1999 European Grand Prix

Infobox Grand Prix race report
Type = F1
Country = Europe
Grand Prix = European
Race_No = 14
Season_No = 16
Year = 1999

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Caption = Nürburgring (last modified in 1995)
Official name = XLIII Warsteiner Grand Prix d'Europe
Date = September 26
Location = Nürburg, Germany
Course = Permanent racing facility
Course_mi = 2.831
Course_km = 4.556
Distance_laps = 66
Distance_mi = 186.852
Distance_km = 300.696
Scheduled_laps= 67
Scheduled_mi = 189.684
Scheduled_km = 305.252
Weather = Cloudy, cold, wet
Pole_Country = Germany
Pole_Driver = Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Pole_Team = Jordan-Mugen-Honda
Pole_Time = 1:19.910
Fast_Country = Finland
Fast_Driver = Mika Häkkinen
Fast_Team = McLaren-Mercedes
Fast_Time = 1:21.282
Fast_L

First_Country = UK
First_Driver = Johnny Herbert
First_Team = Stewart-Ford
Second_Country= Italy
Second_Driver = Jarno Trulli
Second_Team = Prost-Peugeot
Third_Country = Brazil
Third_Driver = Rubens Barrichello
Third_Team = Stewart-FordThe 1999 European Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on September 26, 1999 at the Nürburgring in Nürburg, Germany. It was the fourteenth race of the 1999 Formula One season.

It was considered to be one of the most eventful and exciting races of the 1999 season. Going into the race Mika Häkkinen, Eddie Irvine, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and David Coulthard were all harbouring World Championship aspirations. Häkkinen and Irvine were tied for the points lead, with Frentzen 10 points behind them and Coulthard a further two points back. The previous round at Monza had seen Häkkinen make an unforced error while leading, Coulthard and Irvine finished only 5th and 6th and Frentzen took his second race win of the season.

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Report

A wet qualifying session had seen the fastest times set right at the end of the session on a drying track, with Frentzen taking pole with seconds to spare. On race day the track was dry but the start was delayed when Zanardi and Gené lined up out of sequence on the grid, necessitating another formation lap. When the race finally got under way, Frentzen led from Häkkinen, but further back there was trouble at the first corner. Hill's Jordan suffered an electrical failure in the middle of the pack which caused Wurz to swerve into Diniz, sending the Sauber into a barrel roll. The safety car was deployed while Diniz was helped uninjured from his car.

The race settled down with the top six Frentzen, Häkkinen, Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher, Fisichella and Irvine. A few laps into the race rain began to fall, and Häkkinen pitted for wet tyres. The rest of the frontrunners stayed out on dry tyres, which proved to be the correct decision as the rain quickly blew over and the track dried. Ralf Schumacher took advantage of the damp track to pass Coulthard, and Irvine passed Fisichella. However, things would quickly turn sour for the Ferrari driver, as he had a disastrous pitstop. Team mate Salo had damaged his wing the previous lap leaving the Ferrari pitcrew unprepared for Irvine. Added to this, the team made a late decision to stay on dry tyres and the pitcrew could only find three of them. Almost half a minute passed before the fourth was put on the car and Irvine was able to rejoin. Soon afterwards, Häkkinen pitted again to change back to dry tyres.

At the front Frentzen and Coulthard continued on dry tyres until their scheduled pit stops which they made together (Schumacher had pitted several laps earlier). Frentzen rejoined ahead of Coulthard, with both comfortably ahead of Schumacher. At this point in the race both Irvine and Häkkinen were well out of the points, meaning that if the order stayed the same Frentzen, Irvine, and Häkkinen would have all been tied for the points lead with two races to go, with Coulthard six points behind them.

What followed was a series of heartbreaking retirements. The first to fall was Frentzen, who ground to a halt at the first corner after his pitstop with the same electrical problem that had befallen his teammate. Coulthard inherited the lead and stayed out front until the rain came back with a vengeance. The Scot chose to stay out on dry tyres while most pitted for wets, which ultimately proved to be a costly mistake, as he slid off the road and out of the race on the 38th lap as the conditions worsened. Within a handful of laps two Championship contenders had seen their hopes of winning the title fall by the wayside. Ralf (still on dry tyres) then inherited the lead which he held until his pitstop six laps later. This allowed Fisichella (also on dries) to take the lead with Ralf in second, as the rain stopped. Meanwhile Herbert had quietly moved up the order after changing to wet tyres just at the right time.

The heartbreak then reached new levels. On lap 49 Fisichella lost what would have been his first win when he spun out of the lead like Coulthard before him, giving the lead back to Ralf. But then he too lost the lead (and probable first win) when his right rear tyre punctured, allowing Herbert to take the lead which he would not lose. Further back the Minardis were taking full advantage of the unpredictable nature of the race with Badoer in fourth and Gené in seventh. But with just 13 laps to go, Badoer's gearbox failed, denying the Ferrari test driver his first ever Formula 1 points and leaving him in tears. Gené was promoted to 6th, which became 5th when Jacques Villeneuve's car failed, robbing the BAR team of their first-ever point. Behind him, Irvine and Häkkinen had fought their way back into contention for points, with Irvine holding 6th ahead of Häkkinen. After cruising for most of the race, Häkkinen turned up the pressure, eventually forcing Irvine into a mistake and taking 6th place. At the front Barrichello tried everything to pass Trulli for 2nd and make it a Stewart 1-2, but ultimately had to settle for 3rd. Meanwhile, Häkkinen caught and passed Gené for 5th, but the Spaniard held onto 6th ahead of Irvine to give Minardi their first point for four seasons.

Classification

Qualifying

Race

Notes

*Statistics:
**1^st Race win for Stewart.
**1^st Pole position for Mugen-Honda.

References

Classification
"Qualifying"
cite web
last=
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authorlink=
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title=1999 European GP: Qualification
work=ChicaneF1.com
publisher=
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url=http://www.chicanef1.com/race.pl?year=1999&gp=European%20GP&type=qual
format=
doi=
accessdate= 2007-07-31
"Race"
cite web
last=
first=
authorlink=
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title=1999 European Grand Prix
work=The Official Formula 1 Website
publisher=
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url=http://www.formula1.com/results/season/1999/81/
format=
doi=
accessdate= 2007-07-29
cite web
last=
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authorlink=
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title=1999 European GP: Overview
work=ChicaneF1.com
publisher=
date=
url=http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1999&gp=European%20GP
format=
doi=
accessdate= 2007-08-02

Notes, Race details
cite web
last=
first=
authorlink=
coauthors=
title=1999 European GP: Overview
work=ChicaneF1.com
publisher=
date=
url=http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1999&gp=European%20GP
format=
doi=
accessdate= 2007-08-01

F1 race report
Name_of_race = European Grand Prix
Year_of_race = 1999
Previous_race_in_season = 1999 Italian Grand Prix
Next_race_in_season = 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix
Previous_year's_race = 1997 European Grand Prix
Next_year's_race = 2000 European Grand Prix