The 2000 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 54th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It commenced on 12 March and ended on 22 October after seventeen races. Michael Schumacher became Ferrari's first World Drivers' Champion in 21 years, having clinched the Drivers' title at the penultimate race of the season. Ferrari successfully defended its Constructors' title. This season marked the first for future world champion Jenson Button. The season was, for the third consecutive year, a close battle between Ferrari and McLaren. Schumacher won the first three races and dominated the first part of the season as McLaren had reliability issues. Then misfortune struck Schumacher, who retired from three consecutive races with both Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard scoring big. Häkkinen then surged to win two races in a row, leaving him six points clear of Schumacher who faced a fifth consecutive season at Ferrari without titles since 1996. Schumacher fought back winning the final four races of the season in convincing fashion, recording pole position on all those occasions. The title was sealed in Japan on 8 October, after a classic straight fight between Schumacher and Häkkinen, with Schumacher passing Häkkinen at the final pit stop and then holding out in front. The season held the record for the smallest number of drivers competing in a single season with only one driver change (Luciano Burti deputising for an ill Eddie Irvine in Austria) putting the total at 23 (similar to 2002 season). This record stood until 2008, where there were no driver changes, although the Super Aguri F1 team withdrew in the middle of that season. Teams and drivers The following teams and drivers competed in the 2000 FIA Formula One World Championship. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Bridgestone. † All engines were 3.0 litre, V10 configuration. Team changes After being bought by Ford, the Stewart team was renamed Jaguar Racing, with the team's engines rebadged as Cosworths. The Ford V10s used by Minardi were rebadged as Fondmetal engines, in deference to Gabriele Rumi's financial input to the team, and the car's main colour was changed from white to a fluorescent yellow. The Ford name, ever-present on the Formula One grid since the debut of the Ford Cosworth DFV in 1967, was therefore absent for the 2000 season, although it would make a brief return in 2003 and 2004. Williams switched to BMW engines,