1999 Brazilian Grand Prix

Brazil  1999 Brazilian Grand Prix
Race details
Race 2 of 16 in the 1999 Formula One season

Autódromo José Carlos Pace
(last modified in 1997)
Date April 11, 1999
Official name XXVIII Grande Prêmio Marlboro do Brasil
Location Interlagos, São Paulo, Brazil
Course Permanent racing facility
4.292 km (2.667 mi)
Distance 72 laps, 309.024 km (192.019 mi)
Weather Sunny, hot, dry during race
Rain during practice
Pole position
Driver Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1.16.568
Fastest lap
Driver Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:18.448 on lap 70
Podium
First Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes
Second Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari
Third Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Mugen-Honda

The 1999 Brazilian Grand Prix (formally the XXVIII Grande Prêmio Malboro do Brasil) was a Formula One motor race held on 11 April 1999 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil. It was the second race of the 1999 Formula One season. The race, contested over 71 laps, was won by McLaren drive Mika Häkkinen after starting from pole position. Michael Schumacher finished second in a Ferrari with Heinz-Harald Frentzen third for the Jordan team.

Ricardo Zonta did not qualify for the race, after he had injured his left foot in a big crash during Saturday's practice.[1]

Report

Background

Driver Changes

The race marked the debut for Stéphane Sarrazin, who drove the Minardi for an injured Luca Badoer.[2] Badoer had injured his hand in a testing accident, and Sarrazin - then the test driver for Prost - was drafted in to Minardi.[2]

As Luca Badoer returned for the following race, and he was still the test driver for Prost, it was Stéphane Sarrazin's only entry in Formula One.[2]

Race

At the start of the race, pole sitter Mika Häkkinen raced off with the lead, while his McLaren teammate David Coulthard stalled on the grid.[1] McLaren at this point had been reeling from a double-DNF at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, and Coulthard's failure raised eyebrows at the team.[1] Coulthard's car was pushed into the pit lane, where it was restarted as the leaders began lap 4.

On lap 4, local hero Rubens Barrichello took the lead of the race from Mika Häkkinen after Häkkinen's car suffered a temporary transmission malfunction and was unable to select any gears. Häkkinen was also passed by Michael Schumacher before his car regained the ability to select gears.[3] Barrichello was able to stay in front until he pitted on lap 27.[4] It was the first time a Stewart car had led a race.[4] The crowd of roughly 80,000[4] cheered wildly as "Rubinho" built a lead of about 5 seconds over Schumacher.[1]

Alexander Wurz and Damon Hill collided on lap 10, ending Hill's race.[1] Rubens Barrichello fell to fourth place after his pit stop, and Michael Schumacher took over the lead.[3] David Coulthard's day ended when he pulled off the track with a mechanical failure. Stéphane Sarrazin had a massive crash on the pit straight on lap 31 after suffering a wing failure, with him spinning more than six times.[2] On lap 35, Barrichello passed Eddie Irvine under braking into the first corner to take third place.

Michael Schumacher came in for a pit stop on lap 38, allowing Mika Häkkinen past. Häkkinen had been held up by Schumacher, so he began trying to build up enough of a gap so he could come out ahead of Schumacher after his own pit stop. Lap traffic delayed his progress at first, but after one lap he was able to turn in a couple of fast laps. He pitted on lap 42, and his fast laps combined with quick work by his pit crew allowed him to easily retain the lead over Schumacher.[3]

On lap 42, Pedro Diniz spun off and beached his car after trying to pass another car to the inside. Rubens Barrichello's race ended on the same lap with a blown engine.[1] Eddie Irvine came in for an unscheduled pit stop on lap 55 to clear the radiators of his overheating Ferrari, dropping him back to fifth.[3]

