F1 News
April 1999


30 April 1999 These are the times after the Friday practice session for the San Marino GP:

1. Mika Hakkinen (Fin/McLaren-Mercedes) 1'28"467 (average 200,617 km/h) 
2. David Coulthard (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 1'28"605 
3. Eddie Irvine (Irl/Ferrari) 1'29"046 
4. Damon Hill (GBR/Jordan-Mugen Honda) 1'29"452 
5. Michael Schumacher (Ger/Ferrari) 1'29"534 
6. Alessandro Zanardi (Ita/Williams-Supertec) 1'29"614 
7. Ralf Schumacher (Ger/Williams-Supertec) 1'29"630 
8. Jacques Villeneuve (Can/BAR-Supertec) 1'29"765 
9. Rubens Barrichello (Bra/Stewart-Ford) 1'29"792 
10. Jarno Trulli (Ita/Prost-Peugeot) 1'29"808 
11. Jean Alesi (Fra/Sauber-Petronas) 1'30"182 
12. Olivier Panis (Fra/Prost-Peugeot) 1'30"408 
13. Pedro Paolo Diniz (Bra/Sauber-Petronas) 1'30"482 
14. Mika Salo (Fin/BAR-Supertec) 1'30"569 
15. Alexander Wurz (Aut/Benetton-Supertec) 1'30"830 
16. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita/Benetton-Supertec) 1'30"854 
17. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Ger/Jordan-Mugen Honda) 1'30"991 
18. Johnny Herbert (GBR/Stewart-Ford) 1'31"046 
19. Pedro de la Rosa (Spa/Arrows) 1'31"257 
20. Luca Badoer (Ita/Minardi-Ford) 1'31"547 
21. Toranosuke Takagi (Jap/Arrows) 1'31"557 
22. Marc Gené (Spa/Minardi-Ford) 1'33"529

29 April 1999 Minardi will use a longer version of the car in Imola. The wheelbase has been extended by 60 mm to improve on the aerodynamics. Bsdoer will be back in teh cockpit for the team, despite his hand not having healed completely.

26 April 1999 Salo will race at Imola in place of Zonta. The BAR team and the Brazilian driver decided that the most important thing is for him to recover completely, rather than try to get back in the car as soon as possible.

25 April 1999 Minardi have confirmed that Luca Badoer will race in the San Marino GP.

21 April 1999 Honda is to continue setting up a F1 team, despite the death of project leader Harvey Postelthwaite last week. Testing in Barcelona has been stopped as a sign of respect.

20 April 1999 Zonta might be able to race at Imola. He is in no pain and the plaster on his leg has been sobstituted with a rigid non-flammable resin boot. His car has been adapted to have both accelerator and brakes pedals on the right and he has undergone several tests in GP simulation conditions and all he has left to do is prove that he can get out of the car in 5". Mika Salo will do the testing in Jerez and will race in Imola should Zonta not be able to.

18 April 1999 Minardi have confirmed that Luca Badoer will race in the San Marino GP.

18 april 1999 Mika Salo has been officially named as Zonta's replacement at BAR for as long as the Brazilian is unfit to race following the accident in the Brazil practice session.

17 April 1999 BAR driver Ricardo Zonta might race in the San Marino GP with a car modified to allow him to accelerate and brake with his right foot. Other rumours have it that Mika Salo will take Zonta's place in San Marino and Monaco.

15 April 1999 There are rumours that Ken Tyrrell has been diagnosed with pancreas or stomach cancer. Apparently last week he underwent an operation in the US at the Mayo clinic (Minnesota) after being told by British doctors that he might not live to see the new millennium.

14 April 1999 Harvey Postlethwaite (55), former managing director of Tyrrell and currently at the head of Honda's effort of rejoining F1 in 2001 has died following a heart attack. Postlethwaite fell ill with chest pain while working at the Circuit de Catalunya. He went back to his hotel room and was immediately taken to hospital where he died. Eddie Jordan commented that Postlethwaite was a true gentleman and that his death is a sad loss to the whole of F1. Only recently they had been talking about Postlethwaite's future projects.

13 April 1999 Roberto Godoy Moreira, the Brazilian surgeon who operated on Zonta, said that for the next fifteen days the driver is at risk of contracting infection from microscopic fragments of carbon-fiber, which have contaminated his flesh and which are extremely difficult to remove. He also said that Ricardo Zonta suffered the exposed fracture of three small articulations, the laceration of eight tendons and various small bone cracks. He then added that Zonta might be back on the track within 30-40 days.

11 April 1999 Zonta's manager, Geraldo Rodrigues, announced today that Jos Verstappen and Mika Salo are the two candidates to take Zonta's place in San Marino and Monaco. The Brazilian driver is still in hospital and he might be out of action for 45 days.

11 April 1999 Mika Hakkinen won the Brazilain GP, followed by M. Schumacher (2nd), Frentzen (3rd), R. Schumacher (4th), Irvine (5th) and Panis (6th). A full race report will appear in the Race Reports section.

11 April 1999 Ricardo Zonta has undergone microsurgery to repair the tendin and the legaments of four toes of his left foot. It now seems likely he will miss the Imola and Montecarlo GPs as well as today's Brazilian GP.

11 April 1999 More bad luck for BAR. Villeneuve has lost his 16th position and will have to start the Brazilian GP from the back of the grid. The fuel he used in qualifying was found to be different from the sample the team had submitted for approval before the event. BAR's other driver, Zonta, will not race today because doctors ordered him to rest after a practice accident.

