F1 Rewind: 2000 British Grand Prix

As the world marks Easter Sunday, we rewind back to 2000 when Silverstone hosted the British Grand Prix across Easter weekend.

This event marked an unexpected Spring move for the British Grand Prix from its traditional mid-summer slot, with inclement weather conditions in the build-up to the race weekend closing off several car parks around Silverstone circuit with fans forced to enter via foot on race day.

Michael Schumacher entered this race sat top of the driver standings with three wins from the opening three races of the new Millennium, yet this race would see a home favourite win on British soil.

Now here is a full rewind to the entire weekend from Practice through to Qualifying to the Race itself.

 

Practice

FP1

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Heinz-Harald Frentzen topped FP1 for Jordan with a 1m 27.683 as conditions began to deteriorate after beginning on a dry track, as Jaguar’s Eddie Irvine was second quickest ahead of David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen in a McLaren three-four as Jarno Trulli rounded out the top five.

 

FP2

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FP2 took place in wet conditions with no improvements on FP1 times as Hakkinen topped the session with a 1m 33.132, ahead of Ferrari’s Mick Schumacher by 0.228s as the German recovered from a difficult FP1 which left him 21st fastest.

Coulthard was third quickest ahead of Rubens Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher, Giancarlo Fisichella, Frentzen, Jos Verstappen, Trulli and Mika Salo.

FP2 however saw a red flag after Coulthard pulled over at Hangar Straight with a hydraulic issue, only for the recovery vehicle to get stuck in mud which required the use of a tractor to recover it.

Jacques Villeneuve meanwhile almost struck a marshal as he tried to assist Coulthard.

 

Qualifying

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Conditions had begun to improve in time for Qualifying as drivers took to the track with a limit of 12 laps and the 107% rule in full effect.

Minardi occupied the last row with Marc Gene outqualifying Gaston Mazzacane by 0.921s, with Salo, Pedro de la Rosa and Alexander Wurz occupying 18-20th on the grid just ahead of the Minardi duo.

Up front, Jos Verstappen held pole position entering the final minutes of Qualifying but spun off, allowing Barrichello to clinch his third F1 pole with a 1m 25.703 which was just 0.003s quicker than Frentzen.

Hakkinen and Coulthard had to settle for the second row ahead of Schumacher as Jenson Button qualified sixth for his first home race ahead of Williams teammate – Ralf Schumacher, as Verstappen dropped to eighth with Irvine and Villeneuve rounding out the top ten.

 

Warm Up

The pre-race warm up session was delayed 100 minutes from its scheduled 9:30am start due to persistent fog, which caused the medical helicopter to be unable to arrive at the circuit as no session can be held unless the helicopter is able to fly.

Stewards eventually decided to cancel the drivers’ parade in order to fit in the warm-up session, which was topped by David Coulthard with 1m 26.800 ahead of Arrows’ Pedro de la Rosa and Ralf Schumacher of Williams who rounded out the top three.

 

Race

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With warm-up completed just 80 minutes prior to lights out, the race eventually proceeded at its scheduled 1pm start in dry conditions.

Barrichello made a clean start to lead from Frentzen as Coulthard jumped Hakkinen for third, as Button moved up to fifth ahead of Villeneuve who leapt from tenth to sixth at the start.

Villeneuve however lost sixth to Ralf Schumacher at Stowe on the second lap with the top six holding position until the first round of pit stops, whilst Verstappen’s race was ended on lap 20 with an electrical issue.

De la Rosa became the second retiree on lap 26 after pulling over with a hydraulic failure, just two laps before Coulthard overtook Barrichello at Stowe to lead his home race after leapfrogging Frentzen in the pit stop window.

Barrichello then encountered a hydraulics issue on lap 35 which sent him spinning off track, before eventually retiring his Ferrari on lap 36 as Ricardo Zonta spun off into race retirement.

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Frentzen proceeded to claim the lead from laps 39-41 before making his second stop which promoted Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher up to second and third, with Schumacher denied the opportunity by backmarkers to catch and pass Hakkinen.

Coulthard soon experienced gearbox issues in the final laps as Hakkinen rapidly reeled him in, only to run out of time to get close and make a race-winning pass as Coulthard held on for the win in front of his home crowd ahead of Hakkinen and Schumacher.

Ralf Schumacher finished fourth ahead of Button and Trulli who rounded out the top six points paying positions.

Nick Heidfeld retired on lap 51 with an engine issue whilst Frentzen fell from fourth to a classified finish of 17th as a gearbox issue ended his race on lap 54, before Villeneuve’s race ended with a similar problem two laps later.

Coulthard consequently leapfrogged Hakkinen into second in the driver standings with victory, as Michael Schumacher held a 20 point lead over the Brit on 34 points to 14 points which eventually was converted into the German’s third F1 crown by end of 2000.

Position	Driver	Team	Laps	Time
1	David Coulthard	McLaren	60	1h 28m 50.108
2	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren	60	+ 1.477
3	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	60	+ 19.917
4	Ralf Schumacher	Williams	60	+ 41.312
5	Jenson Button	Williams	60	+ 57.759
6	Jarno Trulli	Jordan	60	+ 79.273
7	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton	59	+ 1 Lap
8	Mika Salo	Sauber	59	+ 1 Lap
9	Alexander Wurz	Benetton	59	+ 1 Lap
10	Jean Alesi	Prost-Peugeot	59	+ 1 Lap
11	Pedro Diniz	Sauber	59	+ 1 Lap
12	Johnny Herbert	Jaguar	59	+ 1 Lap
13	Eddie Irvine	Jaguar	59	+ 1 Lap
14	Marc Gene	Minardi	59	+ 1 Lap
15	Gaston Mazzacane	Minardi	59	+ 1 Lap
16	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Honda	56	Gearbox
17	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan	54	Gearbox
NC	Nick Heidfeld	Prost-Peugeot	51	Engine
NC	Ricardo Zonta	BAR-Honda	36	Spin
NC	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	35	Hydraulics
NC	Pedro de la Rosa	Arrows	26	Electrical
NC	Jos Verstappen	Arrows	20	Electrical