Eddie Irvine's first ever win was a wild one. The Formula One season got off to
a strange start when both Stewarts had engine fires while waiting for the grid to form.
Despite a promising weekend, Johnny Herbert was
forced to miss the race when his teammate Rubens Barrichello received
the spare car.
Mika Hakkinen's delayed start on the subsequent formation lap forced Germany's Michael Schumacher to stall. Schumacher was made to start from the back of the grid.
Even though they initially raced into the distance, early domination of the McLaren team was short lived. David Coulthard would soon end his weekend when he was forced to retire due to a hydraulic failure. World Champion Mika Hakkinen was also forced to retire early from Albert Park with a throttle problem.
Before Hakkinen's departure, Jacques Villenuve managed to lose a rear wing. The safety car was brought out and Irvine poised himself behind the Finn. On the restart, Irvine overtook the suffering McLaren rather quickly and remained in the lead for the rest of the race with several unsuccessful challenges by Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the Jordan.
In their initial outing with Jordan and Williams, both Frentzen and Ralf Schumacher fared well with regards to the team swap over the off-season. Frentzen finished second and Ralf finished a very respectable third. Michael Schumacher battled poor fortune throughout the race and ended as the last classified position of eighth. Barrichello and De La Rosa managed to score much deserved and needed points for their teams in fifth and sixth spots respectively.
Full and extended race report to come in the next issue of Atlas F1.
RESULTS AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
Albert Park, Melbourne, March 7th, 1999
World Championship of Drivers, Round 1
57 laps, 302.271 km
CLASSIFIED
POS DRIVER TEAM CHASSIS ENGINE TIME LAP
01. Irvine Ferrari F399 Ferrari V10 01:35:01.659 57 190.852 kph
02. Frentzen Jordan 199 Mugen Honda V10 + 0:01.026 57
03. R Schumacher Williams FW21 Supertec V10 + 0:07.012 57
04. Fisichella Benetton B199 Supertec V10 + 0:33.418 57
05. Barrichello Stewart SF3 Ford V10 + 0.54.697 57
06. De La Rosa Arrows A20 Arrows V10 + 1:24.316 57
07. Takagi Arrows A20 Arrows V10 + 1:26.288 57
08. M Schumacher* Ferrari F399 Ferrari V10 + 1 lap 56
NOT CLASSIFIED
DRIVER TEAM CHASSIS ENGINE REASON LAP
Zonta BAR 01 Supertec V10 Engine 48
Badoer Minardi M199 Ford V10 Gearbox 42
Wurz Benetton B199 Supertec V10 Rear susp. 28
Diniz Sauber C18 Petronas V10 Transmission 27
Trulli Prost AP02 Peugeot V10 Crash 25
Gene Minardi M199 Ford V10 Crash 25
Panis Prost AP02 Peugeot V10 Wheel nut 23
Hakkinen McLaren MP4-14 Mercedes V10 Throttle 21
Zanardi Williams FW21 Supertec V10 Crash 20
Coulthard McLaren MP4-14 Mercedes V10 Hydraulics 13
Villeneuve BAR 01 Supertec V10 Rear wing 13
Hill Jordan 199 Mugen Honda V10 Spin 0
Alesi Sauber C18 Petronas V10 Gearbox 0
Herbert Stewart SF3 Ford V10 Engine fire 0
*Fastest Lap: M.Schumacher, Lap 55, 1:32.112 secs, 207.256 kph
Lap Leaders: Lap 1-17, Hakkinen; 18-57, Irvine
UNOFFICIAL TIMING
Drivers' World Championship Standings Constructors' Championship Standings
1. Irvine 10 1. Scuderia Ferrari-Marlboro 10
2. Frentzen 6 2. Jordan-Mugen Honda 6
3. R Schumacher 4 3. Williams-Supertech 4
4. Fisichella 3 4. Benetton-Playlife 3
5 Barrichello 2 5. Stewart-Ford 2
6. De La Rosa 1 6. Arrows 1
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