20/ 10th row	Gene	Minardi
21/ 11th row	Mazzacane	Minardi
22/ 11th row	De La Rosa	Arrows