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The Class of 2001


There's something special about the four Benetton drivers lining up in St Mark's Square - they're all in the 200 Club.

The launch of the Benetton B201 had all the showbiz razzmatazz of the old F1 car launches, where no expense was spared. Typical of a team governed by a marketeer, Flavio Briatore's Benettons had been launched outside great museums in Barcelona in the past and for 2001 it was in the grandioso setting of St. Mark's Square in Venice.

Lining up in front of the Benetton B201 were the two pilots for the 2001 season - the on-loan from Williams Jenson Button, who'd just had his debut season in 2000 - and the confirmed Italian talent of Giancarlo Fisichella (who Frank Williams also rated as one of the top three GP drivers of the time). Next to them were two Briatore management prospects and reserve/test drivers - Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber.

At this stage of their careers, Button had started just 17 races with Williams (being replaced at Williams by Juan Pablo Montoya in 2001), Webber was famous for going aerial at Le Mans in a Mercedes GT car and Alonso had come 4th in F3000 (the old GP2) and was about to embark on his debut F1 season with Minardi. Fisichella looked the best long-term prospect of success in F1 with 76 GPs under his belt and was highly regarded by team managers.

Fast forward to the Bahrain Grand Prix of 2013 and Mark Webber completed the 200 quartet - all of the Class of 2001 have now raced 200 GPs. It's a remarkable testament to the talent Briatore lined up, but then again even he wasn't always so sure. Midway through the 2001 season, with Button consistently being outqualified by Fisichella, Briatore described him as a lazy playboy and seemed intent on swapping him for his own management candidate, Alonso. Button wasn't having it and stayed on, despite subsequent jibes by Briatore that he was as fast as "a milepost".

Alonso's debut season with Minardi didn't look blindingly impressive on paper either, he actually finished behind team-mate Tarso Marques in the standings and sat out 2002 waiting for a Benetton/Renault seat to become available. Webber would follow in his footsteps at Minardi and have a phenomenal debut race, coming 5th for the team now owned by fellow-Aussie Paul Stoddart.

The 2001 season proved to be a poor time for the Benetton team that had scaled the impressive heights of two drivers' titles in 1994 and 1995. , saddled as they were with an experimental Renault 111-degree wide angle engine. Button's best was fifth in Germany where Fisichella came fourth - and then Fisi managed to score the team's only podium at Spa, somewhere he's always gone well. The team came 7th scoring just 10 points all year.

Their joint experience at Benetton have made Fernando, Mark and Jenson firm friends over the years. Fisi bowed out on 229 race starts and Jenson has already clocked up 232 race starts. It could well be that both he and Fernando break the 300 barrier. Something that looked a world away from the fresh-faced, bright-eyed and nervous drivers who lined up that February day in St.Marks Square.

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