German GP - Hockenheim 1 August 1999

Race Report

As the lights signalled the start of the German GP, Salo immediately showed that Ferrari were right in put their trust in him by storming across the field to take second position behind Hakkinen and in front of Coulthard. Frentzen comfortably took the fourth spot while Irvine only managed sixth position behind Barrichello and in front of R. Schumacher. While the first six battled for their spots at the front, Villeneuve hit Diniz and took both cars out. He then went to Diniz, apologised to him and took full blame for the accident saying that he had somehow lost control of his car. In fact Villeneuve had not realised that he had been hit by another car, probably Gené's, which had caused him to lose control and was he not to blame for the shunt. The yellow flag was displayed because of Villeneuve and Diniz's accident, but the race was not stopped. On lap three Barrichello stormed past Frentzen and started his chase of Coulthard, who was getting frustrated by not being able to pass Salo. Coulthard did not have the time to get too stressed about Barrichello as, after a couple of attempted attacks on the McLaren, the Brazilian started to slow down and had to slowly edge his way back to the pits where he retired with hydraulic failure. Barrichello was disappointed by his retirement and commented that he has been in the points in the last three races without having anything to show for it. Fisichella, who had pitted with problems already on lap four, stopped his car by the side of the track and retired with both front tyres on his car bent to a curious angle. Coulthard got more and more stressed with Salo, who never gave in to the McLaren's driver pressure and held the Scot at bay for several laps. Coulthard attempted an attack on the Ferrari but ended up clipping the rear of the car in front, damaged his own front wing and had to go to the pits for a new nosecone (14.8 seconds), rejoining in 11th position. Trulli stopped his car by the side and retired with engine failure, causing the yellow flag to be displayed. Hill had had problems with his brakes and could not hold his car reliably so, after a couple of trips on the dirt, went back to the pits and retired. The Jordan mechanics were not ready to receive him because he had been told to stay out on the track but had made the decision that it would have been too dangerous for himself and the other drivers to do so. Irvine, who had moved up to fourth position after Coulthard's pit stop and Barrichello retirement, started taking looks at Frentzen waiting for his chance to challenge the German for third position. At this stage R. Schumacher and Wurz were in fifth and sixth position. On lap 15 Zonta had problems in the pits with the fuel pump and wasted 23.2 seconds. Coulthard, in his attempt to get back to the front of the field, overtook Panis by cutting a corner completely. Tagaki's engine went up in smoke and the Japanese had to retire. On lap 20 Frentzen went for his pit stop (10.5 seconds) and managed to come out of the pitlane in front of Herbert and Coulthard. Zonta's engine went up in smoke and the second BAR driver had to retire. On lap 21 Irvine went for his pit stop (9.4 seconds) and managed to come out in front of Frentzen, taking third position. On the following lap the other Ferrari driver, Salo, had his pit stop (10.0) and managed to retain his second position. On lap 22 Wurz and Herbert pitted at the same time. On lap 23 Hakkinen went for his pit stop but the fuel pump got stuck and the Finn wasted precious seconds (over 24) and rejoined the race in fourth position behind Frentzen, leaving M. Schumacher's replacement Salo in the lead ahead of Irvine. To compound McLaren's problems Coulthard was handed a 10 seconds stop-go penalty for gaining a position when he overtook Panis by cutting the corner. On lap 25 Hakkinen overtook Frentzen and set off in chase of Irvine. On lap 26 Zanardi suffered mechanical problems and was called back into the pits because it would have been too dangerous for him to stay out. On lap 27 disaster struck McLaren, as Hakkinen suffered a tyre puncture which sent him spinning against one of the sides, then back across the luckily empty track, then into the gravel trap and right into the tyre barrier front first in what seemed almost a repeat of M. Schumacher's accident in Great Britain. For a hart-stopping moment Hakkinen did not try to get out of the car, then he removed the steering wheel, got out of the cockpit and walked away, waving to the crowd to show he was not hurt. Later he said that he suffered no physical damage, but felt psychologically scarred by the crash and called for stronger safety measures in F1. At the same time as Hakkinen's accident, Coulthard stopped for his 10 seconds penalty. McLaren found themselves without the leading car and with the second car badly penalised in the race that Mercedes had wanted them to win. Salo received from the team the order to let Irvine through and the Irishman took the lead in front of the cheering Ferrari crowd that was meant to support local hero M. Schumacher. In the third part of the race the leading cars were running on very worn out tyres thanks also to the remarkably high temperature. Frentzen, who had never lost contact with the two Ferrari pushed until he was behind Salo, but he never tried to attack, despite Salo being slowed down by having to stay behind Irvine De La Rosa went straight into the tyre barrier after braking late and retired. On lap 41 Coulthard, who had managed his way back to fifth, had to go for another pit stop (7.5 seconds), rejoining behind Herbert and Panis. Herbert retired shortly afterwards with gearbox problems, while Coulthard kept on clocking the fastest laps trying to catch up. The race ended with Irvine winning his second GP in a row and taking the lead of the Drivers Championship in front of Hakkinen. Salo took second position in front of Frentzen, R. Schumacher, Coulthard, who managed to bring two points home for McLaren and Panis. Mika Salo was the revelation of the race, first qualifying ahead of team mate (and now first driver) Irvine, then taking second place behind Hakkinen and keeping Coulthard at bay until the Scot made a mistake. Salo handed over the lead to Irvine under instruction from the team and was the real artisan of Ferrari's triumph in Germany. Irvine pledged during the press conference to give him the winner's trophy because the Finn deserved it and the Irishman "wouldn't feel comfortable if it sat on his mantelpiece". The Ferrari mechanics were again their usual professional selves, winning third position off Frentzen for Irvine at the pit stops. With Irvine in the lead of the Championship, M. Schumacher will be expected to act as second driver when and if he does come back to F1 this season. Coulthard made two mistakes, hitting Salo and cutting the corner while overtaking Panis, which cost him dear. Hakkinen was very unlucky with the problems during his pit stop and then with the accident which fortunately had no consequences. McLaren is undoubtedly the faster car, but they seem to have been so far unable to put their superiority to good use. Frentzen drove another good race to finish third for the local crowd's joy and to overtake M. Schumacher in the Drivers Championship. Compared to his team mate Hill's lacklustre performance, Frentzen has been doing a lot better than could be expected this season. The other German driver, R. Schumacher, finished in the points cheered on by the crowd that was originally meant to cheer his brother. Coulthard patched up a very bad day for McLaren with his fifth position, but his performance left much to be desired. The Scot has suffered from bad luck this season, but he has also committed several mistakes. Panis finished sixth to give Prost only their third point this season. Next appointment is in Hungary on 15 August.

Images from La Gazzetta dello Sport Online and Raisport