The Luck of the Irish
Mika Hakkinen and McLaren-Mercedes might have led the first half of the 45-lap German Grand Prix with ease, but by the time the chequered flag came out the race had turned into a convincing, though lucky, one-two win for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro.
It was a perfect day for the Ferrari fans as Irvine was handed the lead by his own teammate Mika Salo on lap 26 of the race to take an eight point advantage over Hakkinen in the driver championship, while the maximum 16 points in the Constructors' Championship put Ferrari ahead by the same number of points over their McLaren rivals.
Things started to go Ferrari's way at the pitstops, when Hakkinen fell back to fourth place after a slow stop (the notorious McLaren fuel rig once again not doing its job). He soon snatched third and was chasing down the Ferraris for the lead when a rear tyre on his McLaren threw its tread sending Hakkinen spinning out of the race into the tyre barrier.
The second McLaren-Mercedes of David Coulthard had faded from the picture on lap 10 when he ran into the back of Salo's car as he challenged him for second place. "I didn't even feel him touch me," said Salo later, but it was hard enough to damage the front wing of Coulthard's, the Scot stopping at the pits for repairs which dropped him back to tenth place. He was to recover to fifth by the finish, albeit a 10 seconds stop/go penalty for cutting the chicane while overtaking Olivier Panis.
The only other challenger to the Ferrari victory was Heinz Harald Frentzen in the Jordan Mugen Honda. After a bad start he was running fourth just ahead of Irvine and then went to third when Coulthard pitted.
Slick pit work from the Ferrari team and a fast lap from Irvine just before his stop saw the Irishman get ahead of Frentzen at his stop and a word from the Ferrari pit saw Salo let Irvine into the lead for the rest of the race.
"I know what it feels like to have to let me by," said Irvine with a smile. "I am going to give Mika the trophy. I couldn't bare to look at it on my mantelpiece. It was his race. What a star," admitted a grateful Irvine.
"I had problems throughout the race with my oil temperature. I couldn't push as hard as I would have liked, especially behind Frentzen, because every time I did the oil warning light would come on," explained Irvine.
Salo drove a superb race to take second place, although he admitted, smiling, that he had his doubts about letting Irvine through when he slowed the pace allowing Frentzen to close up again. "I was calling the pits telling them to ask him to go faster," said Salo, who was delighted with his first Formula One podium finish in his second race for Ferrari.
It was another unlucky day for the Stewart-Ford team, Rubens Barrichello ahead of Frentzen and Irvine in the opening laps until a leaking differential seal put him out of the race on lap 6. Johnny Herbert climbed from 17th to 5th place in the second Stewart-Ford, but dropped out 5 laps from the flag with a gearbox problem.
Just 5 seconds separated Frentzen from the Ferraris at the finish, Ralf Schumacher taking a strong fourth place a further 7 seconds behind with Coulthard fifth overall. The final point of the day went to Olivier Panis, one of just 10 cars that got to the flag in a race that traditionally takes a heavy toll on the machinery, Panis' teammate Jarno Trulli going out after 10 laps with a broken engine in his Prost Peugeot.
Jacques Villeneuve's race was over at the first corner when he was tapped into a spin under braking. He ran into Pedro Diniz' Sauber and both cars ended the race when they slammed into the tyre barrier. Villeneuve's teammate, Ricardo Zonta, went out of the race on lap 20 with an engine failure.
Eddie Irvine wasn't planning any big celebrations after his third win of the season. "It was very boring. I don't feel like celebrating. I got ten points, but it wasn't a great win. It wasn't as though we had taken the race to McLaren and beaten them. They shot themselves in the foot," explained Eddie.
He wasn't even speculating on his Championship chances after re-taking the lead which he had held after his win in the first race of the season. "I am not even thinking about the Championship. It's like a young boy dreaming about going to the moon. I don't even think about it. I am too much of a realist. Whatever is going to happen will happen."
Race Facts:
At the start Mika Hakkinen gets off the line well but Heinz-Harald Frentzen and David Coulthard are slower away, which delays Eddie Irvine. This means that Mika Salo is able to grab second at the first corner. Coulthard is third, Frentzen fourth and Irvine fifth although on the run up to the first chicane Eddie is overtaken by Rubens Barrichello.
In the midfield there is carnage as Jacques Villeneuve clips Marc Gene's Minardi and spins, hitting Pedro Diniz. As the other cars try to avoid the incident Sauber's other driver Jean Alesi damages his front wing and has to pit at the end of the first lap.
Hakkinen tries to build up a lead but Salo stays close behind him while Coulthard prepares for a challenge. Barrichello is running with a light fuel load and passes Frentzen on lap three and begins to chase after Coulthard, leaving Heinz-Harald to fight off Eddie Irvine. Further down the field Giancarlo Fisichella and Marc Gene both have off track moments. Fisichella pits for new tyres but Gene keeps going. In the midfield Johnny Herbert makes progress passing Trulli for 10th place on lap 5 although Ford's hopes take a dive on the next lap when Barrichello slows with gearbox failure. Benetton also suffers a setback when Fisichella retires with suspension damage.
