The 1999 FIA FORMULA 1 season served up several talking points throughout the year, with incidents including Michael Schumacher, who missed several races after breaking his leg in an accident at the British Grand Prix, Damon Hill’s public unhappiness with the Jordan Team/Car, the fall from the front for both Williams and the 1997 Drivers Championship winner Jacques Villeneuve, who would finish the season with no points, having retired from 12 of the 16 races.
The Championship Standings.
As the Championship headed to France, Mika Hakkinen was leading with 34 points, with Michael Schumacher just behind on 30 points. In the Constructors Championship, Ferrari were on top with 55 points to McLaren on 46 points.
Magny-Cours
In 1999, the French GP was held at the Magny-Cours track. The facility is located in central France, near the town of Magny-Cours and around 160 miles from Paris. The track has been altered and reconfigured numerous times, however in 1999 the track was 4.250km with 15 turns. There were not many overtaking opportunities, the main one at the Adelaide Hairpin. Most of the rest of the track consists of medium and slower sweeping corners with a chicane to finish the lap.
One of the more spectacular races during the 1999 season was French GP at Magny-Cours. The seventh round of the season saw a rain effected weekend saw Rubens Barrichello taking pole in the Stewart Ford, this wouldn’t be the last time the weather would play a part during the event.
QUALIFYING
Qualifying in 1999 was a different beast to what we are used to in 2022, with each driver permitted to complete 12 laps (including in and out laps) within a one-hour time limit. Also included was the 107% rule, this rule was used to exclude any driver that completed a qualifying lap that was 107% slower than the pole time. A record 5 drivers would fail to meet this rule, Damon Hill, Marc Gene, Luca Badoer, Pedro de la Rosa and Toranosuke Takagi were initially DQ’d from the race, however the stewards allowed all drivers to take the start due to the weather and the drivers competitiveness during practice.
Qualifying was held in the wet, with a track temperature of around 18 degrees Celsius, as with most wet qualifying sessions, the grid was well and truly mixed up with Rubens Barrichello in the Stewart-Ford taking pole with a time of 1:38.441, second was Jean Alesi and Oliver Panis third. David Coulthard, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Michael Schumacher would complete the top 6.
ITS RACE DAY
Rubens Barrichello was able to maintain the lead off the line from both Alesi and David Coulthard’s McLaren. The Scottish driver would take second from Jean Alesi on the second lap, with his McLaren teammate, Mika Hakkinen also making some progress from fourteenth to ninth by the end of lap 2.
The lead of the race would change when David Coulthard passed Rubens Barrichello on lap six. The McLaren would build up a sizable lead until lap 10 when the car would suffer a complete electrical failure, ending David’s race and more or less his title chances. By lap 16 Mika Hakkinen would be running behind Jean Alesi, it would take the Finnish driver several laps to pass the Saubar. This pass would be for second place and set up the charge to catch the Stewart-Ford, who was 4 seconds up the road.
WHEN IT RAINS IT POURS …
The rain arrived on lap 21, quickly becoming a downpour, several drivers were caught out by the sudden downpour, Giancarlo Fisichella spun but was able to continue, the underperforming Damon Hill was hit by an Arrows as he exited the pits, puncturing the left rear tire.
As the rain began to fall heavier, Jean Alesi, who was running in a comfortable third place, spun and beached his Saubar in the gravel, his anger clear as he exited his stricken car. His anger must have been even worse when, not even half a lap later the Safety Car was announced due the heavy rain.
Several more drivers were caught out by the standing water during the Safety Car period, including Alex Wurz and Jacques Villeneuve who both spun out of the race. Damon Hill would also retire due to an electrical issue, during his interview he would go on to say that the French GP might be his last race in Formula 1. (He would continue till the end of the season)
When the race resumed, most of the field would remain in position, however on lap 38 Mika Hakkinen would attempt a pass on H-H Frentzen at the Adelaide Hairpin, unfortunately the Finnish driver would put a wheel on the wet kerbing leading to a full 360-degree spin.
Championship with the Ferrari F399 (above), the car was revealed at a press conference on 30th January. The car was 45lb lighter after a concerted effort to reduce the weight of the car was undertaken during development. The wheelbase was extended, moving the front wheels and suspension forward. The Rear of the car was redesigned to accommodate the 4 grooved tires, that were used in F1 in 1999. Other advancements including the fully carbon fibre push rod suspension, electronic power steering was introduced along with a revised airbox and “flip ups” on the side pods. The engine (no power units in 1999) was a 75 degree V10, with an improved 800bhp in qualifying trim, the Ferrari engine was a reliable unit, with Eddie Irvine suffering one mechanical issue throughout the season and completing 98 percent of possible race laps, allowing the Irishman to maintain his title challenge to the final race of the season in Japan
Michael Schumacher’s challenge would end when the Ferrari developed an electrical issue, Michael could not contact the pits as his radio had failed. The German would use the TV camera on the Ferrari car to signal to his team that communication had failed, he would be called into the pits for a new steering wheel, this allowed the Ferrari to continue, but he had dropped off the pace compared to the leaders. Michael would cross the line sixth.
On lap 66 Mika Hakkinen and Rubens Barrichello, who were first and second would both head into the pits for fuel and fresh tires, this would promote H-H Frentzen to first. Jordan confirmed that Frentzen would not need to pit, putting the destiny of the race firmly in the hands of the German and Jordan.
Frentzen and Jordon took the Chequered flag, giving Jordan their second victory after Damon Hill took the win at the 1998 Belgium GP.
The decision by Jordan to fuel the car till the end of the race proved to be a master stroke from the team, admittedly it was not without risk. When asked during the post-race press conference, Frentzen confirmed that he had to do some fuel saving to make sure he got to the end of the race without having to make a second stop.
Frentzen would continue his impressive season for Jordan, winning again at Monza this would lead to Frentzen finishing an impressive third in the Drivers Championship.
The 1999 FIA FORMULA 1 was a classic season, with drama and excitement throughout the year, when the dust settled Mika Hakkinen took the second of his two Drivers’ Championships, Ferrari would take the Constructors Championship, what could be seen as a precursor to the upcoming Schumacher dominance in the early 2000’s.
Will the upcoming FORMULA 1 LENOVO GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE serve up a race be as entertaining as the 1999 race? We can only hope ..