May 1999


30 May 1999 Rubens Barrichello has been disqualified from the Spanish GP because his car did not pass the checks after the end of the race. Stewards said his Stewart-Ford did not comply with article 3.13(h) of the technical regulations and a fastener used to hold the skid block in place was too large.

This are the new finishing times:

1. Mika Hakkinen (Fin/McLaren-Mercedes) 1h34'13"665
average:: 195.608 km/h
2. David Coulthard (Gb/McLaren-Mercedes) +06"2
3. Michael Schumacher (Ger/Ferrari) +10"8
4. Eddie Irvine (Irl/Ferrari) +30"1
5. Ralf Schumacher (Ger/Williams-Supertec) +1'27"2
6. Jarno Trulli (Ita/Prost-Peugeot) +1 lap
7. Damon Hill (Gb/Jordan-Mugen Honda) +1 lap
8. Mika Salo (Fin/BAR-Supertec) +1 lap
9. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita/Benetton-Supertec) +1 lap
10. Alexander Wurz (Aut/Benetton-Supertec) +1 lap
11. Pedro de la Rosa (Spa/Arrows) +2 laps
12. Toranosuke Takagi (Gia/Arrows) +3 laps

30 May 1999 Hakkinen and Coulthard gave McLaren a one-two in the Spanish GP. Ferrari's M. Schumacher and Eddie Irvine were third and fourth. R. Schumacher was fifth, while Trulli gave Prost their second point this season. Full race report is available in the Race Report section, full results and standings are available in the Results section and drivers and constructors performance graphs are available in the Graphs section.

29 May 1999 Hakkinen will start from pole position for the fifth time in five races. Eddie Irvine will start alongside him from the front row, with Coulthard's second McLaren and current Championship leader M. Schumacher on the second row. Alesi and Villeneuve will start from the third row.

Qualifying times:

1. Mika Hakkinen (Finland) McLaren 1'22"088 (average: 207.348 kph)
2. Eddie Irvine (Britain) Ferrari 1'22"219
3. David Coulthard (Britain) McLaren 1'22"244
4. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari 1'22"277
5. Jean Alesi (France) Sauber 1'22"388
6. Jacques Villeneuve (Canada) BAR 1'22"703
7. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Stewart 1'22"920
8. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Germany) Jordan 1'22"938
9. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Prost 1'23"194
10. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Williams 1'23"303
11. Damon Hill (Britain) Jordan 1'23"317
12. Pedro Diniz (Brazil) Sauber 1'23"331
13. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Benetton 1'23"333
14. Johnny Herbert (Britain) Stewart 1'23"505
15. Olivier Panis (France) Prost 1'23"559
16. Mika Salo (Finland) BAR 1'23"683
17. Alex Zanardi (Italy) Williams 1'23"703
18. Alexander Wurz (Austria) Benetton 1'23"824
19. Pedro de la Rosa (Spain) Arrows 1'24"619
20. Tora Takagi (Japan) Arrows 1'25"280
21. Marc Gené (Spain) Minardi 1'25"672
22. Luca Badoer (Italy) Minardi 1'25"833

29 May 1999 McLaren got back to the top in the Saturday free morning practice session, with Coulthard clocking the fastest time. M. Schumacher and Hakkinen followed closely, but Irvine was only 17th.

The Saturday Free Practice times:

1) David Coulthard (Gb) McLaren-Mercedes 1:22"138 (average: 207.221 km/h)
2) Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1:22"212
3) Mika Hakkinen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:22"257
4) Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Ger) Jordan-Mugen Honda 1:22"836
5) Jean Alesi (Fra) Sauber-Petronas 1:22"917
6) Jacques Villeneuve (Can) BAR-Supertec 1:23"074
7) Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Stewart-Ford 1:23"106
8) Damon Hill (Gb) Jordan-Mugen Honda 1:23"125
9) Johnny Herbert (Gb) Stewart-Ford 1:23"136
10) Mika Salo (Fin) BAR-Supertec 1:23"196
11) Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Williams-Supertec 1:23"208
12) Pedro Paolo Diniz (Bra) Sauber-Petronas 1:23"272
13) Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Benetton-Supertec 1:23"346
14) Jarno Trulli (Ita) Prost-Peugeot 1:23"493
15) Alessandro Zanardi (Ita) Williams-Supertec 1:23"574
16) Alexander Wurz (Aut) Benetton-Supertec 1:23"633
17) Eddie Irvine (Irl) Ferrari 1:23"839
18) Olivier Panis (Fra) Prost-Peugeot 1:23"911
19) Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) Arrows 1:25"042
20) Marc Gené (Spa) Minardi-Ford 1:25"663
21) Toranosuke Takagi (Jap) Arrows 1:25"948

29 May 1999 Toyota, which is planning to enter F1 in 2002, will use Magneti Marelli electronic management systems.

29 May 999 Benetton denied to have used the option they have on Wurz for next year.

29 May 1999 Briatore's Supertec will sue Honda after having agreed a payment from BAR for dropping out of the 2000 engine deal. Supertec's lawyers are accusing Honda of incorrect behaviour which lead to the Japanese firm becoming the engine supplier for BAR, despite the F1 team already having signed an agreement with Supertec for the year 200.

