SEASON 2001 IN FORMULA 1: FERRARI AND SCHUMACHER ON TOP AGAIN

SEASON 2001 IN FORMULA 1: FERRARI AND SCHUMACHER ON TOP AGAIN

Achieving a goal does not mean you stop dreaming. True to this, Ferrari are ready to attack the world title in the new season after the long-awaited triumph in 2000.

Great hopes are once again placed on Michael Schumacher. The three-time world champion is definitely proving to be what the Scuderia has needed for more than two decades to be at the top. The German did not disappoint and already after the first race weekend for the Australian Grand Prix he left with a full set of points. In 2001 however, Schumacher's task is by no means easy. Against the backdrop of the experienced Mika Hakkinen, David Coulthard and Jacques Villeneuve, the German is also up against the young but talented new additions to Formula 1. Future world champions Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen made their debut in the World Car Championship that year. The two are Minardi and Sauber drivers respectively. Juan Pablo Montoya also makes his first appearance in Formula 1. The debut season of the Colombian was particularly successful after 3 pole positions and one won start - that one for the Italian Grand Prix.

For Michael Schumacher and Ferrari, strong competition is not an obstacle, but a motivation. The German won his fourth world title after 9 wins and 6 second places, achieving a record 58-point gap over second-placed David Coulthard with McLaren-Mercedes. Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello finished third in the standings. With a win in one start - that one at the German Grand Prix - the brother of the already four-time world champion Schumacher-Ralf, ranks fourth in the standings. Mika Hakkinen finished fifth in the championship.

After the end of the season, the two-time world champion from Finland announced that he was retiring from Formula 1 for a year. However, he later changed his mind and never returned to the championship. Thus, the last winning start in the famous career of Mika Hakkinen was precisely in 2001, when he triumphed in the Grand Prix of the United States of America.

The constructors' world title easily goes to Ferrari.

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