31 July 1999 Hakkinen clocked the fastest time in the qualifying session to get pole position for the German GP. Frentzen will share the front line with him, with Coulthard and M. Schumacher's replacement Salo on the second row. Irvine only managed fifth time, ahead of Barrichello.

The qualifying session times:

Mika Hakkinen (Fin/McLaren-Mercedes) 1'42"950 Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Ger/Jordan-Mugen Honda) 1'43"000 David Coulthard (Gb/McLaren-Mercedes) 1'43"288 Mika Salo (Fin/Ferrari) 1'43"577 Eddie Irvine (Gb/Ferrari) 1'43"769 Rubens Barrichello (Bra/Stewart-Ford) 1'43"938 Olivier Panis (Fra/Prost-Peugeot) 1'43"979 Damon Hill (Gb/Jordan-Mugen Honda) 1'44"001 Jarno Trulli (Ita/Prost-Peugeot) 1'44"209 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita/Benetton-Supertec) 1'44"338 Ralf Schumacher (Ger/Williams-Supertec) 1'44"468 Jacques Villeneuve (Can/Bar-Supertec) 1'44"508 Alexander Wurz (Aut/Benetton-Supertec) 1'44"522 Alex Zanardi (Ita/Williams-Supertec) 1'45"034 Marc Gené (Spa/Minardi-Ford) 1'45"331 Pedro Diniz (Bra/Sauber-Ferrari) 1'45"335 Johnny Herbert (Gb/Stewart-Ford) 1'45"454 Ricardo Zonta (Bra/Bar-Supertec) 1'45"460 Luca Badoer (Ita/Minardi-Ford) 1'45"917 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa/Arrows) 1'45"935 Jean Alesi (Fra/Sauber-Ferrari) 1'45"962 Tora Takagi (Jpn/Arrows) 1'46"209

31 July 1999 M. Schumacher's manager, Willy Weber, said that the German driver might not be back for the Italian GP on 12 September depite what Montezemolo has been saying. The doctors will give their opinion on the matter in two weeks time.

31 July 1999 Trulli was the big surprise of the free practice session on Friday by finishing first. In the Saturday free practice another surprse: 1996 WC Damon Hill had the best time.

The Saturday free session times:

1. 7 HILL Jordan Mugen-Hond 1'43"918 236.367 km/h 2. 1 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1'44"001 + 0'00"083 3. 16 BARRICHELLO Stewart Ford 1'44"119 + 0'00"201 4. 8 FRENTZEN Jordan Mugen-Hond 1'44"142 + 0'00"224 5. 18 PANIS Prost Peugeot 1'44"442 + 0'00"524 6. 2 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1'44"526 + 0'00"608 7. 4 IRVINE Ferrari 1'44"695 + 0'00"777 8. 19 TRULLI Prost Peugeot 1'44"726 + 0'00"808 9. 3 SALO Ferrari 1'44"839 + 0'00"921 10. 22 VILLENEUVE BAR Supertec 1'44"860 + 0'00"942 11. 6 R.SCHUM' Williams Supertec 1'44"960 + 0'01"042 12. 9 FISICHELLA Benetton Playlife 1'45"428 + 0'01"510 13. 21 GENE Minardi Ford 1'45"651 + 0'01"733 14. 10 WURZ Benetton Playlife 1'45"651 + 0'01"733 15. 5 ZANARDI Williams Supertec 1'45"709 + 0'01"791 16. 12 DINIZ Sauber Petronas 1'45"838 + 0'01"920 17. 23 ZONTA BAR Supertec 1'45"894 + 0'01"976 18. 11 ALESI Sauber Petronas 1'46"156 + 0'02"238 19. 14 DE LA ROSA Arrows TWR 1'46"224 + 0'02"306 20. 20 BADOER Minardi Ford 1'46"543 + 0'02"625 21. 15 TAKAGI Arrows TWR 1'46"732 + 0'02"814 22. 17 HERBERT Stewart Ford 11'15"684 + 9'31"766

29 July 1999 M. Schumacher's leg has not been healing as fast as expected and rumours have it that he will be out for the rest of the season. Irvine had previously said that he would not be surprised if M. Schumacher retired from F1 altogether. On the other hand, M. Schumacher himself has said that he intends to be back for the Italian GP.

