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The 2001 Formula One season was the 52nd season of FIA Formula One racing. It featured the FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on 4 March 2001 and ended on 14 October after seventeen races. Michael Schumacher won the Drivers' title with a record margin of 58 points, after achieving nine victories and five second places and Ferrari won the Constructors' award. The season marked the reintroduction of traction control, with the FIA permitting its use starting at the Spanish Grand Prix. Traction control had been banned since . Schumacher also broke the all-time Formula One Grand Prix wins record during the season, scoring his 52nd win in Belgium. Future world champions Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen made their grand prix debuts in Melbourne, for Minardi and Sauber respectively. Colombian former CART champion Juan Pablo Montoya also made his F1 debut at Williams. There were new beginnings for French companies Renault and Michelin. After four years out of the sport, Renault returned to supply engines to the Benetton team, while Michelin's comeback as a tyre supplier provided Bridgestone with competition for the first time since Goodyear left the sport at the end of the 1998 season. At the other end of the spectrum fellow French company Peugeot withdrew from the sport after six years following a disastrous season in 2000 as engine supplier to Prost. The assets of Peugeot's Formula One programme were purchased by Asia Motor Technologies France and the 2000-spec powerplants were rebadged as Asiatechs and supplied to Arrows free of charge. At the end of the season, double world champion Mika Häkkinen announced his intention to take a one-year sabbatical; eventually this became full-time retirement. Also racing for the last time in 2001 was Jean Alesi, who passed the 200 race mark shortly before his final Grand Prix in Japan. Veteran British commentator Murray Walker gave his final commentary at the United States Grand Prix (which would also turn out to be Mika Häkkinen's last victory in the sport). The Prost and Benetton names disappeared from the sport at the end of 2001; Prost folded due to a lack of finances while Benetton was re-branded as Renault after the French manufacturer bought the team outright. The championship was won with ease by Michael Schumacher, who finished 58 points clear of David Coulthard in second place. It was Schumacher's fourth world championship, equalling Alain Prost's total. With Michael Schumacher's team mate, Rubens Barrichello, tallying 11 podiums throughout the season, Ferrari also won the Constructors' Championship by a substantial margin. Unlike the previous title-winning season, Schumacher was very consistent throughout the campaign and scored his nine wins more spread evenly out through the season. His title was sealed with four races remaining after a commanding win in Hungary. Coulthard's title challenge looked strong early on, winning two of the first six races and being neck and neck with Schumacher for the title lead. He also qualified on pole position in Monaco, only to stall on the grid. With Schumacher winning the race and Coulthard recovering only to fifth, it was a turning point of the season. Coulthard would not win again for the rest of the year and had dropped off massively by mid-season as Schumacher kept either winning or finishing second with few exceptions all season. Williams drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya both scored their maiden wins in the sport, at San Marino and Italy respectively. The younger Schumacher added victories in Canada and Germany, giving the team four wins in total, marking a return to success for the Oxfordshire team after three years without a victory. The Schumacher brothers also scored historic family 1–2 finishes in Canada and France. McLaren secured four wins during the season. These were shared equally among their drivers: Häkkinen winning in Britain and the United States, Coulthard winning in Brazil and Austria. ==Teams and drivers== The following teams and drivers competed in the 2001 FIA Formula One World Championship. † All engines were 3.0 litre, V10 configuration. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「2001 Formula One season」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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