March 1999

31 March 1999 In an interview with the German paper Bunte, Eddie Irvine said that M. Schumacher would undoubtedly become World Champion if he raced with McLaren. But, Irvine added, M. Schuamcher has chosen Ferrari, making a choice against winning the title.

30 March 1999 Mika Salo has allegedly been asked to drive for Minardi in the Brazilian GP, should Badoer not recover on time. Other drivers who have been mentioned as possible sobstitutes are Nakano, Verstappen and Redon.

29 March 1999 Badoer might miss the Brazilian GP after breaking a bone in his hand following a crash against the barrier at the fifth bend at Fiorano yesterday afternoon. Badoer suffered the accident after doing 49 laps with the M01, with a best time of 1’04"74. The reason of the crash appears to be a problem with the fly-by-wire system for the management of the accelerator, but Minardi will not make an official statement until they have finished checking the car.

Badoer underwent a surgical operation at the Policlinico in Modena yesterday evening. Before the operation the driver told a reporter that the accelerator got stuck to full open, so that he was unable to slow down the car and keep it on track as he approached the bend. He added that he tried to keep the car on the sand to avoid a hard impact. Badoer was able to leave the hospital this morning, but it is too early to say whether he'll be able to compete in the Brazilian GP.

Minardi will be in trouble in Brazil if Badoer cannot take part, because test driver Mazzacane does not have a F1 supelicence yet.

24 March 1999 Rally driver Colin McRae has been asked by Martin Wittaker to test drive a Stewart F1.

23 March 1999 The Williams team has decided to rename itself WilliamsF1 from next year and to start seeking new sponsors in view of tobacco advertising being phased out of F1 in the near future.

21 March 1999 In an interview after the tests at Jerez M. Schumacher was asked whether Irivne really is currently the first Ferrari driver as it has been said because he is ahead in the Champioship. M. Schumacher replied that it is too early to say because only one race has been run, but if Irvine found himself fighting for the Championship later on in season and Schumacher had no chance of winning it, the Irishman will obviously be first drive and he (Schumacher) would support his team mate and help him win. He added that it would be only natural and would be his duty to do so. M. Schumacher also said that his ankle is still troubling him a bit, but it is nothing serious and he feels fine.

20 March 1999 M. Schumacher today took part in Ferrari's private tests in Jerez. He only tested for 55 laps, as opposed to Irvine's 94 laps, but still managed to get the fastest time of 1'26"201 (Irvine's best was 1'26"363).

19 March 1999 Marlboro has decided to challenge the new anti-smoking campaign promoted by the Brazilian government by sponsoring the Brazilian GP, which will take place on 11 April.

19 March 1999 Jarno Trulli has lashed out at the Prost team, accusing them of calling him in for a pit stop when he did not need it in Melbourne and messing it up. The Italian driver said that similar occurrences are frequent in the Prost team and that he dreads the pit stops because he always expects something to go wrong. He then added that he gives all he has to the team, but he expects the team to do the same for him. Despite his comments, Trulli said that he goes on very well with Alain Prost himself. Trulli remarked that he is much more precise than Panis in the setting up his car and that his attention to details shows up during racing when he generally outperforms his team mate. When asked about his possible move to Ferrari, he said that he is now driving for Prost and wants to give his maximum to his team. As for the future, his job is to drive and the agreements are made by the managers, so the best person to ask about his future at Ferrari is Jean Todt.

18 March 1999 This morning a representative of Bridgestone carried out a preliminary examination of the new tarmac being tested at Monza.

17 March 1999 Following wild rumours about M. Schumacher's health his spokesman, Heiner Buchinger, said that the Ferrari driver is feeling fine and he only sprained his ankle. Next Friday M. Schuamcher will be in Geneva to promote the Fiat Multipla and on the following day he'll be in Jerez to test in the F399. Buchinger added that it should be enough to convince people that M. Schuamcher's foot has not fallen off.

15 March 1999 Irvine and Badoer have tried out the new tarmac on the Monza track. Charlie Whiting, Ian Brawn and Roland Bruynseraede were present. The Ferrari driver said that the new tarmac is good, with grip and visibility in wet conditions much better than on normal tarmac. M. Schuamcher was expected to test the new tarmac too, but was unable to after suffering from a sprain ankle while jogging.

12 March 1999 FIA has decided not to take action against BAR over the livery dispute.

11 March 1999 Daimler-Chrysler have denied rumours that they want to buy McLaren.

10 March 1999 Both Hakkinen and Irvine have given the thumbs up to the new Sepang circuit where the Malaysian GP will take place. The reigning World Champion said that the track will be spectacular for overtaking, while for Irvine it is "very challenging" and "fantastic".

