Mika Hakkinen, two-time F1 world champion, faced his final race of the 2001 season at the Spanish Grand Prix after a series of misfortunes. Having crashed out of the Australian GP, finished sixth in Sepang, and stalled on the grid in Brazil, Hakkinen entered Barcelona with just four championship points. The race saw him battle Michael Schumacher for the lead, with Hakkinen closing a 4.8-second gap to a 3.6-second lead by lap 51 through aggressive overcut strategies.

However, on the final lap, his McLaren MP4/16 Mercedes suffered a clutch failure, forcing him to coast and ultimately retire. Schumacher, who had earlier complained of vibrations but continued, finished second, later remarking, “I feel very sorry for Mika.” The result marked Hakkinen’s fourth consecutive race without a win and sealed his departure from F1, as McLaren announced Kimi Raikkonen as his replacement for 2002. Hakkinen later secured a final career victory in Indianapolis but never returned to Formula 1.