The Interlagos race Montoya lit up and Coulthard won

On 1 April 2001, the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos split itself into two stories. David Coulthard won for McLaren from fifth on the grid, ahead of Michael Schumacher and Nick Heidfeld, but the race is remembered just as vividly for rookie Juan Pablo Montoya, whose fearless pass on Schumacher and long spell in front turned a routine Ferrari weekend into something far more interesting.

Michael Schumacher had taken pole, with Ralf Schumacher alongside him on an all-Schumacher front row. Mika Häkkinen lined up third, Montoya fourth and Coulthard fifth, which left McLaren needing the race to come alive rather than simply settle. It did so immediately. Häkkinen stalled on the grid, the safety car was deployed, and Montoya had already moved into second before the restart.

When the safety car pulled in at the end of lap two, Montoya produced the move that still defines the afternoon. Into the Senna S, in only his third Formula 1 start, he dived past Michael Schumacher with far more conviction than caution. It was not just dramatic television. It also showed that the Williams-BMW had the straight-line speed to trouble Ferrari and that Montoya had arrived in F1 without any interest in waiting politely.

From there, Montoya did more than make a statement. He controlled the front of the race. Schumacher could not get close enough to attack, pitted on lap 25, and still failed to turn the race back in his favour. Behind them, Coulthard stayed close enough to matter, while the rest of the field added to the disorder: Ralf Schumacher was tipped into the back by Rubens Barrichello, and the Brazilian’s home race ended after only two laps.

By lap 37, with rain beginning to threaten, Montoya led Coulthard by 5.2 seconds and looked headed for a startling first win. Two laps later his race was gone. While lapping Jos Verstappen’s Arrows, the Dutchman ran into the back of the Williams under braking and put both cars out. It was the pivotal accident of the day, because it removed the driver who had been controlling the race and handed the fight back to the established names.

Coulthard still had to finish the job. He inherited the lead, stopped on lap 40, then had to manage the most confusing phase of the afternoon as the rain intensified and teams shuffled onto intermediates. Schumacher briefly regained the lead after Coulthard stayed out longer, but the Ferrari driver spun on lap 48 and the gap disappeared. On lap 50, with both leaders catching Tarso Marques, Coulthard attacked into Turn 1 and made the pass that decided the grand prix. Once ahead, he was comfortably the faster of the two.

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The official margin at the flag was 16.164 seconds, with Michael Schumacher second and Nick Heidfeld third. For Heidfeld it was a first Formula 1 podium, and for Sauber it was a first podium since Spa in 1998. For Coulthard it was his tenth grand prix win, his first since France in 2000, and an important interruption to Schumacher’s run of victories at the start of the season.

That is why the 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix sits in memory a little differently from an ordinary race result. Coulthard deserved the win because he handled the changing conditions, stayed in contention and took his chance when it appeared. But Montoya left the bigger imprint. He turned his third Formula 1 start into a direct challenge to Michael Schumacher, and even in retirement he altered the mood of the season. Coulthard left Interlagos six points behind Schumacher in the championship, while Montoya left without a trophy but with his reputation fully established.