1999 Formula 1 Season

Michael Schumacher Won F1 Races at Imola and Monaco

Jan 1, 2009 Kevin Guthrie

After McLaren won the first two Grands Prix of the season, Ferrari responded by taking victory in the next two races.

Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine won the opening race of the 1999 Formula 1 season, but only after both McLaren drivers dropped out. The next was the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.

Hakkinen and McLaren Win Brazilian Grand Prix

Ricardo Zonta crashed his BAR heavily at Interlagos and was unable to start. Mika Hakkinen was on pole, with his McLaren tea-mate David Coulthard once again second. Rubens Barrichello pleased the home fans by qualifying his Stewart third, ahead of Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari. Giancarlo Fisichella was fifth for Benetton, followed by Eddie Irvine in the second Ferrari.

Coulthard’s race got off to a disastrous start. His McLaren failed to pull away from the grid and, by the time he joined the Grand Prix from the pit lane, he was three laps down. Out front his team-mate Hakkinen led early on, before a gearbox glitch allowed Barrichello and Michael Schumacher through.

The problem cleared itself and Hakkinen closed on the leaders. Barrichello pitted early, and Michael Schumacher could not resist the faster McLaren. Hakkinen won the race, with Michael Schumacher second and Heinz-Harald Frentzen third. Ralf Schumacher was fourth in his Williams, Irvine fifth and Olivier Panis sixth in the Prost. Barrichello retired from the race with an engine failure.

Hakkinen Crashed s Out of San Marino Grand Prix Lead

Before the third race of the season everyone in Formula 1 was saddened by the death of Harvey Postlethwaite, one of the sport’s great designers. It was the usual story in qualifying at Imola for the San Marino Grand Prix, with Hakkinen on pole and Coulthard second. This time Michael Schumacher was much closer to the McLarens in terms of pace, but was still third on the grid. Irvine was alongside his team leader on row two, with Jacques Villeneuve fifth for BAR and Barrichello sixth.

Villeneuve’s race was over immediately as his car stalled on the grid. Hakkinen disappeared up front at a rapid rate, but disaster struck a few laps later. Accelerating out of the final chicane the McLaren snapped out of control and into the barriers. This left Coulthard and Michael Schumacher in a battle for the lead, and it was a battle which the Ferrari driver won. He crossed the line first, followed by Coulthard and Barrichello. Damon Hill scored his first points of the season with fourth place. Fisichella was fifth for Benetton and Jean Alesi sixth for Sauber.

Schumacher Unbeatable in Monaco Formula 1 Race

At Monaco Michael Schumacher was only just pipped to pole position by Hakkinen’s McLaren. Coulthard was third in his McLaren and Irvine fourth in the other Ferrari. At the start Michael Schumacher took the lead from Hakkinen, while Irvine made it past Coulthard into third. Irvine later passed Hakkinen as well, to make it a Ferrari 1-2 at the finish. The Finn helped Irvine’s cause by running up an escape road and losing precious seconds. He eventually finished third, while Coulthard retired with a broken gearbox. Frentzen was fourth, ahead of the two Benetton drivers. Fisichella was fifth and Alex Wurz sixth.

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Rubens Barrichello, 1999 Stewart SF3