Italian GP - Monza 12 September 1999

Race Report

As the lights went off to signify the start of the Italian GP, Hakkinen made a good start from pole position and took the lead, with Zanardi taking second place. At the first corner several cars were still involved in the struggle for position and cut the corner. Frentzen took advantage of a sudden opportunity and went in front of Zanardi in second place. On lap three Gené went out on the verge and retired after a shunt with De La Rosa. On lap two De La Rosa had to go back to the pits for quick repairs to his car. With Hakkinen in the lead, his team mate Coulthard was back in sixth position, having been passed by R. Schumacher on a corner in a maneuver on the margin of legality. With the positions stabilised, Hakkinen was in the lead, followed by Frentzen, Zanardi, R. Schumacher, Salo and Coulthard. Title contender Irvine was out of the points in front of Hill. Fisichella failed to turn on a bend, went straight out of the track and retired from the race due to technical problems. De La Rosa too went out to the side, possibly because of problems with his car after the come-together with Gené on the first lap, but rejoined. Future Ferrari driver Barrichello made a move on Coulthard, overtook him and took sixth position. Wurz, who had taken a trip on the dirt after cutting a corner, started slowing down and fell back behind Zonta. The Austrian slowly drove his Benetton back to the finish straight, parked it to the side and retired on lap 12. The situation at this stage of the race saw Hakkinen in the lead, then Frentzen, Zanardi, R. Schumacher, Salo, Barrichello, Coulthard, Irvine and Hill. On lap 17 Panis was the first to go for a pit stop from 14th position. On the same lap Zanardi signaled to team mate R. Schumacher to pass him and let him through. Trulli went for his fist pit stop (6.6. seconds). On lap 18 Barrichello managed to overtake Salo and took fifth position. On lap 24 Tagaki tried to have a go at overtaking Badoer but miscalculated the distance, could not brake on time and his right front tyre mounted Badoer’s left back tyre, causing both to crash out to the side and the yellow flag to be displayed. On lap 27 Barrichello used his superior straight line speed to overtake Zanardi for third position at Ascari. Shortly afterwards Salo too overtook Zanardi who was probably suffering from some sort of brake problem. Zonta stopped by the side and retired. Coulthard tried to pass Zanardi, who fought back and forced Coulthard to go on the dirt on a chicane. On lap 30 the McLaren team displayed a sign telling Hakkinen to come to the pits. Hakkinen while comfortably in the lead made a mistake, locked the wheels on a chicane, went out on the side and retired, his engine having stalled while he was still on the track. Hakkinen came out of the cockpit in a rage, threw his gloves to the ground and started walking back briskly. Hakkinen’s retirement left Frentzen in the lead, followed by R. Schumacher, Barrichello, Salo, Zanardi, Coulthard and Irvine. Grief, disappointment and psychological pressure finally had the upper hand on Hakkinen, who sat down among the trees and started crying, while a police officer and a mechanic tried to comfort him. Meanwhile, the race went on. On lap 31 Zanardi had his pit stop. On lap 32 Salo was in third position and Irvine in fifth, with Coulthard pushing hard and making the fastest lap time. Barrichello had had his pit stop, which put him temporarily out of the points. Most drivers went for their pit stops around this time, R. Schumacher (8.7 seconds), Alesi (8.5) from eighth position, Hill (9.8), De La Rosa (9.5). With 19 laps to go Frentzen had his pit stop from first position (7.6 seconds) and rejoined in third position behind Coulthard and Salo, who enjoyed a temporary lead. With his team mate leading the race, Irvine had his pit stop (6.9 seconds). Salo and Coulthard pitted at the same time. Salo restarted first after 6.9 seconds, followed by Coulthard (7.6 seconds). Salo rejoined the race in front of Barrichello and Coulthard. At this stage Irvine was in sixth position. Nothing much changed until the end of the race, despite Coulthard’s attempts at overtaking Barrichello which resulted in the Scot cutting a corner and picking up dirt on lap 50 out of 53. The race ended with a well deserved victory for Frentzen, with R. Schumacher in second position, Salo in third, Barrichello in fourth, Coulthard in fifth and Irvine in sixth. Eddie Jordan had good reasons to be happy and shed a tear of joy after Frentzen’s great performance in Italy. Heinz-Harald is having his best F1 season so far and he is finally starting to keep the promises of his rookie years. It is to be hoped that he will continue to grow and be a major contender in the 2000 season. As opposed to Eddie Jordan, Hakkinen’s tears were of rage and frustration for having wasted a good chance of putting himself clearly at the top of the Drivers Championship table. Interviewed after the race and still obviously very emotional, the McLaren driver said that the accident was completely his fault and that he did not want to discuss it further because it would make him feel even worse. It was of little consolation to him that his title rival Irvine only managed to get one point to put himself level with the Flying Finn in the lead of the Drivers Championship. His team mate Coulthard managed to bring home two points to help McLaren in the Constructors Championship. Williams had a rather good day, with R. Schumacher finishing very well in second position and Zanardi out of the points, but having put up a much better performance than in any other race this season. If Irvine could have hoped for something more than sixth position for his Championship hopes, Ferrari’s Salo finished in third position to give a hand with the Constructors Championship. Barrichello again ran a good race and finished in fourth. Given today’s result, if it possible that the Drivers Championship will be decided at the last race of the season, keeping the interest high. With his victory, Frentzen is also clearly positioning himself in the competition, despite being some 10 points behind the two leaders. Shoulsd Frentzen win the next GP and Hakkinen and Irvine fail to finish in the points, the Championship lead could be shared among three. Next appointment is at the Nürburgring on 26 September.