Complete calendar with 17 races
The 2000 Formula 1 season marked a historic turning point as Michael Schumacher delivered Ferrari's first Drivers' Championship in 21 years, ending the Scuderia's longest title drought and beginning an unprecedented era of dominance. The German driver's triumph at Suzuka secured both titles for the Prancing Horse, vindicating Jean Todt's grand project and cementing the legendary partnership between Schumacher, technical director Ross Brawn, and designer Rory Byrne.
Schumacher's championship campaign was defined by relentless consistency and racecraft brilliance. He won nine of the seventeen races in the Ferrari F1-2000, including crushing victories at the San Marino, European, Canadian, and Italian Grands Prix. His main rival was defending two-time World Champion Mika Häkkinen of McLaren-Mercedes, who matched him with four victories but suffered from reliability issues and crucial errors. The title battle went down to the penultimate round at Suzuka, where Schumacher's second-place finish behind his Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello secured the crown with one race to spare.
The season featured intense wheel-to-wheel battles between Schumacher and Häkkinen, particularly at the Belgian Grand Prix where Häkkinen executed one of the greatest overtaking moves in F1 history, passing Schumacher and a backmarker simultaneously at 200 mph through Eau Rouge. Despite such setbacks, Schumacher's superior consistency proved decisive - he finished on the podium in all but three races, while Häkkinen's season was marred by retirements at crucial moments, including a costly engine failure while leading at the Nürburgring.
Ferrari's constructor's triumph was their first since 1983, ending a seventeen-year wait. The F1-2000 proved to be the most complete package on the grid, combining innovative aerodynamics with Mercedes-matching power and superior reliability. Barrichello, in his first season with Ferrari, provided solid support with a podium finish at his home Brazilian Grand Prix and victory at the final round in Malaysia, though his role was clearly defined as Schumacher's wingman.
McLaren-Mercedes pushed Ferrari hard throughout the season with David Coulthard complementing Häkkinen's four victories with three wins of his own, but mechanical gremlins cost them dearly. The silver cars were devastatingly quick but fragile at critical moments. Williams-BMW showed flashes of their revival with Ralf Schumacher taking podiums, while Jaguar Racing's debut season proved disappointing despite high expectations following their purchase of Stewart Grand Prix.
The 2000 season witnessed several watershed moments beyond Schumacher's coronation. The introduction of traction control sparked technical controversy, while the Austrian Grand Prix featured one of the most dramatic finishes in years with Häkkinen passing Schumacher on the final lap. Rookie Jenson Button impressed in his debut season with Williams, regularly outperforming his machinery, while Jacques Villeneuve's BAR Honda team showed improvement without threatening the front-runners.
Schumacher's championship victory was his third overall, tying him with legends Ayrton Senna, Jackie Stewart, and Niki Lauda, and placing him just two titles behind the all-time record. More significantly, it represented the fulfillment of his mission at Ferrari - to restore the Italian team to championship-winning glory. The triumph sparked wild celebrations in Maranello and across Italy, with the Tifosi finally able to celebrate a drivers' title after two decades of frustration. This victory would prove to be just the beginning of Ferrari's golden era, as Schumacher and the Scuderia would go on to dominate Formula 1 for the next half-decade, but the 2000 championship would always hold special significance as the breakthrough that launched a dynasty.