British GP 1999

British GP, 1999

Mika Hakkinen took pole position at the British Grand Prix but Michael Schumacher split the McLarens in qualifying in his Ferrari, pushing David Coulthard back to third on the grid. The second Ferrari, driven by Eddie Irvine was fourth.

At the start Schumacher made a poor beginning and both Coulthard and Irvine got ahead. As he tried to repass Irvine at Stowe Corner Michael went off, bounced across the sandtrap and hit the wall very hard head-on. The Ferrari chassis broke in the impact and although Schumacher suffered a broken leg it also meant that more of the impact was absorbed by the car. The race was stopped.

When it was restarted Irvine got ahead of Coulthard but Hakkinen was unchallenged at the front. At the pit stops however both Hakkinen and Irvine hit trouble: Mika coming back because he felt that he had a wheel loose and Irvine missing his marks because the McLaren crew was in the pitlane. This meant that Eddie rejoined behind Coulthard who had already pitted. Soon afterwards Hakkinen's car lost a wheel. He drove to the pits for a new one but eventually had to stop because of safety worries. Something was wrong with the McLaren's hub.

This enabled Coulthard to win his first victory of the year. Irvine was second and third went to Ralf Schumacher of Williams after a stirring battle with Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Jordan. Frentzen's team mate, Damon Hill, - who was at the centre of a storm of publicity about a possible retirement - had a good day and finished fifth. The final point went to the Sauber of Pedro Diniz.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL TIMEPOS
1 2 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes  60 1h32.30.440  1m25.594 3 
2 4 Eddie Irvine Ferrari  60 1.829  1m25.677 4 
3 6 Ralf Schumacher Williams-Supertec  60 27.411  1m26.438 8 
4 8 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Mugen Honda  60 27.789  1m25.991 5 
5 7 Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen Honda  60 38.606  1m26.099 6 
6 12 Pedro Diniz Sauber-Petronas  60 53.643  1m27.196 12 
7 9 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Supertec  60 54.614  1m27.857 17 
8 16 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford  60 1m08.590  1m26.194 7 
9 19 Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot  60 1m12.045  1m27.227 14 
10 10 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Supertec  60 1m12.123  1m28.010 18 
11 5 Alessandro Zanardi Williams-Supertec  60 1m17.124  1m27.223 13 
12 17 Johnny Herbert Stewart-Ford  60 1m17.709  1m26.873 11 
13 18 Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot  60 1m20.492  1m27.543 15 
14 11 Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas  59 1 Lap  1m26.761 10 
15 21 Marc Gene Minardi-Ford  58 2 Laps  1m28.772 22 
16 14 Toranosuke Takagi Arrows  58 2 Laps  1m28.037 19 
r 23 Ricardo Zonta BAR-Supertec  41 Suspension 1m27.699 16 
r 1 Mika Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes  35 Retired 1m24.804 1 
r 22 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Supertec  29 Engine 1m26.719 9 
r 20 Luca Badoer Minardi-Ford  6 Gearbox 1m28.695 21 
r 15 Pedro de la Rosa Arrows  0 Stalled 1m28.148 20 
r 3 Michael Schumacher Ferrari  0 Accident 1m25.223 2