"Australia was an easy win, but this one was really great," said a delighted Irvine after scoring his second career win for the Scuderia Marlboro-Ferrari team ahead of both their McLaren-Mercedes rivals in the next two places. Irvine's win now moves him into second place in the drivers' World Championship standings, just two points behind Hakkinen who came home in third place.
Eddie Irvine made the most of his opportunities as race favourite Hakkinen was knocked out of contention at the second corner by his own teammate David Coulthard. Hakkinen spun to the back of the field and drove an incredible race back through the field to finish in third spot, just 22 seconds behind his teammate having closed the gap to just under 14 seconds before settling for third place.
Coulthard led the first 39 laps of the 71-lap race, but lost the lead to Irvine at his pit stop which he never regained. Irvine, who was one of the last to stop for fuel, pushed hard for another five laps before his own stop and came out just ahead of the McLaren.
"It was great race strategy and there was such a lot going on," said Irvine, who explained that it was a very tough race to win. "I had a problem with the brakes, so in the first half I concentrated on saving fuel and the brakes when I was stuck behind Barrichello and when he pitted I pushed hard to make up time on Coulthard," he added.
It was a tactic which paid off, for he came back from his stop in the lead which he then defended brilliantly to the flag to cross the line just a car's length ahead of his rival. "I tried to save the brakes after the stop, but then the car was understeering a lot and David started to get a bit close so I had to forget about the brakes and push as hard as I could," he admitted after holding off a couple of challenges from the Scot in the last couple of laps to the finish.
Despite Coulthard's second place finish, he described the race as a "Nightmare of a race. Firstly because of what happened running into my teammate and then when I saw Irvine come out of the pits ahead of me," he said. He had lost his chances of staying ahead of Irvine just before his pit stop when he lost 2.5 seconds in one lap trying to get by Alex Zanardi's Williams.
Irvine's win has also kept the Ferrari team ahead of McLaren in the Constructors' Championship points positions.
After taking second place from Irvine in the second corner confusion, Rubens Barrichello's drive to what looked like being fourth place came to a halt when the engine failed 16 laps from home. The same incident cost the second Stewart-Ford of Johnny Herbert any chance of a good finish when he was hit from behind by Mika Salo starting from seventh spot in the second Marlboro-Ferrari. Herbert, who set the second fastest lap of the race, lost four laps with a pit stop after losing his car's rear wing. He came home in 14th place.
The accident also cost Salo almost a lap when he too went to the pits to replace his Ferrari's damaged front wing. He was lap down by the end of the race taking ninth place overall.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen took the fourth place points for the Jordan team well clear of local hope Alexander Wurz who was fifth for the Benetton team after his teammate had blown up his Benetton's engine.
The final point of the day went to the Sauber-Petronas of Pedro Diniz, the Brazilian taking a two stop strategy like his teammate Alesi who ran out of fuel when he missed his pit signal for his second stop. None the less, Alesi had an excellent race, making several passes in the mid-field before he retired.
There were 13 cars running at the finish, both BARs and Williams not amongst them. Villeneuve had run strongly in the opening laps before stopping with a failed rear upright, while his teammate Zonta pulled out with a clutch failure.
Both Williams failed to make the flag. Ralf Schumacher went out when he spun trying to pass Alesi early in the race. Zanardi eventually dropped out when he also ran out of fuel due to a radio failure with his pit.
Race Results:
Austrian Grand Prix
World Championship of Drivers, round 9;
A1-Ring, Spielberg, July 25th, 1999;
71 laps, 306,649 kms
Weather: partly cloudy, Dry
Temperatures: Air 16°C Track 24°C
CLASSIFIED
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Irvine Ferrari 1h 28:12.438
2. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes + 0.313
3. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes + 0:22.282
4. Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda + 0:52.803
5. Wurz Benetton Playlife + 1:06.300
6. Diniz Sauber Petronas + 1:10.900
7. Trulli Prost Peugeot + 1 Lap
8. Hill Jordan Mugen-Honda + 1 Lap
9. Salo Ferrari + 1 Lap
10. Panis Prost Peugeot + 1 Lap
11. Gene Minardi Ford + 1 Lap
12. Fisichella Benetton Playlife + 3 Laps *
13. Badoer Minardi Ford + 3 Laps
14. Herbert Stewart Ford + 4 Laps
* retired on lap 68, due to engine failure
NOT CLASSIFIED / RETIREMENTS
Driver Team On Lap Reason
Zonta BAR Supertec 63 clutch
Barrichello Stewart Ford 55 engine
Alesi Sauber Petronas 49 out of fuel
de la Rosa Arrows TWR 38 spun off
Zanardi Williams Supertec 35 out of fuel
Villeneuve BAR Supertec 34 rear upright
Takagi Arrows TWR 25 engine
R.Schumacher Williams Supertec 7 spun off
Fastest Lap: Mika Hakkinen, Lap 39, 1:12.107 (215.629 kmph)
Race Leaders: Laps 01-39, Coulthard;
Laps 39-71, Irvine.
Drivers Points Standings after 9 rounds:
1. Hakkinen 44 2. Irvine 42
3 M.Schumacher 32 4. Frentzen 29
5. Coulthard 28 6. R.Schumacher 19
7. Fisichella 13 8. Barrichello 10
9. Hill 5 10. Diniz 3
= Wurz 3 12. Herbert 2
13. Panis 1 = Alesi 1
= Trulli 1 = de la Rose 1
Constructors' Points Championship:
1. Scuderia Ferrari 74
2. McLaren-Mercedes 72
3. Jordan-Mugen Honda 34
4. Williams-Supertec 19
5. Benetton-Playlife 16
6. Stewart-Ford 12
7. Sauber-Petronas 4
8. Prost Peugeot 2
= Arrows TWR 2
All Timing Unofficial