At the front Hakkinen's lead is up to five seconds by lap 10, while Salo is busy holding off Coulthard. The Scotsman challenges the Finn for second in the Ostkurve but the move is not a success and David wipes off part of his front wing on the Ferrari's rear tyre. Coulthard has to pit and rejoins in 10th place. As a result Frentzen moves into third place but he is still under pressure from Irvine. There is then a big gap back to Ralf Schumacher and another gap to Alexander Wurz, who has a trail of cars behind him consisting of Hill, Herbert, Olivier Panis and Jarno Trulli, although the Italian soon stops with mechanical trouble and Hill goes off and retires with handling trouble.
Coulthard begins to fight back and on lap 16 passes Panis but the stewards later decide that David completed the manoeuvre while running across the chicane and he is given a 10-sec stop-go penalty. Johnny Herbert continues his charge and overtakes Wurz for sixth on lap 19. The major pit stops begin two laps later when Frentzen stops. On the following lap Irvine comes in and emerges ahead of the Jordan on the road. Salo stops on lap 23 but stays ahead of Irvine while Hakkinen stops on lap 24. The McLaren refuelling goes wrong and Mika spends 25 seconds stationary. He is fourth when he rejoins. He is right behind Frentzen and gets ahead on lap 26 but almost immediately he suffers a right rear tyre failure at high speed and goes off at the entry to the stadium area. The McLaren ends up going head-on into a tyre barrier but Hakkinen is unhurt. On the same lap Salo moves over and lets Irvine take the lead. McLaren's hopes evaporate when Coulthard pits for his penalty and drops to sixth.
The order remains fairly stable in the closing laps. Coulthard stops unexpectedly in the closing laps for new tyres and on lap 41 Herbert's promising run ends with a gearbox failure. Also disappearing is Pedro de la Rosa who has a fairly big accident at the first corner on lap 37. The two Ferraris come home to an unexpected 1-2 finish with Frentzen third. Fourth place goes to Ralf Schumacher while Coulthard ends his day in fifth with Olivier Panis giving Prost a point for sixth place.
Race Results:
German Grand Prix
World Championship of Drivers, round 10;
Hockenheimring, August 1st, 1999;
45 laps, 307,035 kms
Weather: Sunny
Temperatures: Air 29°C Track 45°C
CLASSIFIED
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Irvine Ferrari 1h 21:58.594
2. Salo Ferrari + 0:01.007
3. Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda + 0:05.195
4. R.Schumacher Williams Supertec + 0:12.809
5. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes + 0:16.823
6. Panis Prost Peugeot + 0:29.873
7. Wurz Benetton Playlife + 0:33.300
8. Alesi Sauber Petronas + 1:11.200
9. Gene Minardi Ford + 1 Lap
10. Badoer Minardi Ford + 1 Lap
NOT CLASSIFIED / RETIREMENTS
Driver Team On Lap Reason
Herbert Stewart Ford 40 gearbox
de la Rosa Arrows TWR 37 crash
Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes 25 tyre failure
Zanardi Williams Supertec 21 differential
Zonta BAR Supertec 20 engine
Takagi Arrows TWR 15 engine
Hill Jordan Mugen-Honda 13 retired
Trulli Prost Peugeot 10 engine
Fisichella Benetton Playlife 7 front suspension damage
Barrichello Stewart Ford 6 differential seal
Diniz Sauber Petronas 0 crash with Villeneuve
Villeneuve BAR Supertec 0 crash with Diniz
Fastest Lap: David Coulthard, Lap 43, 1:45.270 (233.331 kmph)
Race Leaders: Laps 01-24, Hakkinen;
Laps 24-25, Salo;
Laps 26-45, Irvine.
Drivers Points Standings after 10 rounds:
1. Irvine 52 2. Hakkinen 44
3 Frentzen 33 4. M.Schumacher 32
5. Coulthard 30 6. R.Schumacher 22
7. Fisichella 13 8. Barrichello 10
9. Salo 6 10. Hill 5
11. Diniz 3 = Wurz 3
13. Herbert 2 = Panis 2
15. Alesi 1 = Trulli 1
= de la Rose 1
Constructors' Points Championship:
1. Scuderia Ferrari 90
2. McLaren-Mercedes 74
3. Jordan-Mugen Honda 38
4. Williams-Supertec 22
5. Benetton-Playlife 16
6. Stewart-Ford 12
7. Sauber-Petronas 4
8. Prost Peugeot 3
9. Arrows TWR 2
All Timing Unofficial