Schumacher won nine of 17 races in his Ferrari for his fourth Formula One championship and passed Alain Prost for the most career wins with 53.

 And with chief rival McLaren on the wane after the retirement of Finnish ace Mika Hakkinen, the steely German is the favourite to tie Argentine legend Juan Manual Fangio's record of five career Formula One titles in 2002.

 Villeneuve, of Iberville, Que., had to settle for his first two podium finishes -- third place in both Spain and Britain -- with a BAR-Honda team that still couldn't find the power to rival the top teams. He finished ninth in driver's standings.

 In December, Villeneuve's friend and former agent Craig Pollock was axed as team boss. But Villeneuve said he would honour his contract and stay with BAR under new managing director David Richards.

 "Whether I think positively or negatively about what's happened, it doesn't affect my contract," said a glum Villeneuve, 30, who won a world championship with Williams in 1997.

 Villeneuve had clutch problems on the 35th lap and failed to finish his home race, the Canadian Grand Prix, for the third time in four years.

 Ralf Schumacher edged older brother Michael for the victory before a record 111,000 spectators at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit -- the first-ever one-two finish by brothers in Formula One.

 The year began on a sour note for Villeneuve, who crashed into Ralf Schumacher's Williams at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. A tire from Villeneuve's car flew off and killed a track marshall.

 It was the first of a series of terrible crashes in 2001, including one that claimed the life of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, who slammed his Chevy into the wall on the final lap of the series' premiere event, the Daytona 500.

 "Dale Earnhardt is to Winston Cup what Elvis Presley was to rock 'n' roll," said Larry McReynolds, Earnhardt's former crew chief. "When Elvis died, the music didn't stop, but it definitely changed."

 Another horrific crash resulted in two-time CART champion Alex Zanardi having both of his legs amputated above the knee. Zanardi was coming out of the pits in the circuit's first-ever race in Germany when he collided with the car driven by Alex Tagliani of Lachenaie, Que.

 "I can't complain," the ever-upbeat Italian driver said after the season. "I've got people here to help me and I'm not paralysed.

 "If things go well, I'll be able to walk again. That's exciting."

 CART racing ended the season reeling in the United States, but growing Que., and Tagliani, who between them had seven podium finishes this year.

 But there was little other good news from CART in 2001, which saw its top team, Penske, defect to the rival Indy Racing League at the end of the season.

 It also lost races in Brazil and Texas and some sponsors, prompting the hiring of 60-year-old Christopher Pook to replace Joseph Heitzler as president and chief executive in December.

 "A great deal of potential exists within CART as a business," Pook said, who has the taunting task of winning back U.S. fans and television interest from the increasingly popular NASCAR series and from IRL, an all-oval series.

 NASCAR signed a $2.8 billion US television deal in 2001, while CART pondered the prospect of having its races on a speciality cable channel.

 The CART series is also in danger of losing all three of its engine suppliers. Honda and Ford threatened to pull out when CART announced it would drop turbo-charged engines by 2003, while Yamaha is looking to build engines for IRL.

 Gil de Ferran of Penske won a second straight CART championship, even though Swedish driver Kenny Brack, with four wins, had one more victory.

 Carpentier recovered from a disappointing first half to finish 10th in the driver's standings and post his first victory at the Michigan International Speedway, a daring comeback win that was chosen as the race of the year in a CART.com poll of fans.

 Tagliani finished second behind Michael Andretti at the Toronto Molson Indy and had two third-place finishes to end up 11th in the driver's standings.

 "If we can start next season the way we finished this one, we'll be serious contenders for the championship," said Tagliani.

 Temperamental Team Kool Green driver Paul Tracy of Toronto was a disappointing 14th after being penalized three points and slapped with a $50,000 fine for dangerous driving.

 Tracy was fined for bumping Penske's Helio Castroneves and sending pit crewmen scattering at the Honda Grand Prix of Monterey. He raced the final two events of the season on probation.

 Brazil's Roberto Moreno won the Vancouver Molson Indy ahead of de Ferran.

 Castroneves won the Indianapolis 500 as CART drivers returned to the premiere U.S. motor racing event and took six of the top seven places.

 Sam Hornish Jr., 22, won the IRL championship while Jeff Gordon took the Winston Cup in NASCAR.