26 July 1999 Today the EU Commission apologised to FIA for the leak of information about the investigation on TV rights. FIA was promised that there will be no more leaks or statements to the media until after the end of the investigation. The apology was the result of an out-of-court settlement between FIA and the EU commission.

26 July 1999 Despite taking out his team mate in the Austrian GP, Coulthard is not at risk of losing his place in the McLaren team. Ron Dennis said that what happens in this season has nothing to do with next season.

26 July 1999 The announcement on when M. Schumacher will return to racing will be made between the 10th and the 15th of August.

25 July 1999 Martin Whitaker of Ford-Motorsport has said in an interview published in Bild am Sonntag that he wants M. Schumacher to driver for his team in 2000. Ford has recently bought the Stewart F1 team. M. Schumacher has a contract for Ferrari until 2002, but with a opt-out clause.

25 July 1999 Eddie Irvine kept Coulthard at bay to win his second GP this season, keeping Ferrari at the top of the Constructors Championship and positioning himself two point behind the Drivers Championship leader. Coulthard and Hakkinen, who had collided at the start, finished second and third respectively. Frentzen was fourth, Wurz fifth and Diniz sixth.

The finishing times:

1 Eddie Irvine IRL Ferrari 1h28'12"438 (ave: km/h 208,587) 2 D.Coulthard SCO McLaren +0"313 3 M.Hakkinen FIN McLaren +22"282 4 H.H.Frentzen GER Jordan +52"803 5 A.Wurz AUT Benetton +1'06"358 6 P.P.Diniz BRA Sauber +1'10"933 7 J.Trulli ITA Prost +1 lap 8 D.Hill ING Jordan +1 lap 9 M.Salo FIN Ferrari +1 lap 10 O.Panis FRA Prost +1 lap 11 M.Gené SPA Minardi +1 lap 12 G.Fisichella ITA Benetton +3 laps 13 L.Badoer ITA Minardi +3 laps 14 J.Herbert ENG Stewart +4 laps 15 R.Zonta BRA BAR +8 laps

24 July 1999 Hakkinen got the pole position for the Austrian GP, while his team mate Coulthard took second positon away from Ferrari's Irvine, who was a second behind the leader. Frentzen took fourth position, Barrichello fifth and Herbert sixth. M. Schumacher's replacement Mika Salo was only seventh.

The qualifying times:

Mika Hakkinen (Fin/McLaren-Mercedes) 1'10"954 David Coulthard (Gb/McLaren-Mercedes) 1'11"153 Eddie Irvine (Irl/Ferrari) 1'11"973 Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Ger/Jordan-Mugen Honda) 1'12"266 Rubens Barrichello (Bra/Stewart-Ford) 1'12"342 Johnny Herbert (Gb/Stewart-Ford) 1'12"488 Mika Salo (Fin/Ferrari) 1'12"514 Ralf Schumacher (Ger/Williams-Supertec) 1'12"515 Jacques Villeneuve (Can/BAR-Supertec) 1'12"833 Alexander Wurz (Aut/Benetton-Supertec) 1'12"850 Damon Hill (Gb/Jordan-Mugen Honda) 1'12"901 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita/Benetton-Supertec) 1'12"924 Jarno Trulli (Ita/Prost-Peugeot) 1'12"999 Alessandro Zanardi (Ita/Williams-Supertec) 1'13"101 Ricardo Zonta (Bra/BAR-Supertec) 1'13"172 Pedro Paolo Diniz (Bra/Sauber-Petronas) 1'13"223 Jean Alesi (Fra/Sauber-Petronas) 1'13"226 Olivier Panis (Fra/Prost-Peugeot) 1'13"457 Luca Badoer (Ita/Minardi-Ford) 1'13"606 Toranosuke Takagi (Jpn/Arrows) 1'13"641 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa/Arrows) 1'14"139 Marc Gené (Spa/Minardi-Ford) 1'14"363

14 July 1999 Irvine has revealed today in an interview given during a break in the Monza test session that the Ferrari team have asked him to win the Championship for them. He added that being the first driver at Ferrari is everybody's dream and now it is time to stop making mistakes and try to do their best.

