1999 Japanese Grand Prix

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1999 Japanese Grand Prix
Race 16 of 16 in the 1999 Formula One World Championship
Suzuka International Racing Course (last modified in 1991)
Suzuka International Racing Course (last modified in 1991)
Race details
Date 31 October 1999
Official name XXV Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix
Location Suzuka, Mie, Japan
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.860 km (3.641[1] miles)
Distance 53 laps, 310.596[2] km (192.995 miles)
Weather Overcast, mild, dry
Attendance 318,000[3]
Pole position
Driver Ferrari
Time 1:37.470
Fastest lap
Driver Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari
Time 1:41.319 on lap 31
Podium
First McLaren-Mercedes
Second Ferrari
Third Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 1999 Japanese Grand Prix (formally the XXV Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 31 October 1999 at the Suzuka International Racing Course in Suzuka, Japan. It was the sixteenth and final round of the 1999 Formula One season. The 53-lap race was won by McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen after starting from second position. Michael Schumacher finished second in a Ferrari with teammate Eddie Irvine finishing third. Häkkinen's victory confirmed him as 1999 Drivers' Champion. Ferrari were also confirmed as Constructors' Champions.

This was the last Formula One race for Stewart Grand Prix, Toranosuke Takagi, Alessandro Zanardi and for the 1996 World Champion, Damon Hill.

Report[edit]

Championship permutations[edit]

Going into this race, Ferrari's Eddie Irvine led the Drivers' Championship by four points from Häkkinen, 70 to 66. Häkkinen therefore needed to win the race, or to finish second with Irvine no higher than fifth, or to finish third with Irvine finishing outside the top six.

Victory for Häkkinen would give him the Championship regardless of where Irvine finished: even if Irvine finished second, both drivers would have 76 points but Häkkinen would have five wins to Irvine's four. Similarly, the Finn would be Champion if he finished second with Irvine fifth (as he would have three second places to Irvine's two), or if he finished third without Irvine scoring (as he would have four third places to Irvine's two).

Qualifying[edit]

Qualifying saw Irvine's Ferrari teammate, Michael Schumacher, take pole position with Häkkinen alongside on the front row. David Coulthard was third in the second McLaren, with Heinz-Harald Frentzen fourth in the Jordan. Irvine struggled throughout, also suffering a heavy crash at the Hairpin, and could only manage fifth, over 1.5 seconds slower than Schumacher and over 1.1 slower than Häkkinen. The top ten was completed by the Prosts of Olivier Panis and Jarno Trulli, Johnny Herbert in the Stewart, Ralf Schumacher in the Williams and Jean Alesi in the Sauber.

Race[edit]

Häkkinen beat Schumacher off the line, with Panis charging into third ahead of Irvine, Coulthard and Frentzen. Zanardi pulled off the track into the pits in the second Williams with electrical problems on lap 1. The Finn quickly built a comfortable lead, and it became clear that the Ferraris could not match him. As Trulli in the second Prost retired when his engine failed on lap 4.

Panis retired when his alternator broke on lap 20, meanwhile Hill retired after spinning off the track but managed to come back to the pits to retire with mental driver fatigue on lap 21 in his final Grand Prix, Coulthard passed Irvine for third during the first round of pit stops. On lap 34, Coulthard made a mistake and spun into a wall, losing his nose. He pitted and rejoined a lap down, just in front of Schumacher. It was alleged that the Scot deliberately held up the German driver, before retiring several laps later with a hydraulic failure. Schumacher later criticized Coulthard's behaviour.

Häkkinen eventually took the chequered flag five seconds ahead of Schumacher and, with it, his second Drivers' Championship. Irvine finished a minute and a half behind Schumacher in third, nonetheless helping Ferrari secure their first Constructors' Championship since 1983. The minor points went to Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher and Alesi.

Classification[edit]

Qualifying[edit]

Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap
1 3 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:37.470
2 1 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:37.820 +0.350
3 2 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:38.239 +0.769
4 8 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:38.696 +1.226
5 4 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:38.975 +1.505
6 18 France Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 1:39.623 +2.153
7 19 Italy Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 1:39.644 +2.174
8 17 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Stewart-Ford 1:39.706 +2.236
9 6 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-Supertec 1:39.717 +2.247
10 11 France Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 1:39.721 +2.251
11 22 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Supertec 1:39.732 +2.262
12 7 United Kingdom Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:40.140 +2.670
13 16 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1:40.140 +2.670
14 9 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 1:40.261 +2.791
15 10 Austria Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 1:40.303 +2.833
16 5 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Williams-Supertec 1:40.403 +2.933
17 12 Brazil Pedro Diniz Sauber-Petronas 1:40.740 +3.270
18 23 Brazil Ricardo Zonta BAR-Supertec 1:40.861 +3.391
19 15 Japan Toranosuke Takagi Arrows 1:41.067 +3.597
20 21 Spain Marc Gené Minardi-Ford 1:41.529 +4.059
21 14 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Arrows 1:41.708 +4.238
22 20 Italy Luca Badoer Minardi-Ford 1:42.515 +5.045
107% time: 1:44.293
Source: [4]

Race[edit]

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Finland Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 53 1:31:18.785 2 10
2 3 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari 53 + 5.015 1 6
3 4 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Ferrari 53 + 1:35.688 5 4
4 8 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Mugen-Honda 53 + 1:38.635 4 3
5 6 Germany Ralf Schumacher Williams-Supertec 53 + 1:39.494 9 2
6 11 France Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 52 + 1 Lap 10 1
7 17 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Stewart-Ford 52 + 1 Lap 8  
8 16 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 52 + 1 Lap 13  
9 22 Canada Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Supertec 52 + 1 Lap 11  
10 10 Austria Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 52 + 1 Lap 15  
11 12 Brazil Pedro Diniz Sauber-Petronas 52 + 1 Lap 17  
12 23 Brazil Ricardo Zonta BAR-Supertec 52 + 1 Lap 18  
13 14 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Arrows 51 + 2 Laps 21  
14 9 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 47 Engine 14  
Ret 15 Japan Toranosuke Takagi Arrows 43 Gearbox 19  
Ret 20 Italy Luca Badoer Minardi-Ford 43 Engine 22  
Ret 2 United Kingdom David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 39 Hydraulics 3  
Ret 21 Spain Marc Gené Minardi-Ford 31 Gearbox 20  
Ret 7 United Kingdom Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 21 Mental Fatigue[5] 12  
Ret 18 France Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 19 Alternator 6  
Ret 19 Italy Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 3 Engine 7  
Ret 5 Italy Alessandro Zanardi Williams-Supertec 0 Electrical 16  
Sources:[6][7]

Championship standings after the race[edit]

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "1999 Japanese Grand Prix | Motorsport Database".
  2. ^ "2013 Japanese Grand Prix: Official Media Kit" (PDF). FIA.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. p. 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Formula 1 Honda Japanese Grand Prix 2022 – Media Kit" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  4. ^ F1, STATS. "Japan 1999 - Qualifications • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 14 November 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Gordon, Ian (1 November 1999). "Final summit proves too steep for Hill to climb Damon Hill's career ended tamely yesterday as he pulled out of theJapanese Grand Prix admitting he was only thinking about his family, writes Ian Gordon". Birmingham Post. p. 28. ProQuest 326564287. Retrieved 23 November 2020 – via ProQuest.
  6. ^ "1999 Japanese Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  7. ^ "1999 Japanese GP: Classification". ChicaneF1.com. Retrieved 2 August 2007.
  8. ^ a b "Japan 1999 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.


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