from the rear of his car. In the final three laps, Ralf Schumacher attempted to pass Alesi five times and was unsuccessful each time. At the front, Coulthard reduced Michael Schumacher's lead by a second per lap, as the latter slowed, but Schumacher took his fifth win at the Circuit de-Spa Francorchamps to equal the triple world champion Ayrton Senna's record number of wins at the track. It was his eighth victory of 2001 and the 52nd of his career, overtaking the four-time world champion Alain Prost's all-time record of 51 wins. Coulthard followed 10.098 seconds later in second and Fisichella finished a season-high third. Häkkinen took fourth, Barrichello fifth and Alesi sixth. The final finishers were Ralf Schumacher, Villeneuve, Frentzen, Verstappen, Panis, Bernoldi and Marques. Post-race The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media in a later press conference. Michael Schumacher said he slowed to be conservative, "For whatever reason, I thought I had the chance to open up the gap for an extra pit and we didn't know whether they would do so I just wanted to have that safety margin because I was faster than Giancarlo and David couldn't get by I was able to open up such a lead." He said that his 52nd win had no priority, saying, "Actually I'm very delighted about this but I will be much more delighted sitting one day on the sofa, retired, and I have a cigar and beer in hand and think about it." Coulthard admitted being surprised over Fisichella's pace. He said he was pleased to finish second and increase his Drivers' Championship advantage over Barrichello, "Given the weekend I've had, I'm obviously very happy to have got second place, hoping that Luciano is 100 per cent and able to do the next race, and then we can all feel it's been a positive weekend." Fisichella attributed his third-place result to the new aerodynamic package on his Benetton that gave him improved grip and handling, "We did a very good job. I did two amazing starts, especially the second one from sixth position to second, and I'm happy. It's a great day, and I'd like to say thank you to the team." After the race, the stewards investigated the collision between Irvine and Burti on lap five by reviewing television footage and listening to Irvine's oral explanation. They