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.
POS | NO | DRIVER | ENTRANT | LAPS | TIME/RETIREMENT | QUAL TIME | POS |
1 | 8 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Jordan-Mugen Honda | 53 | 1h17m02.923 | 1m22.926 | 2 |
2 | 6 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams-Supertec | 53 | 3.272 | 1m23.636 | 5 |
3 | 3 | Mika Salo | Ferrari | 53 | 11.932 | 1m23.657 | 6 |
4 | 16 | Rubens Barrichello | Stewart-Ford | 53 | 17.630 | 1m23.739 | 7 |
5 | 2 | David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | 53 | 18.142 | 1m23.177 | 3 |
6 | 4 | Eddie Irvine | Ferrari | 53 | 27.402 | 1m23.765 | 8 |
7 | 5 | Alessandro Zanardi | Williams-Supertec | 53 | 28.047 | 1m23.432 | 4 |
8 | 22 | Jacques Villeneuve | BAR-Supertec | 53 | 41.797 | 1m24.188 | 11 |
9 | 11 | Jean Alesi | Sauber-Petronas | 53 | 42.198 | 1m24.591 | 13 |
10 | 7 | Damon Hill | Jordan-Mugen Honda | 53 | 56.259 | 1m23.979 | 9 |
11 | 18 | Olivier Panis | Prost-Peugeot | 52 | 1 Lap | 1m24.016 | 10 |
r | 17 | Johnny Herbert | Stewart-Ford | 40 | Clutch | 1m24.594 | 15 |
r | 14 | Toranosuke Takagi | Arrows | 35 | Damage | 1m26.509 | 22 |
r | 15 | Pedro de la Rosa | Arrows | 35 | Damage | 1m26.383 | 21 |
r | 1 | Mika Hakkinen | McLaren-Mercedes | 29 | Spin | 1m22.432 | 1 |
r | 19 | Jarno Trulli | Prost-Peugeot | 29 | Gearbox | 1m24.293 | 12 |
r | 23 | Ricardo Zonta | BAR-Supertec | 25 | Wheel Bearing | 1m25.114 | 18 |
r | 20 | Luca Badoer | Minardi-Ford | 23 | Accident | 1m25.348 | 19 |
r | 10 | Alexander Wurz | Benetton-Supertec | 11 | Gearbox | 1m24.593 | 14 |
r | 12 | Pedro Diniz | Sauber-Petronas | 1 | Spin | 1m24.596 | 16 |
r | 9 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Benetton-Supertec | 1 | Accident | 1m24.862 | 17 |
r | 21 | Marc Gene | Minardi-Ford | 0 | Accident | 1m25.695 | 20 |