1999 Japanese Grand Prix

Japan  1999 Japanese Grand Prix
Race details
Race 16 of 16 in the 1999 Formula One season

Suzuka International Racing Course (last modified in 1991)
Date 31 October 1999
Official name XXV Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix
Location Suzuka, Mie, Japan
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.864 km (3.644 mi)
Distance 53 laps, 310.792 km (193.117 mi)
Weather Overcast, mild, dry
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:37.470
Fastest lap
Driver Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari
Time 1:41.319 on lap 31
Podium
First McLaren-Mercedes
Second Ferrari
Third Ferrari

The 1999 Japanese Grand Prix (formally the XXV Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 31 October 1999 at the Suzuka International Racing Course in Suzuka, Japan. It was the sixteenth and final round of the 1999 Formula One season. The 53-lap race was won by McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen after starting from second position. Michael Schumacher finished second in a Ferrari with team-mate Eddie Irvine finishing third. Häkkinen's victory confirmed him as 1999 Drivers' Champion. Ferrari were also confirmed as Constructors' Champions.

This was the last race for Toranosuke Takagi, Alessandro Zanardi and 1996 World Champion Damon Hill.

Report

Championship permutations

Going into this race, Ferrari's Eddie Irvine led the Drivers' Championship by four points from Häkkinen, 70 to 66. Häkkinen therefore needed to win the race, or to finish second with Irvine no higher than fifth, or to finish third with Irvine finishing outside the top six.

Victory for Häkkinen would give him the Championship regardless of where Irvine finished: even if the Ulsterman finished second, both drivers would have 76 points but Häkkinen would have five wins to Irvine's four. Similarly, the Finn would be Champion if he finished second with Irvine fifth (as he would have three second places to Irvine's two), or if he finished third without Irvine scoring (as he would have four third places to Irvine's two).

Qualifying

Qualifying saw Irvine's Ferrari team-mate, Michael Schumacher, take pole position with Häkkinen alongside on the front row. David Coulthard was third in the second McLaren, with Heinz-Harald Frentzen fourth in the Jordan. Irvine struggled throughout, also suffering a heavy crash at the Hairpin, and could only manage fifth, over 1.5 seconds slower than Schumacher and over 1.1 slower than Häkkinen. The top ten was completed by the Prosts of Olivier Panis and Jarno Trulli, Johnny Herbert in the Stewart, Ralf Schumacher in the Williams and Jean Alesi in the Sauber.

Race

Häkkinen beat Schumacher off the line, with Panis charging into third ahead of Irvine, Coulthard and Frentzen. The Finn quickly built a comfortable lead, and it became clear that the Ferraris could not match him.

After Panis's alternator broke on lap 20, Coulthard passed Irvine for third during the first round of pit stops. However, on lap 34, he made a mistake and spun into a wall, losing his nose. He pitted and rejoined a lap down, just in front of Schumacher. It was alleged that the Scot deliberately held up the German driver, before retiring several laps later with a hydraulic failure. Schumacher later criticized Coulthard's behaviour.

Häkkinen eventually took the chequered flag five seconds ahead of Schumacher and, with it, his second Drivers' Championship. Irvine finished a minute and a half behind Schumacher in third, nonetheless helping Ferrari secure their first Constructors' Championship since 1983. The minor points went to Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher and Alesi.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 3 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:37.470
2 1 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:37.820 +0.350
3 2 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:38.239 +0.769
4 8 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:38.696 +1.226
5 4 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:38.975 +1.505
6 18 France Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 1:39.623 +2.153
7 19 Italy Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 1:39.644 +2.174
8 17 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Stewart-Ford 1:39.706 +2.236
9 6 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-Supertec 1:39.717 +2.247
10 11 France Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 1:39.721 +2.251
11 22 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Supertec 1:39.732 +2.262
12 7 United Kingdom Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:40.140 +2.670
13 16 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1:40.140 +2.670
14 9 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 1:40.261 +2.791
15 10 Austria Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 1:40.303 +2.833
16 5 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Williams-Supertec 1:40.403 +2.933
17 12 Brazil Pedro Diniz Sauber-Petronas 1:40.740 +3.270
18 23 Brazil Ricardo Zonta BAR-Supertec 1:40.861 +3.391
19 15 Japan Toranosuke Takagi Arrows 1:41.067 +3.597
20 21 Spain Marc Gené Minardi-Ford 1:41.529 +4.059
21 14 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Arrows 1:41.708 +4.238
22 20 Italy Luca Badoer Minardi-Ford 1:42.515 +5.045

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 53 1:31:18.785 2 10
2 3 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 53 + 5.015 1 6
3 4 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Ferrari 53 + 1:35.688 5 4
4 8 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Mugen-Honda 53 + 1:38.635 4 3
5 6 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-Supertec 53 + 1:39.494 9 2
6 11 France Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 52 + 1 Lap 10 1
7 17 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Stewart-Ford 52 + 1 Lap 8  
8 16 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 52 + 1 Lap 13  
9 22 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Supertec 52 + 1 Lap 11  
10 10 Austria Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 52 + 1 Lap 15  
11 12 Brazil Pedro Diniz Sauber-Petronas 52 + 1 Lap 17  
12 23 Brazil Ricardo Zonta BAR-Supertec 52 + 1 Lap 18  
13 14 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Arrows 51 + 2 Laps 21  
14 9 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 47 Engine 14  
Ret 15 Japan Toranosuke Takagi Arrows 43 Gearbox 19  
Ret 20 Italy Luca Badoer Minardi-Ford 43 Engine 22  
Ret 2 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 39 Hydraulics 3  
Ret 21 Spain Marc Gené Minardi-Ford 31 Gearbox 20  
Ret 7 United Kingdom Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 21 Withdrew 12  
Ret 18 France Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 19 Alternator 6  
Ret 19 Italy Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 3 Engine 7  
Ret 5 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Williams-Supertec 0 Electrical 16  
Sources:[1][2]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Finland Mika Häkkinen 76
2 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine 74
3 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen 54
4 United Kingdom David Coulthard 48
5 Germany Michael Schumacher 44

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 Italy Ferrari 128
2 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 124
3 Republic of Ireland Jordan-Mugen-Honda 61
4 United Kingdom Stewart-Ford 36
5 United Kingdom Williams-Supertec 35

References

  1. "1999 Japanese Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  2. "1999 Japanese GP: Classification". ChicaneF1.com. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
Previous race:
1999 Malaysian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1999 season
Next race:
2000 Australian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1998 Japanese Grand Prix
Japanese Grand Prix Next race:
2000 Japanese Grand Prix
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.