The Iceman Waiteth

This is my (Backmarker's) timeline in which I try and describe how Formula One might have looked had Enrique Bernoldi got the Sauber drive for 2001, instead of Kimi Räikkönen. I'll actually make a post on the F1 Rejects' forum when I've completed 2001.

2001

Driver changes for the 2001 season

A number of changes to the teams' line-ups were made for the 2001 season: Olivier Panis, having spent a year testing for McLaren, moved to BAR, replacing Ricardo Zonta, who became test driver at Jordan; Jenson Button moved to Benetton, making way at Williams for Colombian CART sensation Juan Pablo Montoya; Gaston Mazzacane joined Prost from Minardi, with Nick Heidfeld leaving the French team for Sauber; making debuts would be the aforementioned Montoya, a young Spaniard called Fernando Alonso at Minardi, and Enrique Bernoldi at Sauber.

The Sauber decision had been a contentious one. Team Principal Peter Sauber had preferred a young Finnish driver called Kimi Räikkönen, but sponsors Red Bull had lobbied for their driver, Enrique Bernoldi to get the seat. In the end, with doubts circulating about the Finn's ability to cope with the reality of Formula One competition, given that he had only driven in 23 events so far, money talked, and Bernoldi got the drive.

As a result, the line-ups for the 2001 Formula One Season were as follows:

Team	#	Driver
Ferrari
	1	Michael Schumacher
	2	Rubens Barrichello
McLaren-Mercedes
	3	Mika Häkkinen
	4	David Coulthard
Williams-BMW
	5	Ralf Schumacher
	6	Juan Pablo Montoya
Benetton-Renault
	7	Giancarlo Fisichella
	8	Jenson Button
BAR-Honda
	9	Olivier Panis
	10	Jacques Villeneuve
Jordan-Honda
	11	Heinz-Harald Frentzen
	12	Jarno Trulli
Arrows-Asiatech
	14	Jos Verstappen
	15	Pedro de la Rosa
Sauber-Petronas
	16	Nick Heidfeld
	17	Enrique Bernoldi
Jaguar-Cosworth
	18	Eddie Irvine
	19	Luciano Burti
Minardi-European
	20	Tarso Marques
	21	Fernando Alonso
Prost-Acer
	22	Jean Alesi
	23	Gastón Mazzacane

The Debut Down Under

At the sharp end of the grid there was a signal of intent from Ferrari, with Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello qualifying first and second on the grid. Nick Heidfeld managed a credible tenth place, with his team-mate Enrique Bernoldi down in sixteenth, just ahead of the Benettons.

In the race Schumacher converted pole position into a win, with David Coulthard second, and Rubens Barrichello in third. Nick Heidfeld performed very credibly, finishing fourth, their highest finish since 1998. Enrique Bernoldi's race ended a lot sooner, spinning off on the second lap.

Race

Pos	Driver	Constructor	Points
1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	10
2	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	6
3	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	4
4	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber-Petronas	3
5	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan-Honda	2
6	Olivier Panis	BAR-Honda	1

Malaysia

For the top teams it was more of the same in Malaysia. Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello put their Ferraris on the front row of the grid. Nick Heidfeld would start from eleventh, while Bernoldi could only manage nineteenth.