2001 Australian Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 of 17 in the 2001 Formula One season | |||
 |
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| Date | 4 March 2001 | ||
| Official name | LXVI Qantas Australian Grand Prix | ||
| Location |
Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit Melbourne, Australia |
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| Course | Temporary street circuit | ||
| Course length | 5.303 km (3.295 mi) | ||
| Distance | 58 laps, 307.574 km (191.118 mi) | ||
| Weather | Cloudy, sunny later | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||
| Time | 1:26.892 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Michael Schumacher
|
Ferrari | |
| Time | 1:28.214 on lap 30 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Ferrari | ||
| Second | McLaren-Mercedes | ||
| Third | Ferrari | ||
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The 2001 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 4 March 2001 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. It was the 66th running of the Australian Grand Prix and the first race of the 2001 Formula One season. The race was won by German driver Michael Schumacher driving a Ferrari F2001, but the race was marred by the death of track marshal Graham Beveridge during the race. This was the last trackside death in Formula One until the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix.
The first highlight of qualifying was Minardi's beleaguered Tarso Marques, and his rollercoaster bid to get below the predicted 107% barrier of 1m 33.5s for the first time all weekend. His lurid progress was two and a half seconds shy of that target, worryingly for team boss Paul Stoddart but hardly surprising given his lack of track time after a spectacular explosion of his European V10 on Friday. Also Finnish driver Kimi Räikkönen and Juan Pablo Montoya made their Formula One debuts.
Jacques Villeneuve then opened the account for the front half of the field with an equally ragged lap that saw his underside take a particular beating at Turn 4. That likely cost him a second but, provisionally, he was on top and there he stayed in front of the impressive Kimi Räikkönen's Sauber and Juan Pablo Montoya's Williams.
The Ferraris soon put an end to Jacques' moment of glory, but of the two it was Rubens Barrichello who stole a march – his 1m 28.178s putting over a second between himself and World Champion teammate Michael Schumacher. This in itself promised a lively afternoon, and obligingly Mika Häkkinen's McLaren rolled out of his garage to pick up the cudgels.
The flying Finn's MP4/16 had yet to get the measure of the Ferraris at any stage in the weekend, but his 1m 28.098s lap was just the sort of improvement he was looking for. This, combined with Barrichello's speed, spurred Schumacher back out of his garage with almost indecent haste and in trademark, dust-kicking style took provisional pole back by over four tenths of a second.
Being the first man into the 1m 27s clearly wasn't enough for the world champion however, and to some considerable surprise he stayed out. In practice he had tried a couple of five-lap runs, with a 'cooler' in the middle but it was not a choice for the faint at heart, but the result was as effective as it was agricultural: 1m 27.516s put him over half a second clear of the rest.
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