Hakkinen wins US GPDNF for Jos
Published on 30 September 2001 by Verstappen Info Page
Mika Hakkinen was the big surprise in the US Grand Prix, he finished first. The Fin, who is taking a sabatical year at the end of this season, stayed in front of Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard. Jos had to retire with a broken engine after a troublesome race.
The start on the 'Brickyard' was without any problems.
Nobody expected the Fin to win. By restarting too early from the pitlane during the warmup he was displaced; he had to hand in his fastest qualifying time which resulted in fourth place instead of second on the grid. The start is without any problems. Jos has a mediocre start but after lap one his is 14th. Up front Schumacher leads Montoya and Barrichello. Rubinho has a lighter car, overtakes Montoya and a few minutes later Michael lets him pass. This situation remains for a long time. Jos, who is on a one stop strategie moves up one place when Raikkonen retires. He is not able to improve, the car is very hard to drive. He has got blisters on his tyes and Jos is doing all he can to keep the car on track.
Jos spins just before his stop but manages to get back on track
After Barrichello had the first of his two stops Michael Schumacher takes over the lead, followed closely by Juan Pablo Montoya. In lap 34, after using Michael's slipstream Montoya manages to overtake Michael Schumacher for first position. At that time Jos already made his one and only pitstop. He lost quite a lot of places also due to going off the track just before his pitstop. .
Michael Schumacher on the banking
When Montoya goes in for his pitstop it looks like it going to be very exciting. Michael Schumacher still has to make his stop and has to guess if he will maintain his first position. We will never know because in lap one after Montoya's pitstop his car cuts out. Michael is able to take it easy during his pitstop and it looks like him and Rubens will go for podium. Hakkinen however drives on and on for a long time and is faster than the German. When he goes in for his stop in lap 47 he is 31 seconds ahead of Michael Schumacher, enough to keep the lead. A few laps later Jos has to retire with a bust engine.
Up front Hakkinen has only one opponent, Barrichello. When the Brazilian has had his second stop and rejoins the track a few seconds behind Mika Hakkinen it looks like Rubens is able to close in on the McLaren. However his Ferrari engine stutters and 2 laps before the checkered flag Rubens has to park his car on the sideline. Hakkinen then has the easy task to drive towards the finish line to claim his 20th victory of his career.
Mika Häkkinen gets help with obtaining fluids
We spoke with a very disappointed Jos while he was on his way to the airport. "This was a very bad weekend, the car just wouldn't go. The start was not very good because the launch control was not functioning correctly. The car was very hard to drive and blisters appeared on my tyres, which doesn't help either. Just after my stop the engine started to stutter and that was it." Why a one stop strategy? we asked him: "According to the team that was the best." according to Jos.
