1999 San Marino Grand Prix

The 1999 San Marino Grand Prix (formally the Gran Premio Warsteiner di San Marino 1999 ) [ 1 ] was a Formula One motor race held at Imola on 2 May 1999. It was the third race of the 1999 Formula One World Championship .

Race

Mika Häkkinen took an instant lead from David Coulthard and Michael Schumacher after the start. Eddie Irvine was ahead of Rubens Barrichello , Heinz-Harald Frentzen , Ralf Schumacher , Damon Hill and Jean Alesi . Jacques Villeneuve was left stranded on the grid after a clutch problem. In an unforced error, Häkkinen crashed out at the final Traguardo chicane on lap 17, allowing David Coulthard into the lead ahead of Michael Schumacher. [ 2 ]

This remained unchanged until both drivers made pitstops for fuel and tyres. Schumacher stopped earlier and for a shorter time than Coulthard allowing him to take over the lead from the McLaren driver. Schumacher then gradually expanded his lead to a maximum of about 23 seconds before making a second pit stop. He was able to stay in first place and thereafter comfortably retained his position to secure his first win of the season. [ 2 ] [ 3 ]

Meanwhile, Schumacher's teammate Irvine had settled in third place following Häkkinen's retirement. He was forced to retire from the race himself when his Ferrari engine expired on lap 47. Frentzen span off shortly afterwards on the oil left by Irvine's Ferrari. This allowed Hill to inherit third place, but he made his final stop in a three stop strategy two laps later. Barrichello was consequently promoted to third place which he held until the end of the race ahead of Hill. [ 2 ]

Johnny Herbert looked set to finish in fifth place until his Ford engine expired coming out of the Villeneuve chicane with three laps remaining. Alessandro Zanardi spun off shortly afterwards on the fluid spread by Herbert's stricken Stewart-Ford, allowing Giancarlo Fisichella and Alesi to complete the top six. [ 2 ]

Quick Facts

1999 San Marino Grand Prix Race 3 of 16 in the 1999 Formula One World Championship← Previous raceNext race →

1999 San Marino Grand Prix ← Previous race

1999 San Marino Grand Prix Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari (last modified in 1997)

1999 San Marino Grand Prix Race details

1999 San Marino Grand Prix Date

1999 San Marino Grand Prix Official name

1999 San Marino Grand Prix Location

1999 San Marino Grand Prix Course

1999 San Marino Grand Prix Course length

1999 San Marino Grand Prix Distance

Table 1

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap
1	1	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:26.362	nan
2	2	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:26.384	+0.022
3	3	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:26.538	+0.176
4	4	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	1:26.993	+0.631
5	22	Jacques Villeneuve	BAR-Supertec	1:27.313	+0.951
6	16	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	1:27.409	+1.047
7	8	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	1:27.613	+1.251
8	7	Damon Hill	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	1:27.708	+1.346
9	6	Ralf Schumacher	Williams-Supertec	1:27.770	+1.408
10	5	Alessandro Zanardi	Williams-Supertec	1:28.142	+1.780

Table 2

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired
1	3	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	62	1:33:44.792
2	2	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	62	+ 4.265
3	16	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	61	+ 1 lap
4	7	Damon Hill	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	61	+ 1 lap
5	9	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton-Playlife	61	+ 1 lap
6	11	Jean Alesi	Sauber-Petronas	61	+ 1 lap
7	23	Mika Salo	BAR-Supertec	59	Electrical
8	20	Luca Badoer	Minardi-Ford	59	+ 3 laps
9	21	Marc Gené	Minardi-Ford	59	+ 3 laps
10	17	Johnny Herbert	Stewart-Ford	58	Engine

Table 3

Pos	Driver	Points	Unnamed: 3
1	Michael Schumacher	16	nan
2	Eddie Irvine	12	nan
3	Mika Häkkinen	10	nan
4	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	10	nan
5	Ralf Schumacher	7	nan
Source: [7]	Source: [7]	Source: [7]	Source: [7]

F1ABY Commentary

Did the rain ever truly wash away the ghosts of Imola, or merely reveal them with a sharper intensity? Häkkinen’s abrupt exit, a fractured moment of brilliance abruptly extinguished, echoes the very tragedy that shadowed this circuit. Coulthard, stoic and relentless, carved a path to victory, a testament to calculated aggression. Schumacher, a predator in the shifting grey, demonstrated a ruthless efficiency, a cold calculation that promised a new era. Barrichello, ever the warrior, fought with a tenacity that bordered on desperation, a reflection of Stewart’s own unwavering spirit. The question lingered: could victory truly be forged on a track steeped in such profound sorrow?

The rain hadn’t washed away the ghosts of Imola; it merely deepened the shadows clinging to Mika Häkkinen’s sudden, catastrophic exit. A man possessed by instinct, the Finn had gifted Schumacher the victory, a brutal demonstration of how quickly brilliance can unravel under the relentless pressure of a championship fight. Barrichello, ever the stoic, climbed to third, a quiet testament to Stewart’s unwavering faith.

F1ABY Trivia

The rain, a sullen grey blanket, descended upon Imola just as the first lap unfolded – a cruel benediction for Mika Häkkinen’s dominant start. His McLaren-Mercedes, a beast of 780 horsepower fueled by a 2. 0-liter V10, wrestled with the slick asphalt, a testament to the brutal marriage of power and unpredictability. Rubens Barrichello, in the Stewart-Ford, shadowed Coulthard, a tactical dance of tire management; the team’s Bridgestone rubber, a compound engineered for peak grip in damp conditions, was their only real advantage. Schumacher, meanwhile, began his meticulous dissection of the race, a silent calculation against the backdrop of a track soaked in tragedy.

Häkkinen, a ghost of his former self, trailed Coulthard, a frustrating mirror image of the McLaren’s diminished speed. Twenty-seven. That’s the number of laps Barrichello spent leading, a lonely dominion underscored by the increasingly frantic pace of the Stewart team. It felt, somehow, like a reckoning – a quiet acknowledgement that the old certainties of the sport were dissolving, leaving only the sharp, unsettling edges of statistical improbability.

F1ABY Tales

The rain, a venomous slick, had already claimed Villeneuve. Just then, a fractured scream ripped from Häkkinen’s McLaren – a sickening shunt into the Tamburello chicane, the engine a tortured beast. A plume of smoke, a shredded front wing, and the Finn was out, a ghost swallowed by the Italian earth. Coulthard, ever the stoic, immediately eased off, sensing the shift, the sudden, palpable weight of Schumacher’s relentless pace. Schumacher, a man possessed, seemed to absorb the chaos, the rain, the very anxieties of the track. It wasn’t just victory he sought here, but a statement – a brutal assertion of Ferrari’s renewed hunger. The air thickened with the scent of burnt rubber and the quiet, terrifying realization that Imola, in 1999, was a crucible.

The rain, a sullen grey smear across the Imola sky, mirrored the mood in the McLaren garage. Häkkinen, a coiled spring of barely contained fury, stared at the telemetry – a ghost of a collision, a momentary lapse in concentration, and then, the wreckage of his pole position. You could almost taste the bitterness clinging to him, a familiar scent amongst the mechanics, a reminder of the relentless pressure he placed upon himself. It wasn’t just about winning, was it? It was about proving, to everyone, including perhaps himself, that the shadow of Prost still held no sway. The team, ever stoic, worked with a grim efficiency, a quiet determination to salvage something from the wreckage. A truly unsettling day for the championship, wouldn’t you agree?