The 2001 Monaco Grand Prix (formally the Grand Prix de Monaco 2001) was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Monaco in La Condamine and Monte Carlo on 27 May. It was the seventh race of the 2001 Formula One World Championship and the 59th Monaco Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher won the 78-lap race for the Ferrari team. His teammate Rubens Barrichello finished second with Jaguar's Eddie Irvine third.
Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship going into the event and his team Ferrari were first from McLaren in the World Constructors' Championship. McLaren's David Coulthard, who qualified in pole position by setting the fastest lap in qualifying, stalled at the start of the formation lap because of an electronic launch control system fault, leading to Schumacher inheriting his position. Schumacher maintained the lead in the first laps with Mika Häkkinen second and Barrichello third. Häkkinen responded to Schumacher's pace before he lost second to Barrichello on lap 13 because his car pulled to the right. Schumacher continued to lead until he made a pit stop on the 55th lap, relinquishing it to Barrichello for four laps. He would return to first position and held it to achieve his fourth victory of the season and the 48th of his career.
As a consequence of the race, Michael Schumacher extended his lead in the Drivers' Championship from four to twelve points over Coulthard. Barrichello maintained third and Ralf Schumacher remained in fourth after he retired late in the event. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari extended their lead over McLaren to 32 points. Williams and Jordan kept third and fourth and Sauber maintained fifth with ten races remaining in the season.
Background
The 2001 Monaco Grand Prix was the 7th of the 17 races in the 2001 Formula One World Championship and the 59th edition of the event. It was held at the 19-turn Circuit de Monaco between La Condamine and Monte Carlo on 27 May. There were 11 teams (each representing a different constructor) entering two drivers each for the event. Before the race, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher led the Drivers' Championship with 42 points, ahead of McLaren's David Coulthard in second with 38 and the second Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello in third with 18. Ralf Schumacher of Williams was fourth with 12 points, and Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld was fifth with 8 points. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari led with 60 points, McLaren and Williams were second and third with 42 and 18 points, as Jordan and Sauber contended for fourth place.
Michael Schumacher had won three of the six preceding races of and took pole position in five of them. He was optimistic about his prospects of equalling Graham Hill's record of five Monaco Grand Prix victories, "Traditionally, I have always gone well in Monte Carlo. On top of that, we have a great car this year and so I think we will be very competitive in our fight with McLaren for pole position and the win." Coulthard, the 2000 Monaco race winner, said he wanted to repeat his success from the year before and saw an opportunity to take the lead of the Drivers' Championship. Jaguar's Eddie Irvine said he was optimistic for Monaco because of his finishing record at the track, "I have a good track record at this place, with a second, a third and last year fourth place to my name. I am reasonably optimistic about our chances this weekend."
Following the Austrian Grand Prix two weeks prior, where four cars stalled at the start because of electronic launch control systems failures, concerns were voiced by the technical director of Williams Patrick Head and Jordan's Jarno Trulli over driver safety because of the possibility of stranded vehicles and a major accident. Others differed with Coulthard saying that launch control could help make faster getaways, and Michael Schumacher predicted that there would be no repeat of cars being unable to start, noting that McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen stalled at the Brazilian Grand Prix without launch control. Max Mosley, the president of the series' governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), advised teams to switch off their launch control systems if they expressed concerns over its reliability; he ruled out banning the aid for the Monaco race. Jordan subsequently deactivated launch control on their EJ11s and opted for a manual system due to the Circuit de Monaco's narrow characteristic. Although the FIA warned of "severe penalties" for teams who did not correctly set-up the systems, it allowed drivers to rehearse their starts at the conclusion of Thursday's practice sessions and Sunday's warm-up session.