1999 Monaco Grand Prix

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1999 Monaco Grand Prix
Race 4 of 16 in the 1999 Formula One World Championship
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Circuit Monaco.svg
Circuit de Monaco (last modified in 1998)
Race details
Date16 May 1999
Official name LVII Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco
Location Monte Carlo, Monaco
Course Temporary street circuit
Course length 3.367 km (2.092 miles)
Distance 78 laps, 262.626 km (163.188 miles)
Weather Sunny, hot, dry
Pole position
Driver McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:20.547
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:22.259 on lap 67
Podium
First Ferrari
Second Ferrari
Third McLaren-Mercedes
Lap leaders
  • 1999 Monaco Grand Prix

The 1999 Monaco Grand Prix (formally the LVII Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco) was a Formula One motor race held on 16 May 1999 at the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo, Monaco. It was the fourth race of the 1999 Formula One season. The 78-lap race was won by Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher after starting from second position. It was Schumacher's 16th win with Ferrari, breaking the record held by Niki Lauda. His team-mate Eddie Irvine finished second with Mika Häkkinen third for the McLaren team.

Contents

The race was Schumacher's second win of the season, his fourth at Monaco, and the result meant that he extended his lead in the Drivers' Championship, to eight points over Irvine and twelve over Häkkinen. Ferrari extended their lead in the Constructors' Championship, twenty-four points ahead of McLaren and twenty-eight ahead of Jordan with 12 races of the season remaining.

Report

Background

The Grand Prix was contested by eleven teams, each of two drivers. [1] The teams, also known as constructors, were McLaren, Ferrari, Williams, Jordan, Benetton, Sauber, Arrows, Stewart, Prost, Minardi and BAR. [1] Tyre supplier Bridgestone brought four different tyre types to the race: two dry compounds, the extra soft and the soft, and two wet-weather compounds, the intermediate and full wet. [2]

Going into the race, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher led the Drivers' Championship with 16 points, ahead of Eddie Irvine on 12 points and Mika Häkkinen on 10 points. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was fourth with 10 points while Ralf Schumacher was fifth on 10 points. In the Constructors' Championship Ferrari were leading with 28 points, McLaren and Jordan were second and third with 16 and 13 points respectively, while Williams with 7 and Stewart with 6 points contended for fourth place. Ferrari had so far dominated the championship, winning two out of the three previous races, with Häkkinen winning the Brazilian Grand Prix. Championship contenders Frentzen and David Coulthard had each gained one second-place finish, and Ralf Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello had achieved third place podium finishes.

Following the San Marino Grand Prix on 2 May, several teams conducted testing sessions at circuits around the world. Ferrari and Minardi headed for Fiorano where testing for the set-up around the Monaco circuit took place. McLaren and Prost tested at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours running over the course of three days, while Prost elected to test for one day. Jordan tested at the Lurcy-Lévis test track with driver Andrew Gilbert-Scott performing aerodynamic mapping runs. [3]

Practice and qualifying

Hakkinen achieved his fourth pole position in four races, and the 14th in his career. Mika Hakkinen DTM Norisring 2009.jpg
Häkkinen achieved his fourth pole position in four races, and the 14th in his career.

Four practice sessions were held before the race; two one-hour sessions on Thursday and two 45 minutes sessions on Saturday. [4] The Friday sessions were held in dry and cloudy conditions. Irvine was the fastest driver in the first session, with a time of 1:18.910 that was less than six-tenths of a second faster than Michael Schumacher. Jordan driver Damon Hill was less than two-tenths of a second off Michael Schumacher's pace, with Barrichello, Alessandro Zanardi and Jean Alesi rounding out the top six. [5] In the second practice session, Michael Schumacher was fastest with a time of 1:22.718, ahead of Häkkinen, Olivier Panis, Irvine, Giancarlo Fisichella and Coulthard.

Saturday's afternoon qualifying session lasted for an hour. During this session, the 107% rule was in effect, which necessitated each driver set a time within 107% of the quickest lap to qualify for the race. Each driver was limited to twelve laps. [4] Häkkinen achieved his fourth pole position of the season, his second at the Circuit de Monaco, with a time of 1:20.547. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Michael Schumacher, who was less than one-tenth of a second behind.

Race

The conditions for the race were dry with the air temperature 19 °C (66 °F) and the track temperature 34 °C (93 °F). [6] The drivers took to the track at 09:30 (GMT +1) for a 30-minute warm-up session. [4] Both Ferrari drivers maintained their good pace from qualifying; Michael Schumacher set the fastest time, a 1:23.792. Irvine was second in the other Ferrari car. Both McLaren drivers were just off Irvine's pace—Häkkinen ahead of Coulthard—while Hill and Ralf Schumacher rounded out the top six. [7]

Both Ferraris gained a position at the start, with Michael Schumacher taking the lead from Mika Häkkinen, Eddie Irvine and David Coulthard. The order remained this way until lap 35 when Coulthard's car began to slow, eventually causing him to retire. Further bad luck befell McLaren a few laps later when Häkkinen went straight on at Mirabeau from oil left after Toranosuke Takagi's blown engine. Eddie Irvine moved into 2nd place and stayed there.

