page_title: 2000 French Grand Prix
section_title: Race
hierarchical_section_title: 2000 French Grand Prix / Race
caption_attribution_description: David Coulthard in the pits at the 2007 Italian GP
context_page_description: The 2000 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 2 July 2000 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours, Burgundy, France. It was the ninth race of the 2000 Formula One season and the 86th French Grand Prix. The 72-lap race was won by McLaren driver David Coulthard after starting from second position. His teammate Mika Häkkinen finished second with Rubens Barrichello third for the Ferrari team.
  Coulthard started the race alongside Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher who began from pole position. Barrichello began from third on the grid and overtook Coulthard going into the first corner. Michael Schumacher maintained his start line advantage and kept the lead after the first round of pit stops. During the course of the second stint of the race, Michael Schumacher began to struggle with tyre wear, allowing Coulthard to close the gap and passed him on lap 40. Coulthard maintained his lead through the second round of pit stops and won the race. Michael Schumacher retired on lap 59 with an engine failure promoting Häkkinen into second position. Barrichello took third, ahead of BAR driver Jacques Villeneuve in fourth.
context_section_description: The race started at 14:00 local time. The conditions on the grid were dry before the race. The air temperature ranged from 27 to 28 °C (81 to 82 °F) and the track temperature was between 38 to 39 °C (100 to 102 °F); conditions were expected to remain consistent throughout the race. All drivers started on the Extra Soft dry compound tyres. Coulthard managed to achieve a better start of the front runners off the line, though Michael Schumacher moved into the McLaren driver's path to defend his lead. Coulthard then moved to his right allowing Barrichello to pass him for second position. Salo made the best start in the field moving from twelfth to ninth by the end of the first lap, while Irvine lost four positions over the same distance as Ralf Schumacher dropped from fifth to seventh. At the completion of the first lap, the order was Michael Schumacher, Barrichello, Coulthard, Häkkinen, Villeneuve, Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher, Trulli, Salo, Irvine, Button, Herbert, de la Rosa, Heidfeld, Alesi, Fisichella, Verstappen, Zonta, Diniz, Wurz, Gené and Mazzacane.
  Michael Schumacher began to pull clear from the rest of the field and set consecutive fastest laps. Barrichello began to hold up the McLaren drivers to allow his teammate to extend his lead. Further down the field, Trulli passed Ralf Schumacher to take seventh position on lap two. Heidfeld was overtaken by Alesi for 14th on the same lap. On the following lap, Ralf Schumacher retook seventh position from Trulli. Heidfeld lost a further position to Fisichella on lap four. Ralf Schumacher started to challenge Frentzen for sixth position on the fifth lap. At the front of the pack, Michael Schumacher was in control, extending his lead over Barrichello to five seconds by lap ten. Button took tenth position from Irvine on lap twelve, while Heidfeld collided with Alesi, sending his teammate into a spin who rejoined in 18th. Button moved into ninth place when he passed Salo on lap 13. Zonta, who was running 17th, suffered brake problems on lap 17 and collided with the tyre barriers which caused him to retire from the Grand Prix.
  By the 18th lap, Michael Schumacher had extended his lead over Barrichello by 6.2 seconds, who in turn was continuing to hold up Coulthard in third. Häkkinen was a further 1.4 seconds behind his teammate but was drawing ahead of Villeneuve in fifth. Herbert made an unscheduled pit stop due to a gearbox issue and retired two laps later. Meanwhile, on the same lap, Alesi became the first driver to pit for tyres on the same lap. Trulli became the first front runner to pit on lap 21, followed by Villeneuve, Frentzen and Ralf Schumacher. Coulthard managed to take Barrichello on lap 22 for second place at turn five. Häkkinen, Button, Michael Schumacher, Coulthard and Barrichello all made pit stops over the following three laps. Verstappen pulled onto the side of the pit straight to retire with gearbox problems on lap 26. Coulthard was able to close the gap on Michael Schumacher to under a second by lap 32, having set the fastest lap of the race in the process, a 1:19.479 on the 28th lap. He attempted to overtake his rival two laps later but  Michael Schumacher defended his position. Coulthard lifted off the throttle to avoid a collision and made a hand gesture towards Michael Schumacher. The manoeuvre allowed Häkkinen to close up on the two leading drivers. On the previous lap, Mazzacane spun off at the third corner and retired.
  Wurz locked his brakes going into turn 15, causing him to beach his car in the gravel trap and retired on lap 36. Button became the first driver to pit twice on lap 39. Coulthard replicated his manoeuvre into turn five on Michael Schumacher on lap 40, with the later pushed to the side of the track by Coulthard who took the lead. Michael Schumacher's right front wheel made slight contact with Coulthard's left front tyre in the process. Michael Schumacher then immediately withstood Häkkinen's attempts to overtake him. Frentzen and de la Rosa became the next two drivers to make pit stops on the same lap. Michael Schumacher and Häkkinen made p
caption: David Coulthard (pictured in 2007) took his third win of the 2000 season.
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