Malaysian GP 1999

Malaysian GP, 1999

The inaugural Malaysian Grand Prix saw Michael Schumacher back into action for Ferrari for the first time since his leg-breaking accident at the British GP in July. After weeks of being less than impressive the Ferraris - or at least Schumacher's car - were suddenly fast again. Schumacher was so fast in fact that he was a second ahead of the two McLarens in qualifying. Irvine was alongside him on the grid and the McLarens of David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen were third and fourth. Then came a revitalized Johnny Herbert, much more motivated after his win at the European GP three weeks previously. Herbert's Stewart-Ford team mate, Rubens Barrichello, was sixth on the grid.

In the race Schumacher went off in the lead with Irvine having trouble keeping Coulthard, Hakkinen and Barrichello behind him. On lap four Schumacher slowed and allowed Irvine to pass him and then proceeded to block Coulthard and the others. David was in no mood for such behavior and on the next lap he forced his way past the Ferrari and went off in pursuit of Irvine. He was challenging for the lead when his car broke down.

Back in second place, Schumacher slowed down again to allow Irvine to get an advantage. Then, needing to stay ahead of Hakkinen during the pit stops, Michael accelerated the pace in order to build a lead. Realising this, McLaren took a risk. They gave Hakkinen half a tank of fuel and hoped it would be enough to get him out of the pits ahead of Schumacher.

The gamble failed. Schumacher blocked Hakkinen again and the gap to Irvine went up to around 20secs. Irvine did not have a big enough advantage to stay ahead at his second stop but Ferrari was sure that Hakkinen would have to stop again. He did, emerging in fourth place behind Herbert. Schumacher slowed again to allow Irvine to take the lead. Hakkinen could do no more than force his way past Herbert to take third place. After the race the Ferraris were found to be illegal by an FIA official. The stewards agreed. The Ferraris were thrown out, which - in theory - made Hakkinen World Champion.

Ferrari appealed and the FIA Court of Appeal in Paris later ruled that the cars were not illegal and that the measurements taken had been wrong. The two Ferraris were reinstated.

POSNODRIVERENTRANTLAPSTIME/RETIREMENTQUAL TIMEPOS
1 4 Eddie Irvine Ferrari  56 1h36m38.494  1m40.635 2 
2 3 Michael Schumacher Ferrari  56 1.040  1m39.688 1 
3 1 Mika Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes  56 9.743  1m40.866 4 
4 17 Johnny Herbert Stewart-Ford  56 17.538  1m40.937 5 
5 16 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford  56 32.296  1m41.351 6 
6 8 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Mugen Honda  56 34.884  1m42.380 14 
7 11 Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas  56 54.408  1m42.522 15 
8 10 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Supertec  56 1m00.934  1m41.444 7 
9 21 Marc Gene Minardi-Ford  55 1 Lap  1m43.563 19 
10 5 Alessandro Zanardi Williams-Supertec  55 1 Lap  1m42.885 16 
11 9 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Supertec  52 4 Laps  1m42.110 11 
r 22 Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Supertec  48 Hydraulics 1m42.087 10 
r 12 Pedro Diniz Sauber-Petronas  44 Spin 1m42.933 17 
r 15 Pedro de la Rosa Arrows  30 Engine 1m43.579 20 
r 20 Luca Badoer Minardi-Ford  15 Engine 1m44.321 21 
r 2 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes  14 Fuel Pump 1m40.806 3 
r 14 Toranosuke Takagi Arrows  7 Driveshaft 1m44.637 22 
r 6 Ralf Schumacher Williams-Supertec  7 Spin 1m41.558 8 
r 23 Ricardo Zonta BAR-Supertec  6 Engine 1m42.310 13 
r 18 Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot  5 Engine 1m42.208 12 
r 7 Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen Honda  0 Accident 1m42.050 9 
r 19 Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot  0 Engine 1m42.948 18