14 July 1999 The start of the second day of testing in Monza was delayed to the afternoon after a violent rainstorm caused a number of trees to fall on the circuit. About 50 trees collapsed on Curva Grande. Serraglio and Lesmo were affected too. On Tuesday evening R. Schumacher and his personal manager Franz Tost were caught in the storm, which broke just as the test session ended, when their rental Lancia K became stuck in high water in the underpass. Ralf and his managed had to get out of the car through the windows and walked back to the pits where they asked the Williams mechanics for help.

14 July 1999 Damon Hill has announced that he will complete the current F1 season.

13 July 1999 Brembo, the company that provides Ferrari with the components for the braking systems, after running some preliminary tests has issued an official statement in which it denies that M. Schumacher's accident might have been caused by the malfunctioning of any of the components they supplied.

13 July 1999 During the afternoon test session at Monza Fisichella hit the kerb, his car lifted off and crashed against the tyre barrier at 150 kmh. The car was totally destroyed, but Fisichella was unhurt.

13 July 1999 Mika Salo will replace M. Schumacher starting from the Austrian GP. The agreement was make public today. Alesi has expressed his surprise at this choice, stating that in his opinion Ferrari test driver Badoer would have been better.

13 July 1999 The examination of the black box mounted on M. Schumacher's Ferrari has revealed that when the car hit the tyre barrier it was traveling at a speed of 107 kmh. When M. Schumacher hit the brakes for the first time, his speed was 306 kmh and when the front tyres locked his speed was 204 kmh. The sudden loss of pressure in the rear braking system was caused by a loose screw. An official statement from Ferrari says that the piece in question was last checked on Saturday evening. The black box data does not show problems with the piece during the warm-up session or during the race, until the last attempt to brake.

13 July 1999 M. Schumacher left the Northampton General Hospital this morning to go to Switzerland by private jet. Joan Rumsey, head nurse at the hospital, said that M. Schumacher had passed a quiet night and that the surgeons who had operated on him carried out a check on him this morning, finding no problems.

13 July 1999 David Coulthard and Damon Hill have voiced their concern after M. Schuamcher's accident at Silverstone. They are going to argue with FIA that sand traps like the one at Stowe are not enough to slow down cars traveling at high speed. The escape routes should slope up to work better.

12 July 1999 Jean Alesi said he would like to go back driving for Ferrari, but he will refuse to replace M. Schumacher. He added that M. Schumacher is a friend and he feels he could not go to Ferrari under these circumstances.

12 July 1999 Jean Todt said that Irvine never was a "second driver", it was their performance which meant that he was behind M. Schumacher. Todt then expressed his full trust in Irvine and said he is optimistic about Eddie's future.

12 July 1999 Ferrari will announce tomorrow who will take M. Schumacher's place. The German driver might leave the hospital tomorrow and has said that he believes his Camphionships hopes are over.

11 July 1999 Doctors from the Northampton hospital in which M. Schumacher underwent surgery have estimated two months for a full recovery, though there has been no official statement from Ferrari yet.

11 July 1999 A spokeperson for the Northampton hospital where M. Schumacher has undergone surgery has confirmed that there is no damage to the driver's knee, ankle or spine. The operation on his leg lasted under two hours.

11 July 1999 M. Schumacher has had a plaque fitted in his right leg to fix the fracture. It seems confirmed that the accident was caused by problems with the rear brakes, possibly a loss of pressure in the braking system. No official statement has been made as for the expected time of recovery, though Agnelli said in an interview with RAI journalists that he thinks it would be one-two months.

11 July 1999 David Coulthard won the British GP followed by Irvine, R. Schumacher, Frentzen, Hill and Diniz. The race was marred by an accident in the first lap in which current title contender M. Schumacher broke his right leg. The German driver will probably miss at least the next three race, effectively losing any chance of winning this year's Drivers Championship.

