The 1999 Japanese Grand Prix (formally the XXV Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 31 October 1999 at the Suzuka International Racing Course in Suzuka, Japan. It was the sixteenth and final round of the 1999 Formula One season. The 53-lap race was won by McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen after starting from second position. Michael Schumacher finished second in a Ferrari with teammate Eddie Irvine finishing third. Häkkinen's victory confirmed him as 1999 Drivers' Champion. Ferrari were also confirmed as Constructors' Champions.
| 1999 Japanese Grand Prix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 16 of 16 in the 1999 Formula One World Championship
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.svg) Suzuka International Racing Course (last modified in 1991) | |||||
| Race details | |||||
| Date | 31 October 1999 | ||||
| Official name | XXV Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix | ||||
| Location | Suzuka, Mie, Japan | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
| Course length | 5.860 km (3.641[1] miles) | ||||
| Distance | 53 laps, 310.596[2] km (192.995 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Overcast, mild, dry | ||||
| Attendance | 318,000[3] | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||||
| Time | 1:37.470 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |
 Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | |||
| Time | 1:41.319 on lap 31 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | McLaren-Mercedes | ||||
| Second | Ferrari | ||||
| Third | Ferrari | ||||
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Lap leaders | |||||
This was the last Formula One race for Stewart Grand Prix, Toranosuke Takagi, Alessandro Zanardi and for the 1996 World Champion, Damon Hill.
Report
editChampionship permutations
editGoing into this race, Ferrari's Eddie Irvine led the Drivers' Championship by four points from Häkkinen, 70 to 66. Häkkinen therefore needed to win the race, or to finish second with Irvine no higher than fifth, or to finish third with Irvine finishing outside the top six.
Victory for Häkkinen would give him the Championship regardless of where Irvine finished: even if Irvine finished second, both drivers would have 76 points but Häkkinen would have five wins to Irvine's four. Similarly, the Finn would be Champion if he finished second with Irvine fifth (as he would have three second places to Irvine's two), or if he finished third without Irvine scoring (as he would have four third places to Irvine's two).
Qualifying
editQualifying saw Irvine's Ferrari teammate, Michael Schumacher, take pole position with Häkkinen alongside on the front row. David Coulthard was third in the second McLaren, with Heinz-Harald Frentzen fourth in the Jordan. Irvine struggled throughout, also suffering a heavy crash at the Hairpin, and could only manage fifth, over 1.5 seconds slower than Schumacher and over 1.1 slower than Häkkinen. The top ten was completed by the Prosts of Olivier Panis and Jarno Trulli, Johnny Herbert in the Stewart, Ralf Schumacher in the Williams and Jean Alesi in the Sauber.
Race
editHäkkinen beat Schumacher off the line, with Panis charging into third ahead of Irvine, Coulthard and Frentzen. Zanardi pulled off the track into the pits in the second Williams with electrical problems on lap 1. The Finn quickly built a comfortable lead, and it became clear that the Ferraris could not match him. As Trulli in the second Prost retired when his engine failed on lap 4.
Panis retired when his alternator broke on lap 20, meanwhile Hill retired after spinning off the track but managed to come back to the pits to retire with mental driver fatigue on lap 21 in his final Grand Prix, Coulthard passed Irvine for third during the first round of pit stops. On lap 34, Coulthard made a mistake and spun into a wall, losing his nose. He pitted and rejoined a lap down, just in front of Schumacher. It was alleged that the Scot deliberately held up the German driver, before retiring several laps later with a hydraulic failure. Schumacher later criticized Coulthard's behaviour.
Häkkinen eventually took the chequered flag five seconds ahead of Schumacher and, with it, his second Drivers' Championship. Irvine finished a minute and a half behind Schumacher in third, nonetheless helping Ferrari secure their first Constructors' Championship since 1983. The minor points went to Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher and Alesi.
Classification
editQualifying
edit
Race
editChampionship standings after the race
edit
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
edit- ^ "1999 Japanese Grand Prix | Motorsport Database".
- ^ "2013 Japanese Grand Prix: Official Media Kit" (PDF). FIA.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. p. 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
- ^ "Formula 1 Honda Japanese Grand Prix 2022 – Media Kit" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
- ^ F1, STATS. "Japan 1999 - Qualifications • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Gordon, Ian (1 November 1999). "Final summit proves too steep for Hill to climb Damon Hill's career ended tamely yesterday as he pulled out of theJapanese Grand Prix admitting he was only thinking about his family, writes Ian Gordon". Birmingham Post. p. 28. ProQuest 326564287. Retrieved 23 November 2020 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "1999 Japanese Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ^ "1999 Japanese GP: Classification". ChicaneF1.com. Retrieved 2 August 2007.
- ^ a b "Japan 1999 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- "Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix - 1999". Grand Prix Racing. Archived from the original on 14 August 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2007.
- "1999 Japanese GP: Overview". ChicaneF1.com. Retrieved 2 August 2007.