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
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 +3.259107% time: 1:50.157Source:
Race At 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 14 Pedro de la Rosa Arrows 37 Accident 20 1 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 25 Tyre/Accident 1 5 Alessandro Zanardi Williams-Supertec 21 Differential 14 23 Ricardo Zonta BAR-Supertec 20 Engine 18 15 Toranosuke Takagi Arrows 15 Engine 22 7 Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 13 Brakes 8 19 Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 10 Engine 9 9 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 7 Suspension 10 16 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 6 Hydraulics 6 22 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Supertec 0 Collision 12 12 Pedro Diniz Sauber-Petronas 0 Collision 16
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Eddie Irvine52 2 Mika Häkkinen44 3 Heinz-Harald Frentzen33 4 Michael Schumacher32 5 David Coulthard30Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari90 2 McLaren-Mercedes74 3 Jordan-Mugen-Honda38 4 Williams-Supertec22 5 Benetton-Playlife16Source:
References