F1: the best there ever was: Michael Schumacher enjoyed a record-setting season, capturing nearly every career F1 mark and solidifying his place in the racing pantheon - The 2001 Season In Review: F1 - Formula One racing

Auto Racing Digest, Feb-March, 2002 by Dan Knutson

DESPITE SOME SLUGGISH PERFORMANCES, Michael Schumacher still broke a dutch of records on his way to winning his fourth Formula One World Championship. When the 17-race world tour was over, the German ace had racked up 53 Grand Prix career victories, which puts him at the top of the all-time winner list, two ahead of former leader Alain Prost. Schumacher also passed Ayrton Senna's record for laps led and Prost's record for career points earned. And Schumacher tied the record of nine victories in a season, which he and Nigel Mansell now jointly hold.

Schumacher also joined another elite club, becoming one of only three drivers to win more than three World Championships--he and Prost each have four titles to their name. The legendary Juan Manuel Fangio won the crown five times. Senna, Nelson Piquet, Niki Lauda, Jackie Stewart, and Jack Brabham each won three titles. For Schumacher, each of his four championships has a special meaning.

Along with teammate Rubens Barrichello, Schumacher also helped Ferrari clinch its third consecutive Constructors Championship, the 11th overall for the team.

Schumacher has never been much of an aficionado for motor sports history or statistics. He is so focused on winning and the present that setting records and the past don't mean very much to him. "I always say that statistics aren't my first priority," he said after his 52nd win. "But it does mean something to me to have this number on my account. Actually, I'm delighted about this, but I will enjoy it much more when I'm retired and sitting on the sofa, having a cigar and a beer, and think about it."

There is no doubt Schumacher is focused on winning and--along with the entire Ferrari team--is at the peak of his career. Over the stretch of 17 races--including the last four races of the 2000 season--Schumacher won 11 times and finished second in four other races.

Ironically, however, this season--for the first time in his F1 career--Schumacher actually dropped off the pace for a couple of races. The first slip was at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, which took place just days after the September 11 tragedy. That race should have been a celebration of the driver's recent career records, but a visibly shaken Schumacher drove on autopilot and finished fourth. Two weeks later, at the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, Schumacher won the pole but admitted after finishing second that "the real Michael Schumacher" had not been present. The "real" Michael Schumacher then returned for the season finale in Japan and won in convincing

style.

"This success is thanks to the entire team and that is what makes it so fantastic," says Schumacher of winning both the Drivers and Constructors Championships. "You can't believe how wonderful the guys are and how much we stick together, both in good times and in bad times. We have such a great crew, such a good team that I'm really in love with all of them and it's so much fun to work with them. These are their achievements and I'm more than thankful to all of them. Of all the experiences I've had throughout the years, this team is simply the best."

Ferrari was indeed the perfect team in 2001. And the fact that its main rivals--West McLaren Mercedes and Williams BMW--seemed to keep offering Ferrari victories on a platter helped Schumacher finish the season with nearly double the points (123 to 65) of second-place driver David Coulthard. Ferrari's points total in the Constructors Championship was 179, compared to McLaren's 102 and Williams' 80.

McLaren's Coulthard started the season physically and mentally more prepared than he'd ever been, and scored a win, two seconds, and a third in the first four races. Unlike previous years, it was Coulthard, not his teammate--two-time World Champion Mika Hakkinen--who was the leader at McLaren.

Things went wrong for Hakkinen right from the start. He was running second in the season opener in Australia when the suspension failed and his McLaren slammed into the barrier. Although Hakkinen was OK, the impact was huge. He would later admit that it was then that he started thinking about taking a year off in 2002. From then on, nothing seemed to go right for the driver, ranging from his car stalling at the start in Brazil and Austria to having the clutch fail when he was a half of a lap away from winning in Spain.

Hakkinen finally won in England, the 11th race of the season, and he would also win the United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis. (The second F1 race at Indy was a huge success, with the largest turnout of the season.) By that time, however, Hakkinen had announced that he would be taking a sabbatical in 2002. It remains to be seen if he returns in 2003. He will be missed.

Coulthard, too, experienced mechanical and electronic woes. At the Spanish Grand Prix, Round 5, electronic driver aids such as traction control and launch control (for perfect getaways from the standing starts) became legal. In Spain, where Coulthard qualified third, and in Monaco, where he was on the pole, McLaren's launch control system suffered glitches and he had to start from the back of the pack. Schumacher went on to win both races, while Coulthard stormed back to finish fifth in each race. These were good examples of Schumacher being handed the gift of an easy win. In the second half of the season, Coulthard's championship hopes stumbled and weren't helped by the increasing speed of Williams BMW teammates Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya.