The 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix, formally the 1999 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix, was a Formula One race held on 17 October 1999 at the new Sepang International Circuit. It was the fifteenth race of the 1999 Formula One World Championship.
The 56-lap race was won by Eddie Irvine, driving a Ferrari, after starting from second position. Teammate Michael Schumacher, in his first race back after breaking his leg at the 1999 British Grand Prix, finished second after letting Irvine overtake him, having started from pole position. Championship leader Mika Häkkinen finished third in a McLaren-Mercedes.
Both Ferraris were disqualified for the race, and Häkkinen and McLaren initially appeared to have won both championships. After Ferrari's successful appeal, the race results were reinstated. Although the win gave Irvine a four point lead over Häkkinen in the Drivers' Championship with one race to go, it would be his fourth and last Formula One career win.
Report This was the first Malaysian Grand Prix since a Formula Holden event in 1995, and the first time at Formula One world championship level. Michael Schumacher returned to Formula One having recovered from his broken leg, and took pole position by nearly a second from Ferrari teammate Eddie Irvine, with the McLarens of David Coulthard and Mika Häkkinen third and fourth, respectively. At the start, Schumacher led away from Irvine, Coulthard, Häkkinen, and Rubens Barrichello. On lap 4, Schumacher slowed and allowed Irvine to pass him, then proceeded to block the McLarens. Coulthard forced his way past Schumacher on lap 5 and pursued Irvine for the lead, only to retire on lap 15 with fuel pressure problems.
Back in second place, Schumacher slowed again in order to allow Irvine to build an advantage. As the first round of pit stops loomed, Schumacher accelerated the pace in order to stay ahead of Häkkinen. Realising this, McLaren gambled on giving Häkkinen half a tank of fuel, hoping it would be enough to get him out of the pits ahead of Schumacher. The gamble failed, as Schumacher stayed ahead of the Finn and proceeded to block him again, allowing Irvine to extend his lead to 20 seconds.
Irvine's lead was not big enough for him to stay ahead after his second pit stop. Despite this, Ferrari were sure that Häkkinen would have to stop again, which he did, emerging in fourth place behind Johnny Herbert in the Stewart. Schumacher slowed once again to allow Irvine to retake the lead, while Häkkinen forced his way past Herbert for third.
Irvine duly took the chequered flag one second ahead of Schumacher, with Häkkinen a further eight seconds back. Immediately after the race, the Ferraris were disqualified due to an infringement on their bargeboards. This meant that Häkkinen and McLaren were effectively handed their respective championships by default. Ferrari appealed against the FIA's decision in court and both drivers were subsequently reinstated.
With one race remaining, Irvine led the Drivers' Championship by four points over Häkkinen, 70 to 66. Similarly, Ferrari held a four-point lead over McLaren in the Constructors' Championship, 118 to 114. Despite Schumacher's alleged wish not to have Irvine being the Ferrari driver to end the team championship's drought, his performance in Malaysia proved instrumental for Irvine to possibly win the championship at the 1999 Japanese Grand Prix.
Classification
Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Lap Gap 1 3 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:39.688 2 4 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:40.635 +0.947 3 2 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:40.806 +1.118 4 1 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:40.866 +1.178 5 17 Johnny Herbert Stewart-Ford 1:40.937 +1.249 6 16 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1:41.351 +1.663 7 10 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 1:41.444 +1.756 8 6 Ralf Schumacher Williams-Supertec 1:41.558 +1.870 9 7 Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:42.050 +2.362 10 22 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Supertec 1:42.087 +2.399 11 9 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 1:42.110 +2.422 12 18 Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 1:42.208 +2.520 13 23 Ricardo Zonta BAR-Supertec 1:42.310 +2.622 14 8 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:42.380 +2.692 15 11 Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 1:42.522 +2.834 16 5 Alessandro Zanardi Williams-Supertec 1:42.885 +3.197 17 12 Pedro Diniz Sauber-Petronas 1:42.933 +3.245 18 19 Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 1:42.948 +3.260 19 21 Marc Gené Minardi-Ford 1:43.563 +3.875 20 14 Pedro de la Rosa Arrows 1:43.579 +3.891 21 20 Luca Badoer Minardi-Ford 1:44.321 +4.633 22 15 Toranosuke Takagi Arrows 1:44.637 +4.949107% time: 1:46.666
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 4 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 56 1:36:38.494 2 10 2 3 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 56 + 1.040 1 6 3 1 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 56 + 9.743 4 4 4 17 Johnny Herbert Stewart-Ford 56 + 17.538 5 3 5 16 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 56 + 32.296 6 2 6 8 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Mugen-Honda 56 + 34.884 14 1 7 11 Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 56 + 54.408 15 8 10 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 56 + 1:00.934 7 9 21 Marc Gené Minardi-Ford 55 + 1 lap 19 10 5 Alessandro Zanardi Williams-Supertec 55 + 1 lap 16 11 9 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 52 + 4 laps 11 22 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Supertec 48 Hydraulics 10 12 Pedro Diniz Sauber-Petronas 44 Spun off 17 14 Pedro de la Rosa Arrows 30 Engine 20 20 Luca Badoer Minardi-Ford 15 Spun off 21 2 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 14 Fuel pressure 3 6 Ralf Schumacher Williams-Supertec 7 Spun off 8 15 Toranosuke Takagi Arrows 7 Transmission 22 23 Ricardo Zonta BAR-Supertec 6 Engine/Spun off 13 18 Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 5 Engine 12 7 Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 0 Collision 9 19 Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 0 Engine 18
Championship standings after the race Bold text indicates who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Eddie Irvine70 2 Mika Häkkinen66 3 Heinz-Harald Frentzen51 4 David Coulthard48 5 Michael Schumacher38Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Ferrari118 2 McLaren-Mercedes114 3 Jordan-Mugen-Honda58 4 Stewart-Ford36 5 Williams-Supertec33Source:
References
Further reading