1999 German Grand Prix

1999 German Grand Prix
Race 10 of 16 in the 1999 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Hockenheimring (last modified in 1994)
Race details
Date	1 August 1999
Official name	Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland 1999
Location	Hockenheimring Hockenheim, Germany
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	6.823 km (4.240 miles)
Distance	45 laps, 307.035 km (190.792 miles)
Weather	Partially cloudy, very hot, dry
Pole position
Driver	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:42.950
Fastest lap
Driver	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:45.270 on lap 43
Podium
First	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari
Second	Mika Salo	Ferrari
Third	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan-Mugen-Honda
Lap leaders

The 1999 German Grand Prix (formally the Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland 1999) was a Formula One motor race held on 1 August 1999 at the Hockenheimring near Hockenheim, Germany. It was the tenth race of the 1999 FIA Formula One World Championship. With Michael Schumacher out injured, Eddie Irvine took a second successive victory as he chased the championship, aided by stand-in team-mate Mika Salo moving over to give him the lead. In the early laps Finnish drivers ran first and second. However, Mika Häkkinen ultimately crashed out on lap 25 due to a tyre failure, allowing Heinz-Harald Frentzen to finish third in his home Grand Prix.

Damon Hill was again rumoured to be leaving Formula One when he allegedly retired a healthy car. Hill claimed that his Jordan had brake problems. Eddie Irvine gave his winner's trophy to Mika Salo, who was leading towards the end of the race and moved over on team orders.

Classification

Mika Häkkinen's stricken MP4/14 on display at the London Science Museum.

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Lap	Gap
1	1	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:42.950
2	8	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	1:43.000	+0.050
3	2	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:43.288	+0.338
4	3	Mika Salo	Ferrari	1:43.577	+0.627
5	4	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	1:43.769	+0.819
6	16	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	1:43.938	+0.988
7	18	Olivier Panis	Prost-Peugeot	1:43.979	+1.029
8	7	Damon Hill	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	1:44.001	+1.051
9	19	Jarno Trulli	Prost-Peugeot	1:44.209	+1.259
10	9	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton-Playlife	1:44.338	+1.388
11	6	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-Supertec	1:44.468	+1.518
12	22	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Supertec	1:44.508	+1.558
13	10	Alexander Wurz	Benetton-Playlife	1:44.522	+1.572
14	5	Alessandro Zanardi	Williams-Supertec	1:45.034	+2.084
15	21	Marc Gené	Minardi-Ford	1:45.331	+2.381
16	12	Pedro Diniz	Sauber-Petronas	1:45.335	+2.385
17	17	Johnny Herbert	Stewart-Ford	1:45.454	+2.504
18	23	Ricardo Zonta	BAR-Supertec	1:45.460	+2.510
19	20	Luca Badoer	Minardi-Ford	1:45.917	+2.967
20	14	Pedro de la Rosa	Arrows	1:45.935	+2.985
21	11	Jean Alesi	Sauber-Petronas	1:45.962	+3.012
22	15	Toranosuke Takagi	Arrows	1:46.209	+3.259
107% time: 1:50.157
Source:

Race

At the start, the start, Jacques Villeneuve was touched from behind, dove inside, and touched Pedro Diniz, knocking both out at the first corner. At the front, Frentzen had a bad start and was overtaken by Mika Salo and David Coulthard, while Rubens Barrichello passed Eddie Irvine. In midfield, Olivier Panis tangled with Ralf Schumacher at Senna corner and damaged his car; at the rear, Jean Alesi had to pit at the end of the first lap. So, the order was Mika Hakkinen, Mika Salo, Coulthard, Frentzen, Barrichello, and Irvine.

Barrichello passed Frentzen at Agip corner on lap 2 and started to pressure Coulthard, only to see his engine blow up on lap 6. Coulthard closed in on Mika Salo and dove for a maneuver at Ost Kurve on lap 9, but lost a winglet and had to pit. On lap 11 the order was Hakkinen, Salo, Frentzen, Irvine, Ralf Schumacher, and Alexander Wurz.

The Scotsman, who was on a mission to climb the field after his unscheduled pit stop, overtook Olivier Panis off the track only to be penalized with a Stop & Go. The leaders started their mandatory pits, and the first one to stop was Frentzen, only to be overcut by Irvine one lap later. Mika Salo pitted for good and came back just in front of his teammate, putting both Ferraris in podium positions.

If McLaren's journey wasn't a dream given Coulthard's faults, it became a complete nightmare when Hakkinen pitted for the lead and his fuel pump didn't work. The team had to change it for David's one, costing the Finn 24.3 seconds stopped and his fall to fourth place. On lap 26, Hakkinen passed Frentzen at the first chicane and started to pursue the Ferrari duo. However, on the straight before the Stadium section, his rear left tire exploded, his rear wing broke, and he spun off into the tire barrier, retiring from the race and potentially losing his lead in the championship. On the same lap, Salo and Irvine swapped positions, putting the Ulsterman in first. On lap 27 the order was Irvine, Salo, Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher, Panis, and Coulthard.

After those incidents, the other two casualties were Pedro de la Rosa's accident and Johnny Herbert retiring after a good journey, but suffering from reliability problems once again. In the closing stages, Coulthard passed Panis for fifth place and the order remained the same until the chequered flag.

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	4	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	45	1:21:58.594	5	10
2	3	Mika Salo	Ferrari	45	+ 1.007	4	6
3	8	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	45	+ 5.195	2	4
4	6	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-Supertec	45	+ 12.809	11	3
5	2	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	45	+ 16.823	3	2
6	18	Olivier Panis	Prost-Peugeot	45	+ 29.879	7	1
7	10	Alexander Wurz	Benetton-Playlife	45	+ 33.333	13
8	11	Jean Alesi	Sauber-Petronas	45	+ 1:11.291	21
9	21	Marc Gené	Minardi-Ford	45	+ 1:48.318	15
10	20	Luca Badoer	Minardi-Ford	44	+ 1 Lap	19
11	17	Johnny Herbert	Stewart-Ford	40	Gearbox	17
Ret	14	Pedro de la Rosa	Arrows	37	Accident	20
Ret	1	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	25	Tyre/Accident	1
Ret	5	Alessandro Zanardi	Williams-Supertec	21	Differential	14
Ret	23	Ricardo Zonta	BAR-Supertec	20	Engine	18
Ret	15	Toranosuke Takagi	Arrows	15	Engine	22
Ret	7	Damon Hill	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	13	Brakes	8
Ret	19	Jarno Trulli	Prost-Peugeot	10	Engine	9
Ret	9	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton-Playlife	7	Suspension	10
Ret	16	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	6	Hydraulics	6
Ret	22	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Supertec	0	Collision	12
Ret	12	Pedro Diniz	Sauber-Petronas	0	Collision	16
Sources:

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Eddie Irvine	52
2	Mika Häkkinen	44
3	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	33
4	Michael Schumacher	32
5	David Coulthard	30
Source:

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Ferrari	90
2	McLaren-Mercedes	74
3	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	38
4	Williams-Supertec	22
5	Benetton-Playlife	16
Source:

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

• "1999 German GP: Overview". ChicaneF1.com. Retrieved 3 August 2007.