This is the new starting grid:

1. Mika Hakkinen (Fin/McLaren-Mercedes) 1'16"5 (average 201,797 km/h) 
2. David Coulthard (Gb/McLaren-Mercedes) 1'16"715 
3. Rubens Barrichello (Bra/Stewart-Ford) 1'17"305 
4. Michael Schumacher (Ger/Ferrari) 1'17"578 
5. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita/Benetton-Supertec) 1'17"810 
6. Eddie Irvine (Irl/Ferrari) 1'17"843 
7. Damon Hill (GBR/Jordan-Mugen Honda) 1'17"884 
8. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Ger/Jordan-Mugen Honda) 1'17"902 
9. Alexander Wurz (Aut/Benetton-Supertec) 1'18"334 
10. Johnny Herbert (Gb/Stewart-Ford) 1'18"374 
11. Ralf Schumacher (Ger/Williams-Supertec) 1'18"506 
12. Olivier Panis (Fra/Prost-Peugeot) 1'18"636 
13. Jarno Trulli (Ita/Prost-Peugeot) 1'18"684 
14. Jean Alesi (Fra/Sauber-Petronas) 1'18"716 
15. Pedro Paolo Diniz (Bra/Sauber-Petronas) 1'19"194 
16. Alessandro Zanardi (Ita/Williams-Supertec) 1'19"452 
17. Stephane Sarrazin (Fra/Minardi-Ford) 1'20"016 
18. Pedro de la Rosa (Spa/Arrows) 1'20"075 
19. Toranosuke Takagi (Gia/Arrows) 1'20"096 
20. Marc Gené (Spa/Minardi-Ford) 1'20"710 
21. Jacques Villeneuve (Can/BAR-Supertec) penalty

10 April 1999 Pedro De La Rosa has been penalised for achieving his best time while the yellow flags were out for a small accident involving Gené's car. De LA Rosa's previous best time has been used resulting in him moving back on the grid by one position.

10 April 1999 Hakkinen secured pole position for the Brazilian GP, followed by team mate Coulthard. Barrichello got third best time in front of his home crown and preceeding M. Schumacher, fourth. Fisichella and Irvine will start from the third row. Zonta lost control of his car at the Horseshoe during the free session, crashed sideways into the barrier and suffered a deep cut to his leg, for which he needed stitches. The doctors advised him to rest for 10 days, so he will miss tomorrow's race. These are the qualifying times:

1. 1 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1'16"568 
2. 2 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1'16"715 
3. 16 BARRICHELLO Stewart Ford 1'17"305 
4. 3 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1'17"578 
5. 9 FISICHELLA Benetton Playlife 1'17"810 
6. 4 IRVINE Ferrari 1'17"843 
7. 7 HILL Jordan Mugen-Hond 1'17"884 
8. 8 FRENTZEN Jordan Mugen-Hond 1'17"902 
9. 10 WURZ Benetton Playlife 1'18"334 
10. 17 HERBERT Stewart Ford 1'18"374 
11. 6 R.SCHUMACHER Williams Supertec 1'18"506 
12. 18 PANIS Prost Peugeot 1'18"636 
13. 19 TRULLI Prost Peugeot 1'18"684 
14. 11 ALESI Sauber Petronas 1'18"716 
15. 12 DINIZ Sauber Petronas 1'19"194 
16. 22 VILLENEUVE BAR Supertec 1'19"377 
17. 5 ZANARDI Williams Supertec 1'19"452 
18. 14 DE LA ROSA Arrows TWR 1'19"979 
19. 20 SARRAZIN Minardi Ford 1'20"016 
20. 15 TAKAGI Arrows TWR 1'20"096 
21. 21 GENE Minardi Ford 1'20"710

9 April 1999 Times at the end of the two Friday Practice sessions for the Brazilian GP:

1) Mika Hakkinen (Fin) McLaren Mercedes 1'18"881 
2) David Coulthard (Gb) McLaren Mercedes 1'19"352 
3) Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1'19"621 
4) Eddie Irvine (Irl) Ferrari 1'19"772 
5) Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Benetton Supertec 1'20"309 
6) Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Stewart Ford CW 1'20"338 
7) Jarno Trulli (Ita) Prost Peugeot 1'20"359 
8) Heinz-Harald Frentzen(Ger) Jordan Mugen Honda 1'20"431 
9) Olivier Panis (Fra) Prost Peugeot 1'20"562 
10) Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Williams Supertec 1'20"671 
11) Alexander Wurz (Aut) Benetton Supertec 1'20"759 
12) Jean Alesi (Fra) Sauber Petronas 1'20"824 
13) Johnny Herbert (Gb) Stewart Ford CW 1'20"934 
14) Ricardo Zonta (Bra) Bar 1'21"009 
15) Pedro Paolo Diniz (Bra) Sauber Petronas 1'21"116 
16) Alessandro Zanardi (Ita) Williams Supertec 1'21"773 
17) Marc Gene (Spa) Minardi Ford Zetec-R 1'21"897 
18) Toranosuke Takagi (Gia) Arrows 1'22"355 
19) Pedro De La Rosa (Spa) Arrows 1'22"494 
20) Stephane Sarrazin (Fra) Minardi Ford Zetec-R 1'22"578 
21) Damon Hill (Gb) Jordan Mugen Honda 1'32"229 
22) Jacques Villeneuve (Can) Bar 1'36"568

7 April 1999 Stephane Sarrazin has been officially named as Badoer's substitute for the Brazilian GP.

6 April 1999 Badoer has decided not to drive in Brazil and today or tomorrow the replacement will be announced. Apparently they are going for Prost test driver Stephane Sarrazin (experience in F3000), but they are still waiting for FIA to give their approval.

FedeF1 News Archive


Last updated on by Federica Massagrande