Michael Schumacher made a perfect start in the 2000 F1 season with three wins in the first three races, while his main rivals from McLaren were held by early retirements.
Despite his big point advantage, Schumacher secured his first pole position only in fifth race of the season in Spain, but he didn’t convert it to victory after a pitstop accident.
Michael therefore returned to the next race at Nurburgring where he beat Hakkinen in the rain and then came Monaco.
Schumacher had 18 points lead ahead of Hakkinen and 22 ahead of Coulthard and his goal was the fifth victory in Monaco after winning in Benetton in 1994 and 1995 and in Ferrari 1997 and 1999.
Double world champion from 1994 and 1995 won the second pole position of the season, 0.271 seconds ahead of the surprisingly competitive Jarno Trulli in Jordan and 0.413 seconds ahead of third-placed Coulthard in McLaren.
Jordan’s competitiveness was also highlighted by Heinz Harald Frentzen who qualified in fourth place (+0.486 s), ahead of the 1998 and 1999 world champion Mika Hakkinen (+0.766 s).
The start was repeated because of starting procedure software bug while the contact between Button and de la Rosa caused a stoppage on the track, in slowest corner (pictured below). At the second start, Schumacher kept the lead in the first corner, and after the second round of pitstops his exhaust system broke from high temperatures and broke the rear left suspension.
The German retired and Coulthard took the lead in the lap 57 which he kept until the end of the race and celebrated second victory in the first seven races after he won the fourth race of the season in Silverstone. Barrichello finished second in Ferrari and third was Fisichella in Benetton.
The fourth was Irvine in Jaguar, in the race where he will finish third next year, and fifth was another former Ferrari driver Mika Salo in Sauber.
Coulthard reduced Schumacher’s championship advantage to 12 points and Hakkinen was 17 points behind the German after finishing sixth in Monaco. Ferrari was only five points ahead of McLaren despite Woking team failed to score in the first two races of the season.
STARTING GRID
| 1 | 3 | M.Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:19.475 | – |
| 2 | 6 | Jarno Trulli | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 1:19.746 | 0.271 |
| 3 | 2 | David Coulthard | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:19.888 | 0.413 |
| 4 | 5 | H-H.Frentzen | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 1:19.961 | 0.486 |
| 5 | 1 | Mika Häkkinen | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:20.241 | 0.766 |
| 6 | 4 | R.Barrichello | Ferrari | 1:20.416 | 0.941 |
| 7 | 14 | Jean Alesi | Prost/Peugeot | 1:20.494 | 1.019 |
| 8 | 11 | G.Fisichella | Benetton/Playlife | 1:20.703 | 1.228 |
| 9 | 9 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams/BMW | 1:20.742 | 1.267 |
| 10 | 7 | Eddie Irvine | Jaguar/Cosworth | 1:20.743 | 1.268 |
| 11 | 8 | Johnny Herbert | Jaguar/Cosworth | 1:20.792 | 1.317 |
| 12 | 12 | Alexander Wurz | Benetton/Playlife | 1:20.871 | 1.396 |
| 13 | 17 | Mika Salo | Sauber/Petronas | 1:21.561 | 2.086 |
| 14 | 10 | Jenson Button | Williams/BMW | 1:21.605 | 2.130 |
| 15 | 19 | Jos Verstappen | Arrows/Supertec | 1:21.738 | 2.263 |
| 16 | 18 | Pedro de la Rosa | Arrows/Supertec | 1:21.832 | 2.357 |
| 17 | 22 | J.Villeneuve | BAR/Honda | 1:21.848 | 2.373 |
| 18 | 15 | Nick Heidfeld | Prost/Peugeot | 1:22.017 | 2.542 |
| 19 | 16 | Pedro Diniz | Sauber/Petronas | 1:22.136 | 2.661 |
| 20 | 23 | Ricardo Zonta | BAR/Honda | 1:22.324 | 2.849 |
| 21 | 20 | Marc Gené | Minardi/Fondmetal | 1:23.721 | 4.246 |
| 22 | 21 | Gastón Mazzacane | Minardi/Fondmetal | 1:23.794 | 4.319 |
RACE RESULTS
| 1 | 2 | David Coulthard | McLaren/Mercedes | 78 | 1:49:28.213 | |
| 2 | 4 | R.Barrichello | Ferrari | 78 | 1:49:44.102 | 15.889 |
| 3 | 11 | G.Fisichella | Benetton/Playlife | 78 | 1:49:46.735 | 18.522 |
| 4 | 7 | Eddie Irvine | Jaguar/Cosworth | 78 | 1:50:34.137 | 1:05.924 |
| 5 | 17 | Mika Salo | Sauber/Petronas | 78 | 1:50:48.988 | 1:20.775 |
