2001 Formula One World Championship
Schumacher won the title with a record margin of 58 points over David Coulthard (McLaren), after achieving nine victories and five-second places.
Meanwhile, fellow French car manufacturer Peugeot withdrew from the sport after seven years, following a disastrous 2000 season as engine supplier to Prost.
Michelin made a comeback as tyre supplier, providing competition to Bridgestone for the first time since Goodyear left the sport at the end of the 1998 season.
Michael Schumacher started the new season where he had left off the year before, with a dominant win from pole position in the first race in Australia.
The race was marred by the death of Graham Beveridge, a track marshal who was hit by debris after a collision between Ralf Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve.
Schumacher and Barrichello started 1–2 in Malaysia and maintained their positions at the first corner, but there was a massive rain shower on the second lap, during which both Ferraris went off the track.
When the race restarted, Williams rookie Juan Pablo Montoya shocked Schumacher by coming up the inside of him and taking the lead.
In Ferrari's first 'home' race in San Marino, their main rivals McLaren stunned them by qualifying 1–2, with Coulthard on pole.
Michael Schumacher had a miserable afternoon, suffering a gearbox glitch early on and then having to retire after a puncture that damaged the wheel rim and a brake duct.
The driving aids were brought back to ensure no teams were cheating, but questions were raised over the reliability.
Ironically and shockingly, it was Häkkinen's car that gave out on the last lap with a clutch failure, giving the win to Schumacher.
The sixth round took place in Austria, where the two Williams cars out-dragged polesitter Michael Schumacher into the first corner.
His brother Ralf soon retired with a brake problem, leaving his teammate vulnerable to the Ferrari's attack.
Coulthard took the lead by jumping Rubens Barrichello in the second round of stops, and held on to take the win.
Coulthard took pole at the Monaco GP but stalled on the grid after, again, suffering problems with the launch control system.
When Häkkinen's engine failed early on, the Ferraris cruised to a 1–2 finish, with Schumacher winning ahead of Barrichello.
The demise of the McLarens allowed Eddie Irvine to get a podium, while Coulthard recovered to fifth, despite spending the majority of the race stuck behind Enrique Bernoldi.
The race in Canada was a battle between the Schumacher brothers, with Michael taking pole and maintaining his lead at the first corner.
This left Michael Schumacher to cruise to another victory, with Juan Pablo Montoya in second and David Coulthard in third.
Coulthard, who had started third, was in contention until he went over the white line while coming out of the pit lane and received a stop-go penalty.
The weekend of the German GP was dominated by the Williams team and their drivers locked out the front row.
Coulthard was a distant second with 47 and was looking anxiously over his shoulders, as Ralf with 41 and Barrichello with 37 were hot on his heels.
After the summer break, Michael Schumacher took another step to winning the title by taking pole position at the Hungarian GP, ahead of David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello.
Because of this, and also thinking of the horrific accident of Alessandro Zanardi in the Champ Car World Series the day before, Michael Schumacher asked all the drivers to go slowly at the first corner.
After utilising different strategies and Barrichello suffering a 7-second delay in his first stop, a jubilant Montoya came out on top to take his first career win.
This left Häkkinen running third in his last race in F1, but he handed the position to teammate Coulthard, as a token of gratitude.
During the season, double world champion Mika Häkkinen had announced his intention to take a one-year sabbatical in 2002.
Veteran British sports commentator Murray Walker provided his final commentary at the United States Grand Prix, where Häkkinen took home what would be his last win.
