German GP 1999

German GP, 1999

Mika Hakkinen took pole position as usual in his McLaren-Mercedes MP4-14 while second place on the grid went to Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Jordan, a demonstration of the horsepower of the Mugen Honda V10 engine. This pushed the second McLaren driver David Coulthard back to third on the grid while Michael Schumacher's replacement at Ferrari, Mika Salo, qualified fourth, ahead of World Championship challenger Eddie Irvine.

At the start of the race Hakkinen went away well but Frentzen and Coulthard were slower off the line and Salo was able to get through into second place. Irvine was sixth. Luck was on his side however as Rubens Barrichello's Stewart went out with a hydraulic failure and then Coulthard ran into the back of Salo and lost his front wing, forcing the McLaren to pit for repairs. This left Irvine to battle for third place with Frentzen. When the pit stops came Irvine managed to get ahead.

There would be further good fortune for Irvine as Hakkinen's refuelling equipment malfunctioned and he lost a lot of time. This put Salo into the lead with Irvine second. Ferrari team management then decreed that the two cars should swap places although Salo sat behind Irvine for the rest of the race to show that it would have been his win.

Hakkinen disappeared when a left rear tire on the McLaren exploded at about 200mph. The car spun wildly, narrowly missed hitting wall and then went through a sand trap into a tire barrier. Mika climbed out, shook his head and wandered off to the pits. The Ferraris finished one-two with Irvine taking an eight-point lead in the World Championship while Frentzen came home third in the race and moved into third place in the World Championship ahead of Coulthard, who finished fifth.

Ralf Schumacher again picked points in his Williams while the final point went to Olivier Panis's Prost-Peugeot.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL TIMEPOS
Eddie Irvine Ferrari  45 1h21m58.594  1m43.769 
Mika Salo Ferrari  45 1.007  1m43.577 
Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Mugen Honda  45 5.195  1m43.000 
Ralf Schumacher Williams-Supertec  45 12.809  1m44.468 11 
David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes  45 16.823  1m42.288 
18 Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot  45 29.879  1m43.979 
10 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Supertec  45 33.333  1m44.522 13 
11 Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas  45 1m11.291  1m45.962 21 
21 Marc Gene Minardi-Ford  45 1m48.318  1m45.331 15 
10 20 Luca Badoer Minardi-Ford  44 1 Lap  1m45.917 19 
11 17 Johnny Herbert Stewart-Ford  40 5 Laps  1m45.454 17 
15 Pedro de la Rosa Arrows  38 Accident 1m45.935 20 
Mika Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes  25 Accident 1m42.950 
Alessandro Zanardi Williams-Supertec  21 Differential 1m45.034 14 
23 Ricardo Zonta BAR-Supertec  20 Engine 1m45.460 18 
14 Toranosuke Takagi Arrows  15 Engine 1m46.209 22 
Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen Honda  13 Retired 1m44.001 
19 Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot  10 Engine 1m44.209 
Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Supertec  Suspension 1m44.338 10 
16 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford  Hydraulics 1m43.938 
12 Pedro Diniz Sauber-Petronas  Accident 1m45.335 16 
22 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Supertec  Accident 1m44.508 12