Date 21 May 2000 | Course length 4.556 km (2.831 mi) | |
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Official name LI Grand Prix of Europe Location Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany Course Permanent racing facility Distance 67 laps, 305.235 km (189.664 mi) | ||
The 2000 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on May 21, 2000 at the Nürburgring in Nürburg, Germany. It was the sixth race of the 2000 Formula One season. The race was the 44th race to carry the European Grand Prix name and the ninth to be held at the Nürburgring. It was the tenth time the European Grand Prix was held as a standalone event. The race was held over 67 laps of the 4.5-kilometre circuit for a total race distance of 305 kilometres.
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The race was won by eventual 2000 world champion, German driver Michael Schumacher driving a Ferrari F1-2000. The win was Schumacher's fourth win of the season and his third European Grand Prix victory, a new record. McLaren drivers, Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard, finished second and third respectively.
Report
Qualifying had David Coulthard on pole position, with Michael Schumacher second, Mika Häkkinen third, Rubens Barrichello fourth, Ralf Schumacher fifth and Jarno Trulli sixth. Nick Heidfeld qualified his Prost-Peugeot in 13th position, but his car was found to be two kilograms underweight, and he was excluded from the race. This would have been his first Formula 1 race in his home country of Germany.
At the start, Coulthard missed the lights for a second while Häkkinen got away well. Häkkinen and Schumacher touched but both went through safely with Häkkinen ahead of Schumacher, Coulthard, Barrichello and Jacques Villeneuve. Behind them, Jarno Trulli tangled with Giancarlo Fisichella, putting Trulli out.
Coulthard had a problem and was keeping Barrichello behind him while allowing Häkkinen and Schumacher to get away. So, by 10 laps, Häkkinen and Schumacher were four seconds ahead but the first rain drops fell on lap 11 and Schumacher pulled out from behind Häkkinen and took the lead at the Veedol-chicane. Next lap, Barrichello dived ahead of Coulthard as the rains became stronger. It continued for three laps with the Ferraris on a clear track pulling away from the McLaren behind them until Coulthard went into the pits on lap 14. Soon Schumacher went into the pits followed by Häkkinen. Both of them were slow but Schumacher came 4 seconds ahead of Coulthard and Häkkinen came 5 seconds behind him. Barrichello went on lap 18 from the lead but he found out that he was down in ninth place after his stop. The order was: Schumacher, Coulthard, Häkkinen, Ralf, Pedro de la Rosa, Fisichella, Eddie Irvine, Jos Verstappen and Barrichello.
Ralf soon pitted and was back down in 10th while Häkkinen passed Coulthard for second and Barrichello passed Verstappen and Irvine to be up to sixth. Fisichella passed de la Rosa soon afterward but Barrichello was closing on both of them. On lap 29, Verstappen tried to pass Irvine and got ahead but Irvine refused to lift and the two collided and Ralf hit Irvine's car, taking all three of them out. At the front, Schumacher and Häkkinen were threading their way through backmarkers, but the gap between them was increasing. Coulthard was dropping way at over a second a lap because of his gearbox problems and soon Barrichello was up to fifth by passing de la Rosa. At the front, Schumacher went into the pits on lap 35 with a 20-second lead. He rejoined 7 seconds behind Häkkinen.
Häkkinen with a lighter fuel load was pulling away from Schumacher at a second a lap as the Ferrari was fueled to the flag. But he was only 10 seconds ahead with 7 laps fuel left and 17 seconds needed to have a chance to get ahead of Schumacher. On lap 41, Barrichello overtook Fisichella for fourth but he was already a lap down on Häkkinen and Schumacher. Häkkinen pulled away until lap 45 when he pitted. He rejoined 11 seconds behind Schumacher and again started to close in. Behind them, Barrichello was closing in on Coulthard rapidly but he was well behind. Fisichella stayed ahead of de la Rosa after their stops. Häkkinen reduced the gap to 5 seconds but Schumacher started to pull away again. The race ended with Schumacher winning by 13 seconds from Häkkinen, Coulthard holding off Barrichello with Fisichella and de la Rosa with the other points.