Italian GP 1999

Italian GP, 1999

Mika Hakkinen was expected to do well at Monza and increase his lead in the World Championship. The McLaren-Mercedes MP4-14 was well-suited to the fast sweeps and long straights of the Autodromo Nazionale and the Finn duly claimed pole position. The powerful Jordan-Mugen Honda was again in contention, with Heinz-Harald Frentzen taking second on the grid, ahead of Hakkinen's McLaren team mate David Coulthard. Williams had a good time with Alex Zanardi and Ralf Schumacher fourth and fifth on the grid.

At the start Zanardi - who had had a terrible year with the team - was able to jink his way up to second place. During the first lap Coulthard went off and his car refused to handle well after that and he slipped backwards down the order. This enabled Hakkinen to build a quick lead as his rivals were stuck behind the Williams. In his efforts to keep back the chasers Zanardi ran over a kerb and damaged the underside of his car, gradually slipping backwards. This left Frentzen ahead of Ralf Schumacher and Ferrari's Mika Salo. On lap 30 Hakkinen made an elementary mistake at the first chicane and spun off. Frentzen duly took the lead and held it all the way to the finish to score his second win of the year.

Ralf Schumacher was second for Williams with Salo once again outpacing team leader Eddie Irvine to finish third. Irvine had qualified only eighth and ended up a lackluster sixth in the race. With Hakkinen failing to score, however, the two drivers were equal on points in the World Championship - while both Frentzen and Coulthard (who finished fifth behind Rubens Barrichello's Stewart) were still in with a chance of winning the title.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL TIMEPOS
Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Mugen Honda  53 1h17m02.923  1m22.926 
Ralf Schumacher Williams-Supertec  53 3.272  1m23.636 
Mika Salo Ferrari  53 11.932  1m23.657 
16 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford  53 17.630  1m23.739 
David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes  53 18.142  1m23.177 
Eddie Irvine Ferrari  53 27.402  1m23.765 
Alessandro Zanardi Williams-Supertec  53 28.047  1m23.432 
22 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Supertec  53 41.797  1m24.188 11 
11 Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas  53 42.198  1m24.591 13 
10 Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen Honda  53 56.259  1m23.979 
11 18 Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot  52 1 Lap  1m24.016 10 
17 Johnny Herbert Stewart-Ford  40 Clutch 1m24.594 15 
14 Toranosuke Takagi Arrows  35 Damage 1m26.509 22 
15 Pedro de la Rosa Arrows  35 Damage 1m26.383 21 
Mika Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes  29 Spin 1m22.432 
19 Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot  29 Gearbox 1m24.293 12 
23 Ricardo Zonta BAR-Supertec  25 Wheel Bearing 1m25.114 18 
20 Luca Badoer Minardi-Ford  23 Accident 1m25.348 19 
10 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Supertec  11 Gearbox 1m24.593 14 
12 Pedro Diniz Sauber-Petronas  Spin 1m24.596 16 
Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Supertec  Accident 1m24.862 17 
21 Marc Gene Minardi-Ford  Accident 1m25.695 20