On the podium, the Republic of Ireland's flag was flown for Irvine. [8]

Post-race

The race result left Michael Schumacher extending his lead in the Drivers' Championship with 26 points. Irvine's second place ensured that he maintained second position in the Championship with 18 points, four points ahead of Häkkinen and five ahead of Frentzen. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari extended their lead to 44 points, McLaren maintained second with 20 points, with Jordan maintaining third with 16 points, with 12 races of the season remaining.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorTimeGap
11 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:20.547 
23 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:20.611+0.064
32 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:20.956+0.409
44 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:21.011+0.464
516 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1:21.530+0.983
68 Flag of Germany.svg Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:21.556+1.009
719 Flag of Italy.svg Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 1:21.769+1.222
822 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Supertec 1:21.827+1.280
99 Flag of Italy.svg Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 1:21.938+1.391
1010 Flag of Austria.svg Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 1:21.968+1.421
115 Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Zanardi Williams-Supertec 1:22.152+1.605
1223 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Salo BAR-Supertec 1:22.241+1.694
1317 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johnny Herbert Stewart-Ford 1:22.248+1.701
1411 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 1:22.354+1.807
1512 Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Diniz Sauber-Petronas 1:22.659+2.112
166 Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Schumacher Williams-Supertec 1:22.719+2.172
177 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:22.832+2.285
1818 Flag of France.svg Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 1:22.916+2.369
1915 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Toranosuke Takagi Arrows 1:23.290+2.743
2020 Flag of Italy.svg Luca Badoer Minardi-Ford 1:23.765+3.218
2114 Flag of Spain.svg Pedro de la Rosa Arrows 1:24.260+3.713
2221 Flag of Spain.svg Marc Gené Minardi-Ford 1:24.914+4.367
107% time: 1:26.185
Source: [9]

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
13 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari 781:49:31.812210
24 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Eddie Irvine Ferrari 78+30.47646
31 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 78+37.48314
48 Flag of Germany.svg Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jordan-Mugen-Honda 78+54.00963
59 Flag of Italy.svg Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 77+1 lap92
610 Flag of Austria.svg Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 77+1 lap101
719 Flag of Italy.svg Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 77+1 lap7 
85 Flag of Italy.svg Alessandro Zanardi Williams-Supertec 76+2 laps11 
916 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 71Suspension/spun off5 
Ret6 Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Schumacher Williams-Supertec 54Accident16 
Ret11 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 50Suspension14 
Ret12 Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Diniz Sauber-Petronas 49Suspension15 
Ret18 Flag of France.svg Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 40Engine18 
Ret2 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 36Gearbox3 
Ret23 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Salo BAR-Supertec 36Brakes/accident12 
Ret15 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Toranosuke Takagi Arrows 36Engine19 
Ret22 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Supertec 32Oil leak8 
Ret17 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johnny Herbert Stewart-Ford 32Suspension13 
Ret14 Flag of Spain.svg Pedro de la Rosa Arrows 30Gearbox21 
Ret21 Flag of Spain.svg Marc Gené Minardi-Ford 24Accident22 
Ret20 Flag of Italy.svg Luca Badoer Minardi-Ford 10Gearbox20 
Ret7 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 3Collision17 
Source: [10]

Championship standings after the race

References

  1. 1 2 "Formula One Teams and Drivers (1999)". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 27 April 1999. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  2. "Monaco GP Bridgestone Thursday notes". motorsport.com. 13 May 1999. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  3. "Testing for Monaco". GrandPrix.com. Inside F1, Inc. 10 May 1999. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 "The FIA's 66 Answers to 66 Questions". Atlas F1. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  5. "Thursday First Free Practice". Atlas F1. Haymarket Publications. 13 May 1999. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  6. "Grand Prix of Monaco - Report: Ferrari One-Two at Monaco". Gale Force F1. 16 May 1999. Archived from the original on 11 August 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  7. "Sunday Warm-Up - Monaco". Atlas F1. Haymarket Publications. 16 May 1999. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  8. asopher2 (2025-01-15). F1 1999 - MONACO (SPEED) - ROUND 4 . Retrieved 2025-03-16 via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. F1, STATS. "Monaco 1999 - Qualifications • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 14 November 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. "1999 Monaco Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  11. 1 2 "Monaco 1999 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
Previous race:
1999 San Marino Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1999 season
Next race:
1999 Spanish Grand Prix
Previous race:
1998 Monaco Grand Prix
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2000 Monaco Grand Prix

43°44′4.74″N7°25′16.8″E / 43.7346500°N 7.421333°E / 43.7346500; 7.421333