The 1999 Brazilian Grand Prix (formally the XXVIII Grande Prêmio Marlboro do Brasil) was a Formula One motor race held on 11 April 1999 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil. It was the second race of the 1999 Formula One season. The 71-lap race was won by McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen after starting from pole position. Michael Schumacher finished second in a Ferrari with Heinz-Harald Frentzen third for the Jordan team.
Ricardo Zonta did not qualify for the race, after he had injured his left foot in a big crash during Saturday's practice. - article written by Ian Gordon. Published by Sporting Life.
Report
Background
Driver changes The race marked the debut for Stéphane Sarrazin, who drove the Minardi for an injured Luca Badoer.Stéphane Sarrazin - Biography Badoer had injured his hand in a testing accident, and Sarrazin - then the test driver for Prost - was drafted in to Minardi.
As Luca Badoer returned for the following race, and he was still the test driver for Prost, it was Stéphane Sarrazin's only entry in Formula One.
Race At the start of the race, pole sitter Mika Häkkinen raced off with the lead, while his McLaren teammate David Coulthard stalled on the grid. McLaren at this point had been reeling from a double-DNF at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, and Coulthard's failure raised eyebrows at the team. Coulthard's car was pushed into the pit lane, where it was restarted as the leaders began lap 4.
On lap 4, local hero Rubens Barrichello took the lead of the race from Mika Häkkinen after Häkkinen's car suffered a temporary transmission malfunction and was unable to select any gears. Häkkinen was also passed by Michael Schumacher before his car regained the ability to select gears.Car Enthusiast - Brazilian Grand Prix 1999 Barrichello was able to stay in front until he pitted on lap 27.BBC News | Formula 1 | Hakkinen takes Brazilian Grand Prix It was the first time a Stewart car had led a race. The crowd of roughly 80,000 cheered wildly as "Rubinho" built a lead of about 5 seconds over Schumacher.
Alexander Wurz and Damon Hill collided on lap 10, ending Hill's race. Rubens Barrichello fell to fourth place after his pit stop, and Michael Schumacher took over the lead. David Coulthard's day ended when he pulled off the track with a mechanical failure. Stéphane Sarrazin, in his only F1 entry, had a massive crash on the pit straight on lap 31 after suffering a wing failure, with him spinning more than six times. On lap 35, Barrichello passed Eddie Irvine under braking into the first corner to take third place.
Michael Schumacher came in for a pit stop on lap 38, allowing Mika Häkkinen past. Häkkinen had been held up by Schumacher, so he began trying to build up enough of a gap so he could come out ahead of Schumacher after his own pit stop. Lapped traffic delayed his progress at first, but after one lap he was able to turn in a couple of fast laps. He pitted on lap 42, and his fast laps combined with quick work by his pit crew allowed him to easily retain the lead over Schumacher.
On lap 42, Pedro Diniz spun off and beached his car after trying to pass another car to the inside. Rubens Barrichello's race ended on the same lap with a blown engine. Eddie Irvine came in for an unscheduled pit stop on lap 55 to clear the radiators of his overheating Ferrari, dropping him back to fifth.
Mika Häkkinen won the race, with Michael Schumacher second. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was classified third despite running out of fuel on the final lap, as the next car was a lap down. Ralf Schumacher finished fourth after being closely pursued by Eddie Irvine for the last few laps. 10th race win for Mika Häkkinen.
Classification
Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Time GapGrid 1 1 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.568 —1 2 2 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.715 +0.1472 3 16 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1:17.305 +0.7373 4 3 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:17.578 +1.0104 5 9 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 1:17.810 +1.2425 6 4 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:17.843 +1.2756 7 7 Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:17.884 +1.3167 8 8 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:17.902 +1.3348 9 10 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 1:18.334 +1.7669 10 17 Johnny Herbert Stewart-Ford 1:18.374 +1.80610 11 6 Ralf Schumacher Williams-Supertec 1:18.506 +1.93811 12 18 Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 1:18.636 +2.06812 13 19 Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 1:18.684 +2.11613 14 11 Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 1:18.716 +2.14814 15 12 Pedro Diniz Sauber-Petronas 1:19.194 +2.62615 16 22 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Supertec 1:19.377 +2.80921 17 5 Alessandro ZanardiWilliams-Supertec 1:19.452 +2.88416 18 20 Stéphane SarrazinMinardi-Ford 1:20.016 +3.44817 19 14 Pedro de la Rosa Arrows 1:20.075 +3.50718 20 15 Toranosuke TakagiArrows 1:20.096 +3.52819 21 21 Marc GenéMinardi-Ford 1:20.710 +4.14220107% time: 1:21.928 23 Ricardo ZontaBAR-Supertec — — — 1. Qualified 16th, stripped of time due to illegal fuel.Brazil - Grid | Sporting Life - F1 News | Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Renault, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Reports, Results & Standings
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 1 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 72 1:36:03.785 1 10 2 3 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 72 +4.925 4 6 3 8 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Mugen-Honda 71 Out of fuel 8 4 4 6 Ralf Schumacher Williams-Supertec 71 +1 Lap 11 3 5 4 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 71 +1 Lap 6 2 6 18 Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 71 +1 Lap 12 1 7 10 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 70 +2 Laps 9 8 15 Toranosuke Takagi Arrows 69 +3 Laps 19 9 21 Marc Gené Minardi-Ford 69 +3 Laps 20 14 Pedro de la Rosa Arrows 52 Hydraulics 17 22 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Supertec 49 Hydraulics 21 5 Alessandro Zanardi Williams-Supertec 43 Gearbox 16 16 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 42 Engine 3 12 Pedro Diniz Sauber-Petronas 42 Collision 15 9 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 38 Clutch 5 20 Stéphane Sarrazin Minardi-Ford 31 Throttle/Accident 18 11 Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 27 Gearbox 14 2 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 22 Gearbox 2 19 Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 21 Gearbox 13 17 Johnny Herbert Stewart-Ford 15 Hydraulics 10 7 Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 10 Collision damage 7 23 Ricardo Zonta BAR-Supertec Injured in Practice
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Eddie Irvine 12 2 Mika Häkkinen 10 3 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 10 4 Ralf Schumacher 7 5 Michael Schumacher 6Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari 18 2 McLaren-Mercedes 10 3 Jordan-Mugen-Honda 10 4 Williams-Supertec 7 5 Benetton-Playlife 3Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings
References