9 March 1999 Irish RTE TV reported that, following his victory in Australia, Irvine is going to be allowed to fight for the Championship if he performs better than M. Schumacher. If irvine outperforms his team mate in Brazil, he will receive equal treatment.

9 March 1999 Gianni Agnelli said that in his opinion whoever is ahead is considered the "first driver" and it is the duty of the team mate to help him. This statement contraddicts Ferrari's position that M. Schumacher is the first driver and Irvine has to help him in any situation.

7 March 1999 Eddie Irvine won the first GP of the 1999 F1 season in Melbourne, Australia. It is Irvine's first ever victory. Second was Frentzen on Joren, third Ralf Schumacher on Williams, fourth Fisichella on Benetton, fifth Barrichello on Stewart and sixth newcomer De La Rosa on Arrows. Both McLAren retired and M. Schuamcher finished the race in eighth and last position after suffering several problems.

The full race report is available in the Race Reports section. Next race is scheduled for the 11th of April in Brazil.

6 March 1999 Marc Gené of Minardi will be allowed to start tomorrow because the stewards think that his poor qualifying performance was due to "exceptional circumstances".

6 March 1999 M. Schumacher denied that he is planning to retire from F1 when his contract with Ferrari expires in 2002. The German driver said that he is going to stay in F1 as long as he is having fun.

6 March 1999 Hakkinen managed to gain pole position over team mate Coulthard in the final lap of the qualifying session. Coulthard was disappointed of losing pole position. M. Schumacher had third time with a disappointing 1.3 seconds gap. The Ferrari driver said that they had problems over the weekend and that he does not think that they can be solved overnight, but he is not worried because there are lots of races left in the season. Stewart's Barrichello obtained the fourth best time, followed by frentzen and Irvine. Hill was disappointed of his ninth time, which he put down to traffic. Minardi's Marc Gené failed to qualify for exceeding the 107% rule.

5 March 1999 After the practice session Zanardi criticised the Supertec engine. The driver said that they suffered from a number of small problems and that if they are not fixed he can only hope not to finish last. He added that he cannot really evaluate teh situation since he only knows the Supertec engine, but after talking to other drivers he is convinced that the engine could be a lot better.

5 March 1999 Hakkinen came out unharmed from a crash at 110 mph in the practice session, but still managed to do the second best time behind team mate Coulthard. Afterwards Hakkinen said that the accident was his fault because he was trying to find the car's limits and pushed too much on the corner. Barrichello and Herbert of the Stewart-Ford team surprised everybody by getting the third and fourth times respectively. Jordan's Frentzen and Hill were fifth and sixth. M. Schumacher (who also suffered a mechanical failure) was only seventh and Irvine 14th. BAR's debut was less that exciting, with Villeneuve struggling to get 16th place and Zonta finishing with the worst time, in 22nd position.

4 March 1999 Ralf Schumacher said that his brother Michael could retire from F1 very soon. Ralf said that if Michael wins with Ferrari he will have reached the top in F1, besides, his second child is due soon and he has expressed the desire to enjoy family life.

4 March 1999 Bridgestone has released a humorous official statement stating that there will be certain victory for Bridgestone in the Australian GP. Bridgestone supplies all the F1 teams this year.

4 March 1999 The BAR pits in Melbourne are particularly noticeable because three different uniforms are used by the mechanics: the original Lucky Strike uniforms for the mechanics who take care of Villeneuve's car, the original 555 uniforms for teh mechanics who take care of Zonta's car and the official team uniform, which is used by everybody else. The resulting effect makes BAR's the most colourful pits.

4 March 1999 Ron Dennis has not ruled out using team orders in the Australian GP. Last year Coulthard allowed team mate Hakkinen to overtake him for first position, following an agreement the two drivers had made that whoever reached the first corner first would finish ahead of the team mate. Dennis added that team orders have always been used since he took over at McLaren and will continue being used in the future.

3 March 1999 A group of Yothu Yindi Aborigines, who are fighting to preserve the traditional Australian cultures, have joined Fisichella and Wurz in celebrations before the start of the 1999 F1 season in Australia. The Yothu Yindi sang and danced wearing traditional outfits at the Benetton celebrations.

3 March 1999 Two members of the environmentalist Save Albert Park group chained themselves to the gate in front of the Ferrari pits asking for the Australian GP to be moved to a permanent circuit.

1 March 1999 Arrows have confirmed that Toranosuke Takagi is their second driver. Tom Wilkinshaw said he is excited about the Japanese driver joining the team and added that Mika Salo and Arrows parted amicably and future collaboration is a strong possibility.

Last updated on by Federica Massagrande