A Peep from the past : 2001 Malaysian GP

The Canadian GP saw some dominating driving by Lewis Hamilton but a huge credit of this victory goes to the McLaren team. Nowadays the contribution of the team and their strategies have increased a lot in winning a race and in recent times we have not witnessed any spectacle from the driver’s side.

While wondering of the driving spectacles one race which I will always remember flashes through my mind always!! and that is the 2001 Malaysian Grand Prix. Schumacher showed the world why he was called the “Regenkönig” (rain king) or “Regenmeister” (rain master). The genius showcased his brilliant racing skills in the wet where everybody was spinning off. The everybody includes the well known ones like Mika Hakkinen, David Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher, Barrichello, Fisichella, Trulli, Montoya, Alesi and also the then newcomers Raikkonnen and Alonso amongst other great drivers. The point is that the drivers who participated in this race were either well experienced at that time or have become later on.

Coming to the race, the qualification went very well for the then reigning champion Schumacher. It was a Ferrari 1-2 at the start of the grid followed by the younger brother Ralf in his Williams. He was followed by one of the greats Finnish Mika Hakkinen in his McLaren in fourth position. Jordan’s Jarno Trulli, Williams’s Juan Pablo Montoya, Honda’s Villeneuve, Coulthard, Frentzen and Oliver Panis rounded of the top 10. It looked like a routine outing for Schumi after the qualification and Ferrari had another 1-2 finish on their mind.

schumacher: showed his genius in the 2001 Malaysian GP

But it did not turn out to be so, just before the start of the race Schumacher noticed an oil spill in his car and so had to use the team’s spare car. This meant that Schumacher would start the race from the end of the pack with Montoya also having some car trouble and started from the pits. Opting a completely opposite strategy Schumi went for the gamble choosing intermediate tyres in what was a drenched circuit before the race even started when all others were opting for the completely wet weather tyres.

The race started of with the retirement of Kimi due to a drive shaft problem and was left stranded at the start of the race and in the first turn Ralph spun out and regained at the end of the pack and in the same lap Oliver Panis retired due to an oil leakage. Lap three saw Montoya, Bernoldi, Villeneuve and Heidfield spinning off after an Eddie Irvine retirement due to water leakage in the same lap. With all this chaos and many drivers including Schumacher running wide into the gravel after the turn forced the safety car to come in. As the safety car came out the cars started pitting one by one where there was one more tragedy for him. Schumi was called into the pits at the same time when Barrichello was also called. Due to the mis-communication and as Barrichello was ahead, he was already in the pits while Schumi came in. The world champion had to wait while Barrichello was being serviced and unfortunately Barrichello’s pit stop extended over a minute. Schumacher’s stop also extended towards a minute but Ferrari had done well to push him out fast. He came back into the lower end of the pack with the safety car on. The safety car stayed on for more than expected time that is 6 laps before it left the track. As Schumi had gambled on his tyres and picked the intermediate ones it favoured him. The track was not completely wet but was partially wet and partially dry and the choice of intermediate tyres added for his advantage.Schumi was driving so perfectly in those wet conditions that he was nearly lapping 5 seconds faster than anyone else while everyone was struggling to get the grip on the track and were spinning off the track now and then. Slowly the track started to dry up and the cars started picking up the pace. Then came the final set of pit stops but by then both the Ferraris had emerged into the lead with Coulthard behind them. As they were in a comfortable position both the Ferraris started dropping pace while the McLarens tried their best to catch them up.

It was a brilliant effort for Schumi to go from a lap down after the first pit stops to the first position within 15 laps and he carried that effort throughout the race and won it comfortably. He went on to win the championship that year also with this brilliant form!

It was one hell of a race with Schumi showing the world what he is capable of and how he can turn things around!!