The Austrian Grand Prix in 2001 almost witnessed a collision that nearly took out Juan Pablo Montoya and Michael Schumacher as David Coulthard stole the show with a great win.
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When one looks at the new millennium in Formula One, Michael Schumacher had redefined the definition of dominance in the sport. The German legend won his third F1 title in 2000 and broke the earlier dominance of the McLaren Mercedes team. In 2001, Schumacher was facing a massive challenge at the start from McLaren and Mercedes. Mika Hakkinen, David Coulthard and Juan Pablo Montoya were all vying to dethrone Schumacher and stake the claim for the title.
Schumacher and Montoya never had a good relationship. Their feud at the start of 2001 continued for several years, with both drivers not having a good thing to say to each other. When Montoya passed him in Interlagos, Schumacher said he was distracted by a ‘backmarker’ At that point, matters became really heated. It reached tipping point in Austria.
At the start of the race, Montoya and Schumacher were going head-to-head with neither yielding an inch. The gap was closing with every passing lap. Then, the moment that ended both their races.
Schumacher was in the slipstream of Montoya and he was on the outside of the corner. Both drivers braked late as Schumacher looked to take the position. However, both drivers went off the track as they looked to avoid colliding into each other. Schumacher and Montoya joined the track but the Columbian driver had already lost momentum.
The near-collision between Schumacher and Montoya allowed David Coulthard to take the lead. What followed was a tactical battle between Rubens Barrichello, Coulthard and Schumacher. Coulthard got the jump on Barrichello in the pit stops. Schumacher made a few errors on his way to beating his team-mate but losing to the McLaren.
Coulthard won the Austrian Grand Prix and closed the gap to Schumacher to four points in the world championship. Sadly, that was the closest Coulthard got. Schumacher would win six more races to register at that time a high of nine wins in a season. Schumacher would go on to win his fourth world title. In 2002, he would win in controversial circumstances in Austria as ‘team orders’ saw Barrichello slowing down at the finish line to give Schumacher the win.
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