The 2001 Japanese Grand Prix (formally the 2001 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

motor race held on 14 October 2001 at the

Suzuka Circuit The , more famously known as the , is a long motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka, Mie, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Honda Mobilityland, a subsidiary of Honda, Honda Motor Co, Ltd. It has a capacity of 155,000. Int ...

. It was the seventeenth and final race of the 2001 Formula One season. It was the 27th running of the

Japanese Grand Prix The Japanese Grand Prix ( ja, 日本グランプリ, Nihon-guranpuri) is a motor racing event in the calendar of the Formula One, Formula One World Championship. Historically, Japan has been one of the last races of the season, and as such the ...

and the 17th held at Suzuka. The race was won by the World Champion, German driver

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

driving a

Ferrari F2001 The Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari F2001 was a highly successful Formula One car that the Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari team competed with for the 2001 Formula One season. The chassis was designed by Rory Byrne, Ignazio Lunetta, Aldo Costa, Marco Fainell ...

after starting from pole position. It was Schumacher's fourth victory in the Japanese Grand Prix (expanding his own record), his third for Ferrari and his ninth for the 2001 season. Schumacher won by three seconds over Colombian driver

Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian racing driver. He won the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999 in his debut year in the series, and the IMSA WeatherTech S ...

in a

Williams FW23 The Williams FW23 was the car with which the Williams team competed in the 2001 Formula One World Championship. It was driven by German Ralf Schumacher, who was in his third year with the team, and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, a previous Formul ...

. Third was taken by British driver

David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard (; born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver from Scotland, later turned presenter, commentator and journalist. Nicknamed 'DC', he competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between and , taking 13 Grand Prix vi ...

in a McLaren MP4-16, having overtaken his teammate

Mika Häkkinen Mika Pauli Häkkinen (; born 28 September 1968), nicknamed "The Flying Finn", is a Finnish former racing driver. He won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1998 and 1999, both times driving for McLaren. Häkkinen is one of three For ...

late in the race.

Rubens Barrichello Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (, ; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 Toy ...

(Ferrari F2001) and

Ralf Schumacher Ralf Schumacher (born 30 June 1975) is a German former racing driver. He is the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher, and the pair are the only siblings to each win Formula One races. Schumacher began kart ...

(Williams FW23) completed the points finishers. Schumacher set a new record for points in a season with 123 and biggest point margin to second-placed Coulthard with 58.

Enrique Bernoldi Enrique Antônio Langue e Silvério de Bernoldi (born 19 October 1978) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who raced for the Arrows Formula One team in 2001 and 2002, and was the test driver for British American Racing (later Honda) be ...

( Arrows A22) and

Alex Yoong Alexander Charles Yoong Loong (; born 20 July 1976), is a Malaysian professional racing driver of Chinese and English parentage. Yoong began his career in saloon cars before moving into the Proton one-make series. He later raced in single-sea ...

(

Minardi PS01B The Minardi PS01 (unofficially known as European Minardi PS01) was the car with which the Minardi team competed in the Formula One season. It was initially driven by Tarso Marques, who returned to the team after last driving an F1 car in , an ...

) started the race from the pit lane. The race marked

Jean Alesi Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French professional racing driver of Italian origin. After successes in minor categories, notably winning the 1989 Formula 3000 Championship, his Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell, ...

's 201st and last Formula One race after a twelve-year career.

Kimi Räikkönen Kimi-Matias Räikkönen (; born 17 October 1979), nicknamed "The Iceman", is a Finnish racing driver who competed in Formula One between 2001 and 2021 for Sauber, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, and Alfa Romeo. Räikkönen won the 2007 Formula One Wo ...

(

Sauber C20 The Sauber C20 was the car with which the Sauber Formula One team competed in the 2001 Formula One season. It was powered by a Petronas-branded '01A' 3.0-litre V10, supplied by Scuderia Ferrari. The C20 was notable not only for its eventual positi ...

) spun off on lap five caused by left-rear suspension failure, forcing Alesi (

Jordan EJ11 The Jordan EJ11 was the car with which the Jordan team competed in the Formula One season. Background The car was different from its disappointing predecessor, the Jordan EJ10. The EJ11 now had seven gears instead of the previous car's six, and ...

) off in avoidance at the Dunlop Curve (Turn 7). It was Alesi's only retirement of the season. It was, additionally, the last race for the French

Prost Grand Prix Prost Grand Prix was a Formula One racing team owned and managed by four-time Formula One world champion Alain Prost. The team participated in five seasons from 1997 to 2001. History Purchase of Ligier As early as 1992, Alain Prost had ambitio ...

team as they went bankrupt and closed down during the following off-season. It brought an end to the team which began as

Équipe Ligier Équipe Ligier () is a motorsport team, best known for its Formula One team that operated from to . The team was founded in 1968 by former French rugby union player Guy Ligier as a sports car manufacturer. Sports car origins After retiring fr ...

after 26 years of Formula One racing.

scored his last World Championship points at this race, which was also his final ever start in Formula One. This was also the last Grand Prix start for the Benetton team, after 15 years of competition.

Classification

Qualifying

Race

Championship standings after the race

*Bold text indicates the World Champions. ;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings *Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

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Japanese Grand Prix

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...