Mika Häkkinen won the race, with Michael Schumacher second. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was classified third despite running out of fuel on the final lap, as the next car was a lap down. Ralf Schumacher finished fourth after being closely pursued by Eddie Irvine for the last few laps.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 1 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.568  
2 2 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.715 +0.147
3 16 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1:17.305 +0.737
4 3 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:17.578 +1.010
5 9 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 1:17.810 +1.242
6 4 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:17.843 +1.275
7 7 United Kingdom Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:17.884 +1.316
8 8 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:17.902 +1.334
9 10 Austria Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 1:18.334 +1.766
10 17 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Stewart-Ford 1:18.374 +1.806
11 6 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-Supertec 1:18.506 +1.938
12 18 France Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 1:18.636 +2.068
13 19 Italy Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 1:18.684 +2.116
14 11 France Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 1:18.716 +2.148
15 12 Brazil Pedro Diniz Sauber-Petronas 1:19.194 +2.626
16 5 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Williams-Supertec 1:19.452 +2.884
17 20 France Stéphane Sarrazin Minardi-Ford 1:20.016 +3.448
18 14 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Arrows 1:20.075 +3.507
19 15 Japan Toranosuke Takagi Arrows 1:20.096 +3.528
20 21 Spain Marc Gené Minardi-Ford 1:20.710 +4.142
21 22 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Supertec   Penalty 1
DNS 23 Brazil Ricardo Zonta BAR-Supertec   Injured
1.^ Qualified 16th, stripped of time due to illegal fuel.[5]

Race

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 72 1:36:03.785 1 10
2 3 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 72 +4.925 4 6
3 8 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Mugen-Honda 71 Out of fuel 8 4
4 6 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-Supertec 71 +1 Lap 11 3
5 4 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Ferrari 71 +1 Lap 6 2
6 18 France Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 71 +1 Lap 12 1
7 10 Austria Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 70 +2 Laps 9  
8 15 Japan Toranosuke Takagi Arrows 69 +3 Laps 19  
9 21 Spain Marc Gené Minardi-Ford 69 +3 Laps 20  
Ret 14 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Arrows 52 Hydraulics 17  
Ret 22 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Supertec 49 Hydraulics 21  
Ret 5 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Williams-Supertec 43 Gearbox 16  
Ret 16 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 42 Engine 3  
Ret 12 Brazil Pedro Diniz Sauber-Petronas 42 Collision 15  
Ret 9 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 38 Clutch 5  
Ret 20 France Stéphane Sarrazin Minardi-Ford 31 Accident 18  
Ret 11 France Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 27 Gearbox 14  
Ret 2 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 22 Gearbox 2  
Ret 19 Italy Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 21 Gearbox 13  
Ret 17 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Stewart-Ford 15 Hydraulics 10  
Ret 7 United Kingdom Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 10 Collision 7  
DNQ 23 Brazil Ricardo Zonta BAR-Supertec Not qualified  

Standings after Grand Prix

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine 12
2 Finland Mika Häkkinen 10
3 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen 10
4 Germany Ralf Schumacher 7
5 Germany Michael Schumacher 6

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 Italy Ferrari 18
2 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 10
3 Republic of Ireland Jordan-Mugen-Honda 10
4 United Kingdom Williams-Supertec 7
5 Italy Benetton-Playlife 3

Notes

References

Classification
Qualifying
"1999 Brazilian GP: Qualification". ChicaneF1.com. Retrieved 2007-08-01.
"28o Grande Premio Marlboro do Brazil - 1999: Startgrid". The Formula One Database. Retrieved 2007-08-02.
Race
"1999 Brazilian Grand Prix". The Official Formula 1 Website. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
"1999 Brazilian GP: Classification". ChicaneF1.com. Retrieved 2007-08-01.

Notes, Race details
"1999 Brazilian GP: Overview". ChicaneF1.com. Retrieved 2007-08-01.

Previous race:
1999 Australian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1999 season
Next race:
1999 San Marino Grand Prix
Previous race:
1998 Brazilian Grand Prix
Brazilian Grand Prix Next race:
2000 Brazilian Grand Prix