| 6 | 1 | Mika Häkkinen | McLaren/Mercedes | 77 | 1:49:32.819 | 1 Lap |
| 7 | 22 | J.Villeneuve | BAR/Honda | 77 | 1:50:08.074 | 1 Lap |
| 8 | 15 | Nick Heidfeld | Prost/Peugeot | 77 | 1:50:39.719 | 1 Lap |
| 9 | 8 | Johnny Herbert | Jaguar/Cosworth | 76 | 1:50:43.147 | 2 Laps |
| 10 | 5 | H-H.Frentzen | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 70 | 1:38:30.235 | Spun off |
| (9) | 19 | Jos Verstappen | Arrows/Supertec | 60 | 1:26:38.080 | Spun off |
| (1) | 3 | M.Schumacher | Ferrari | 55 | 1:17:04.191 | Suspension |
| (10) | 23 | Ricardo Zonta | BAR/Honda | 48 | 1:09:22.500 | Spun off |
| (4) | 9 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams/BMW | 37 | 52:24.925 | Spun off |
| (2) | 6 | Jarno Trulli | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 36 | 50:55.680 | Gearbox |
| (12) | 16 | Pedro Diniz | Sauber/Petronas | 30 | 43:19.447 | Spun off |
| (7) | 14 | Jean Alesi | Prost/Peugeot | 29 | 41:13.947 | Transmission |
| (17) | 21 | Gastón Mazzacane | Minardi/Fondmetal | 22 | 32:00.286 | Spun off |
| (18) | 20 | Marc Gené | Minardi/Fondmetal | 21 | 30:36.346 | Gearbox |
| (17) | 12 | Alexander Wurz | Benetton/Playlife | 18 | 26:16.800 | Spun off |
| (19) | 10 | Jenson Button | Williams/BMW | 16 | 23:28.720 | Engine |
| 18 | Pedro de la Rosa | Arrows/Supertec | 0 | – | Not started | |
Fastest lap: Mika Hakkinen – 1:21.571 (lap 57)
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 7/17 RACES
| 1 | Michael Schumacher | 46 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 10 | – |
| 2 | David Coulthard | 34 | – | – | 4 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| 3 | Mika Häkkinen | 29 | – | – | 6 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 1 |
| 4 | Rubens Barrichello | 22 | 6 | – | 3 | – | 4 | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 14 | 2 | 6 | – | – | – | 2 | 4 |
| 6 | Ralf Schumacher | 12 | 4 | 2 | – | 3 | 3 | – | – |
| 7 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | 5 | – | 4 | – | – | 1 | – | – |
| 8 | Jacques Villeneuve | 5 | 3 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – |
| 9 | Jarno Trulli | 4 | – | 3 | – | 1 | – | – | – |
| 10 | Eddie Irvine | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 |
| 11 | Mika Salo | 3 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | 2 |
| 12 | Jenson Button | 3 | – | 1 | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| 13 | Ricardo Zonta | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 14 | Pedro de la Rosa | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| 15 | Pedro Diniz | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 16 | Alexander Wurz | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 17 | Jos Verstappen | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 18 | Nick Heidfeld | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 19 | Gastón Mazzacane | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 20 | Marc Gené | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 21 | Johnny Herbert | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 22 | Jean Alesi | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| – | Luciano Burti | 0 |
CONSTRUTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
| 1 | Ferrari | 68 | 16 | 10 | 13 | 4 | 6 | 13 | 6 |
| 2 | McLaren/Mercedes | 63 | – | – | 10 | 16 | 16 | 10 | 11 |
| 3 | Williams/BMW | 15 | 4 | 3 | – | 5 | 3 | – | – |
| 4 | Benetton/Playlife | 14 | 2 | 6 | – | – | – | 2 | 4 |
| 5 | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 9 | – | 7 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – |
| 6 | BAR/Honda | 6 | 4 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | Jaguar/Cosworth | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 |
| 8 | Sauber/Petronas | 3 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | 2 |
| 9 | Arrows/Supertec | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| 10 | Minardi/Fondmetal | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 11 | Prost/Peugeot | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