10 July 1999 Hakkinen will start the British GP from pole position. M. Schumacher will be alongside his rival on the front row, while their team mates Coulthard and Irvine will be starting from the second row. Frentzen had the fifth best time and his team mate Hill, who might be competing in his last ever F1 race, was sixth. All drivers qualified within the 107% time.

The qulifying times:

1. Mika Hakkinen (Fin-McLaren) 1'24"804 2. Michael Schumacher (Ger-Ferrari) 1'25"223 3. David Coulthard (Gb-McLaren) 1'25"594 4. Eddie Irvine (Irl-Ferrari) 1'25"677 5. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Ger-Jordan) 1'25"991 6. Damon Hill (Gb-Jordan) 1'26"099 7. Rubens Barrichello (Bra-Stewart) 1'26"194 8. Ralf Schumacher (Ger-Williams) 1'26"438 9. Jacques Villeneuve (Can-BAR) 1'26"719 10. Jean Alesi (Fra-Sauber) 1'26"761 11. Johnny Herbert (Gb-Stewart) 1'26"873 12. Pedro Paolo Diniz (Bra-Sauber) 1'27"196 13. Alessandro Zanardi (Ita-Williams) 1'27"223 14. Jarno Trulli (Ita-Prost) 1'27"227 15. Olivier Panis (Fra-Prost) 1'27"543 16. Ricardo Zonta (Bra-BAR) 1'27"699 17.Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita-Benetton) 1'27"857 18. Alexander Wurz (Aut-Benetton) 1'28"010 19. Toranosuke Takagi (Jpn-Arrows) 1'28"037 20. Pedro de la Rosa (Spa-Arrows) 1'28"148 21. Luca Badoer (Ita-Minardi) 1'28"695 22. Marc Gené (Spa-Minardi) 1'28"772

10 July 1999 The Belgian GP scheduled for the 29th of August is at risk of being canceled if the anti-tobacco law is enforced this year.

10 July 1999 Arrows announced that next year they will use Supertech engines.

10 July 1999 The two McLaren were fastest in the Saturday free practice session, followed by M. Schumacher, Frentzen, Irvine and Barrichello. Damon Hill, who might retire from Formula 1 after the British GP, had the seventh fastest time.

The Saturday free practice times:

1. 1 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1'24"489 219.011 km/h 2. 2 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1'25"151 + 0'00"662 3. 3 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1'25"301 + 0'00"812 4. 8 FRENTZEN Jordan Mugen-Hond 1'25"406 + 0'00"917 5. 4 IRVINE Ferrari 1'25"742 + 0'01"253 6. 16 BARRICHELLO Stewart Ford 1'25"946 + 0'01"457 7. 7 HILL Jordan Mugen-Hond 1'26"240 + 0'01"751 8. 6 R.SCHUMACHER Williams Supertec 1'26"250 + 0'01"761 9. 22 VILLENEUVE BAR Supertec 1'26"531 + 0'02"042 10. 12 DINIZ Sauber Petronas 1'26"603 + 0'02"114 11. 11 ALESI Sauber Petronas 1'26"676 + 0'02"187 12. 17 HERBERT Stewart Ford 1'26"853 + 0'02"364 13. 10 WURZ Benetton Playlife 1'27"193 + 0'02"704 14. 23 ZONTA BAR Supertec 1'27"216 + 0'02"727 15. 5 ZANARDI Williams Supertec 1'27"250 + 0'02"761 16. 9 FISICHELLA Benetton Playlife 1'27"254 + 0'02"765 17. 19 TRULLI Prost Peugeot 1'27"309 + 0'02"820 18. 14 DE LA ROSA Arrows TWR 1'27"980 + 0'03"491 19. 18 PANIS Prost Peugeot 1'27"981 + 0'03"492 20. 15 TAKAGI Arrows TWR 1'28"207 + 0'03"718 21. 20 BADOER Minardi Ford 1'28"600 + 0'04"111 22. 21 GENE Minardi Ford 1'28"937 + 0'04"448

9 July 1999 On Friday evening four British soldiers were driving around the Silversone circuit when they drove into the gravel bed and the car turned over. One of them (aged 25) died, the three others were injured; the driver is under arrest for manslaughter.

