1999 Malaysian Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 15 of 16 in the 1999 Formula One season | |||
 Sepang International Circuit (new circuit) | |||
| Date | 17 October 1999 | ||
| Official name | I Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix | ||
| Location | Sepang, Malaysia | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 5.542 km (3.444 mi) | ||
| Distance | 56 laps, 310.352 km (192.853 mi) | ||
| Weather | Cloudy, hot, dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||
| Time | 1:39.688 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | |
| Time | 1:40.267 on lap 25 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Ferrari | ||
| Second | Ferrari | ||
| Third | McLaren-Mercedes | ||
The 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix (formally the I Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 17 October 1999 at the Sepang International Circuit near Sepang, Malaysia. It was the fifteenth race of the 1999 Formula One season. The 56-lap race was won by Eddie Irvine driving a Ferrari car from a second position start. Michael Schumacher, in his first race back since breaking his leg during that season's British Grand Prix at Silverstone, and who started from pole position, finished second with Mika Häkkinen finishing third driving for McLaren.
Report
This was the first Malaysian Grand Prix since a Formula Holden event in 1995, but the first time at Formula One world championship level. Michael Schumacher returned to Formula One having recovered from his broken leg, and replaced Mika Salo at Ferrari. The German took pole position by nearly a second, won the start with Irvine in second and Coulthard in third, and went off in the lead with Irvine having trouble keeping Coulthard, Häkkinen and Barrichello behind him. On lap four Schumacher slowed and allowed Irvine to pass him and then proceeded to block Coulthard and the others. But on the next lap Coulthard forced his way past the Ferrari and began 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 Häkkinen during the pit stops, Michael accelerated the pace in order to build a lead. Realising this, McLaren took a risk. They gave Häkkinen 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 Häkkinen 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 Häkkinen would have to stop again. He did, emerging in fourth place behind Herbert. Schumacher slowed again to allow Irvine to take the lead. Häkkinen could do no more than force his way past Herbert to take third place.[1] It was Herbert's final point-scoring finish of his career. Immediately after the race the two Ferraris were disqualified due to an infringement on their bargeboards. This meant that Mika Häkkinen and McLaren were effectively handed their respective championships by default. However, Ferrari appealed against the FIA's decision in court and both drivers were subsequently reinstated.[2]
As a consequence of the race, Irvine regained the lead of the Drivers' Championship over Häkkinen and extended the gap to four points with their nearest rival Heinz-Harald Frentzen out of the championship chase as he was nineteen points behind Irvine. In the constructors championship, Ferrari passed McLaren for the lead with a gap of four points.
Classification
Qualifying
Race
Championship standings after the race
- Bold text indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
Notes
- First race: Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang International Circuit.
- Last win: Eddie Irvine.
- Statistics:
- 25th Fastest lap for Bridgestone.
- Jarno Trulli suffered an engine failure on the formation lap.
- Last points: Stewart Grand Prix, Johnny Herbert
- This was the third race in a row in which a driver scored his last Grand Prix victory. Heinz-Harald Frentzen took his last win two races prior while Johnny Herbert took his last win at the preceding race.
References
- ↑ "Ferrari wins F1 appeal". [GrandPrix.com]. 17 October 1999. Archived from the original on 20 April 2003. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
- ↑ "GRAND PRIX RESULTS: MALAYSIAN GP, 1999". BBC. 23 October 1999. Archived from the original on 28 February 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
- ↑ "1999 Malaysian GP: Qualification". ChicaneF1.com. Retrieved 31 July 2007.
- ↑ "Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix - 1999: Startgrid". The Formula One Database. Archived from the original on 8 October 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
- ↑ "1999 Malaysian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ↑ "1999 Malaysian GP: Classification". ChicaneF1.com. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
- "1999 Malaysian GP: Overview". ChicaneF1.com. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
| Previous race: 1999 European Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1999 season |
Next race: 1999 Japanese Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1995 Malaysian Grand Prix |
Malaysian Grand Prix | Next race: 2000 Malaysian Grand Prix |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by 1998 San Marino Grand Prix |
Formula One Promotional Trophy for Race Promoter 1999 |
Succeeded by 2000 United States Grand Prix |