Hakkinen dominates for first win of 2001.

Mika Hakkinen ended his 14-race losing streak after scoring a dominating victory in the British Grand Prix in his McLaren-Mercedes yesterday.

Hakkinen's last victory came in the Belgian Grand Prix on August 29th, 2000. This was his 19th career Formula One victory and his first in Britain. It was the third win of the season for McLaren.

"It feels really good," Hakkinen said. "Obviously, after all the trouble that's been going on this year, it feels good to win, and particularly here at Silverstone because I drive for an English team and in front of an English crowd. We made a great show."

"It's probably difficult to understand 100 percent how important it is for me, because first of all, I always wanted to win in Canada, and I did that in 1999. I always wanted to win that because it's a very special Grand Prix, as is the Silverstone Grand Prix. And it happened today, so it's something incredible, something that has been missing from my book."

Pole sitter Michael Schumacher jumped into the lead at the start. But because he was on a one pit-stop strategy, his Ferrari carried a heavier fuel load than Hakkinen's McLaren-Mercedes that was on a two-stop strategy. Hakkinen attacked for the lead and took over first place on Lap 5.

While Hakkinen's McLaren-Mercedes was handling perfectly, Schumacher's Ferrari was not. That allowed Hakkinen to pull away. Juan Pablo Montoya also passed Schumacher, ran second and even led for four laps in his Williams-BMW during the first round of pit stops, but Hakkinen remained in control of the race.

Schumacher finished second while his Ferrari teammate, Rubens Barrichello, took third. Schumacher increased his lead in the World Championship to 37 points over David Coulthard who failed to finish in front of his home crowd.

Coulthard's McLaren-Mercedes and Jarno Trulli's Jordan-Honda collided in the first turn. While Coulthard was able to continue, Trulli's day was over. But Coulthard's car had been damaged, and he spun out of the race on Lap 3.

British American Racing-Honda teammates Jacques Villeneuve and Olivier Panis also collided in the first turn, and that knocked Panis out of the race.

Montoya finished fourth and thought he could have been third, but his two-stop strategy did not work out as he hoped. His teammate, Ralf Schumacher, got as high as fourth before retiring when his engine lost power and shut off. The Sauber-Petronas team was thrilled to have both drivers finish in the points with Kimi Raikkonen fifth and Nick Heidfeld sixth.

Hakkinen averaged 134.359 mph (216.231 km/h) to complete the 60-lap, 191.604-mile (308.356 km) race in one hour, 25 minutes and 33.770 seconds. His margin of victory was 33.646 seconds.

Quotebook:

Mika Hakkinen (McLaren-Mercedes, winner): "Hopefully there will be more wins before the end of the season. Before this Grand Prix we had a very good test. We were able to get a good balance in the car, and the tyres we were using here suited my driving style, so I was able to attack the corners. I was able to have a car that didn't understeer so much and gave me the opportunity to choose the line in the corners that I wanted to. That probably can explain my speed here a little bit. Otherwise, everything was at it has always been."

Michael Schumacher (Ferrari, second, on how Mika Hakkinen passed him for the lead on Lap 5): "My car wasn't really the way I would have liked to have it, and particularly into Copse I had a lot of problems. I got sideways a couple of times on the entry, and when it happened with Mika, that's what happened, I lost it at the entry. I managed to keep it on the track, which was the only thing I was worried about at this moment, and then Mika was beside, and there was nothing I could do against that."

(On whether a two-stop strategy would have been better than pitting once): "Maybe. It's sort of nonsense to talk about this now honestly because we had new tyres here. We didn't have great experience with them, and it was sort of unknown what would happen to the tyre in the later stages. With all these unknowns, the difficulties with weather, it wasn't easy to find the right strategy. If I could have maybe kept Mika behind me, the race would have turned out differently. It would have been me (who won) and putting the questions the other way around. So sometimes it works in your favour, sometimes it doesn't."

Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari, third, on why Ferrari chose a one-stop strategy rather than pitting twice like the McLaren-Mercedes drivers): "We have less experience than McLaren here. We believed that the tyre wouldn't last for very long here, but I think it did because we were still quite quick toward the end. I did 42 laps, I think, and the tyres were holding up quite well. I was never happy with the car since Friday, and we're still investigating what's going on because the car felt quite different from the one that I tested here, and so I don't think that if I had changed to two stops I would do any better today."

Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW, fourth): "I think we could have finished third. We played a different strategy, and it didn't really pay off."

Jacques Villeneuve (BAR-Honda, eighth): "When we got to the first corner I hit the brakes hard, which locked the front wheels and I was unable to turn. Olivier (Panis) was on the outside of me, and when he turned I couldn't avoid him so we touched, which put him off. It's not good for the team or Olivier, so I feel very sorry about that. After that, it was just a question of fighting to the end because the car was not the same after the coming together."

David Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes, spun off on Lap 3): "This is not the way I would have liked to finish my home race, and I believe we were in with a chance to win today. I was ahead coming into Turn 1 and even though I was on the outside, it's quite an open corner, and I feel Trulli should have given me room. But he didn't, and we touched. I kept going, but the suspension on the car was damaged, and I knew it was only a matter of time before I had to retire."

Jarno Trulli (Jordan-Honda, retired on Lap 1): "I had a very good start and was next to David on the inside line by the first corner, where there is normally no need to brake on the first lap. I don't know whether he just didn't see me or didn't want to give up his fight, but either way, he closed the door leaving me with no more room to move. I did brake but was unable to avoid an accident, so our cars touched. It was a racing incident, and David and I will talk about it, although generally, I think the car on the outside should leave enough room to move for the inside car."

News and notes:

Championship position: After 11 of 17 races, Michael Schumacher now has 84 points to David Coulthard's 47. A total of 60 points (six wins at 10 points each) are still available in the final six races.

"I have 37 points in my pocket with six races to go," Schumacher said. "It's nice to know, but still I would rather sit here and tell you it's over, but it's not. We have to keep fighting. But on the other hand, despite it being maybe over or not over, I want to continue winning races. That's what I'm here for.

"The championship is one thing, but race by race is another thing. The little fight we've had with Mika (today) - I hope we can have more closer fighting where he doesn't just disappear in the far distance."

Hakkinen says no to retirement: Asked if he plans to retire at the end of this season, Mika Hakkinen replied: "The first part of my answer is no, and the second part is the team has an option on me for next year, and we are going through discussions with (McLaren director) Ron (Dennis) and looking for good solutions for the future."

Ferrari's 50th anniversary: As part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Ferrari's first Grand Prix victory - Froilan Gonzalez won the 1951 British Grand Prix at Silverstone in a Ferrari 375 on July 14 - Ferrari and Shell team members were reunited at this year's British Grand Prix. Shell provided the lubricants and fuel to Ferrari's F1 team in 1950 and does so today.

Gonzalez was to attend, but health problems kept him at home in Argentina. Ener Vecchi, a Ferrari mechanic for 37 years, and Alistair Wadsworth, a Shell engineer from 1947-72, returned to Silverstone 50 years after Ferrari's first win.

Ferrari's present drivers, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, attended the reception along with Ferrari's sporting director Jean Todt and Paolo Martinelli, who is in charge of the F1 engine department.

Historic drive: Fifty years and one day after that first Ferrari victory, Michael Schumacher drove Gonzalez's winning Ferrari 375 on two demonstration laps around Silverstone. Bernie Ecclestone owns the car.

Classic trophy: The winner of the British Grand Prix is awarded The Royal Automobile Club Trophy. The trophy, handmade of solid gold, has been presented to the winner of the race each year since Luigi Volloresi won the first postwar British Grand Prix in 1948.

Busy skies: On the day of the Grand Prix, Silverstone becomes the busiest airport in the world with 4,000 air movements. A helicopter lands or takes off every four seconds.

Schumacher's pole: Michael Schumacher won the 40th pole position of his career and the eighth of the season on July 14. This was the first time he had won pole position for the British Grand Prix.

Tarso off the mark: Minardi's Tarso Marques failed to qualify for the British Grand Prix because his qualifying time was not within 107 percent of that of pole sitter Michael Schumacher, required by FIA rules to qualify.

Team members attend Grand Prix: Williams-BMW, West McLaren-Mercedes and many of the other teams based in Britain offered British Grand Prix race tickets to most of their factory-based staff.

"Everybody comes," said McLaren's Ron Dennis. "I think most of the British teams try to give access to their factory-based staff (and families). There's over 1,000 at McLaren, so there was quite a big contingent."