9 July 1999 Hakkinen was fastest in the Friday free practice session, with title contender M. Schumacher only sixth.

The free practice times:

1) Mika Hakkinen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1'26"981 2) Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Williams SuperTec 1'27"004 3) Eddie Irvine (Irl) Ferrari 1'27"061 4) David Coulthard (Sco) McLaren Mercedes 1'27"155 5) Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Stewart Ford CW 1'27"158 6) Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1'27"327 7) Damon Hill (Gb) Jordan Mugen Honda 1'27"381 8) Pedro Paolo Diniz (Bra) Sauber Petronas 1'27"931 9) Jacques Villeneuve (Can) Bar SuperTec 1'27"981 10) Alessandro Zanardi (Ita) Williams SuperTec 1'28"162 11) Ricardo Zonta (Bra) Bar SuperTec 1'28"238 12) Jean Alesi (Fra) Sauber Petronas 1'28"472 13) Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Benetton SuperTec 1'28"546 14) Heinz-Harald Frentzen(Ger) Jordan Mugen-Honda 1'28"595 15) Alexander Wurz (Aut) Benetton SuperTec 1'28"740 16) Jarno Trulli (Ita) Prost Peugeot 1'28"883 17) Luca Badoer (Ita) Minardi Ford ZetecR 1'29"130 18) Johnny Herbert (Gb) Stewart Ford CW 1'29"201 19) Marc Gené (Spa) Minardi Ford ZetecR 1'29"416 20) Pedro de La Rosa (Spa) Arrows 1'29"439 21) Toranosuke Takagi (Jpn) Arrows 1'29"630 22) Olivier Panis (Fra) Prost Peugeot 1'30"372

9 July 1999 Rubens Barrichello today confirmed that he is talking to Ferrari about replacing Eddie Irvine, but that he is only prepared to join Ferrari if he is assured that he will be on a par with M. Schumacher. The Stewart driver said that he has not signed any contract yet and that he wants to choose the car that will offer him the best chances of winning next year. He thinks that with Ford arrival on the scene Stewart will be able to compete at the same level as McLaren and Ferrari, so it is very likely that he will choose to stay with Stewart.

7 July 1999 Frank Williams has asked to be included in the appeal trial for Senna's death. His aim is to clear the team's name.

7 July 1999 Jordan have exercised their option on Frentzen for next year. It is not yet known who will be his team mate after Hill's departure.

6 July 1999. British tabloid News of the World published the rumour that Edie Irvine has a three year old daughter, Zoe, who lives with her mother Maria, one of Irvine's ex-girlfriends.

6 July 1999 The 19th of November has been set as the date to hear the prosecution appeal against Adrian Newey and Patrick Head after they were aquitted of Ayrton Senna's death in 1997. The Brazilian driver died during the San Marino GP on 1st of May 1994. A faulty steering column was considered to have been the cause of his death. A full archive of articles on the 1997 trial is available from the Senna's Death Trial section.

6 July 1999 The WilliamsF1 Team have confirmed that they have entered into partnership with BMW, which will provide them with engines next year. The team will have a new livery and will be called BMW WilliamsF1.

2 July 1999 Rothmans International have announced that they intend to stop sponsoring the Williams F1 team at the end of the current season.

2 July 1999 Photographer Oliviero Toscani has been found guilty in the libel action Ferrari brought against him after the GP of Europe at Jerez de la Frontera on 26 October 1997. Toscani claimed that Ferrari had ordered M. Schumacher to stop Villeneuve at all costs, even by causing a collision. Toscani has been condemned by the Milan Court of Justice to paying 60 million lire to Ferrari president Montezemolo and 30 million lire to Jean Todt. Toscani's lawyers have already said that they intend to appeal.

1 July 1999 FIA has published an officialreply in which they deny all the accusation from the European Commissioner for Competition.

1 July 1999 Damon Hill is very happy with the setup of the car he will use in the British GP, which is supposed to be the last race of his F1 career. Hill lapped faster than team mate French GP winner Frentzen and said that if he performs well at Silverstone he will stay on for the rest of the season. Hill has decided to donate to charity all the money he will make from the British GP.

Last updated on by Federica Massagrande