Date October 14, 2001 | Course length 5.859 km (3.641 mi) | |
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Official name XXVII Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix Location Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Mie, Japan Course Permanent racing facility Distance 53 laps, 310.527 km (192.953 mi) | ||
The 2001 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 14 October 2001 at the Suzuka Circuit. It was the seventeenth and final race of the 2001 Formula One season. It was the 28th Japanese Grand Prix and the 17th to be held at Suzuka. It was held over 53 laps of the six kilometre circuit for a race distance of 311 kilometres.
The race was won by the World Champion, German driver Michael Schumacher driving a Ferrari F2001 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 in a Williams FW23. Third was taken by British driver David Coulthard in a McLaren MP4-16, having overtaken his teammate Mika Häkkinen late in the race. Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari F2001) and Ralf Schumacher (Williams FW23) completed the points finishers.
Enrique Bernoldi (Arrows A22) and Alex Yoong (Minardi PS01B) started the race from the pit lane. The race marked Jean Alesi's 201st and last Formula One race after a fourteen-year career. Kimi Räikkönen (Sauber C20) spun off on lap five, forcing Alesi (Jordan EJ11) 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 team as they went bankrupt and closed down during the following off-season. It brought an end to the team which began as Equipe Ligier 32 years earlier and 26 years of Formula One racing. Mika Häkkinen scored his last ever World Championship points at this race.