28 May 1999 Bernie Ecclestone raised 1.3 million euros through an umprecedented bond issue in view of a future stock market flotation of Formula 1.

28 May 1999 Hakkinen said that he is not worried about Ferrari because he and Coulthard did not push their cars in the practice session and could have gone faster. The Flying Finn added that they know the Barcelona circuit so well that they could have not taken part in the free practice at all.

28 May 1999 Irvine is very happy with the F399 after clocking teh fastest time in the Friday free practice. M. Schumacher is optimistic about the Barcelona GP too.

28 May 1999 Eddie Irvine was fastest in the Friday free practice session before the Barcelona GP. Frentzen had the second best time and M. Schumacher the third, ahead of Hakkinen. Zanardi was fifth best followed by Hill. Coulthard was only seventh. The Spanish GP is one of those in which McLaren usually perform best.

The Friday Free Practice times:

1) Eddie Irvine (Irl) Ferrari 1'23"577 (average: 203.654 km/h)
2) Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Ger) Jordan Mugen Honda 1'23"790
3) Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1'23"895
4) Mika Hakkinen (Fin) McLaren Mercedes 1'23"982
5) Alessandro Zanardi (Ita) Williams SuperTec 1'24"312
6) Damon Hill (Gb) Jordan Mugen Honda 1'24"318
7) David Coulthard (Sco) McLaren Mercedes 1'24"339
8) Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Stewart Ford CW 1'24"347
9) Jacques Villeneuve (Can) Bar SuperTec 1'24"458
10) Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Williams SuperTec 1'24"559
11) Jean Alesi (Fra) Sauber Petronas 1'24"571
12) Pedro Paolo Diniz (Bra) Sauber Petronas 1'24"823
13) Jarno Trulli (Ita) Prost Peugeot 1'24"957
14) Olivier Panis (Fra) Prost Peugeot 1'25"140
15) Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Benetton SuperTec 1'25"448
16) Johnny Herbert (Gb) Stewart Ford CW 1'25"667
17) Alexander Wurz (Aut) Benetton SuperTec 1'25"901
18) Mika Salo (Fin) Bar SuperTec 1'25"990
19) Pedro de La Rosa (Spa) Arrows 1'26"595
20) Toranosuke Takagi (Jap) Arrows 1'27"296
21) Luca Badoer (Ita) Minardi Ford ZetecR 1'27"314
22) Marc Gené (Spa) Minardi Ford ZetecR 1'27"506

21 May 1999 Jordan have announced to have closed a deal with Honda to extend the supply of engines for an extra two years. BAR have also agreed a three-year supply contract with Honda from 2000.

20 May 1999 Team Lotus are rumoured to be planning a return to F1, perhaps as soon as next year. Allegedly they have talked to Bernie Ecclestone, who would have agreed to their return, provided that they buy Supertec engines.

18 May 1999 Alex Zanardi is considering a one-off return to CART. A CART race is going to be held in Hawaii and the 12 top CART drivers have been invited to take part. Jacques Villeneuve and Alex Zanardi have been invited too because of their past performance in CART. The prize for the Hawaii CART race is the highest ever offered for a motor race (13 million pounds). Zanardi will need his team's permission to take part.

16 May 1999 The BAR team announced today that Salo will race in place of Zonta in the Spanish GP at the end of the month. Zonta underwent a medical examination by FIA today and he was deemed not to be well enough yet to race.

16 May 1999 Barrichello apparently suffered a failure in the rear suspension, just like it happened to his team mate Herbert. Barrichello retired from the Monaco GP just as he was defending his fifth position from Fisichella with only a few laps to go.

16 May 1999 M. Schumacher won the Monaco GP, followed by Irvine and Hakkinen. Full race report is available in the Race Report section, full results and standings are available in the Results section and drivers and constructors performance graphs are available in the Graphs section.

15 May 1999 Mika Hakkinen will start the Monaco GP from the pole position. M. Schumacher will start from the second spot on the first row, with Coulthard and Irvine starting from the second row. The two McLaren suffered from another setup problem but managed to solve it in the latest stages of quilifying to allow Hakkinen to steal the pole position from M. Schuamcher on the very last lap and Coulthard to move up to the third spot.

Qualifying times:

First row
Mika Hakkinen (Fin/McLaren-Mercedes) 1'20"547 (average 150,486 km/h)
Michael Schumacher (Ger/Ferrari) 1'20"611
Second row
David Coulthard (Gbr/McLaren-Mercedes) 1'20"956
Eddie Irvine (Irl/Ferrari) 1'21"011
Third row
Rubens Barrichello (Bra/Stewart-Ford) 1'21"530
Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Ger/Jordan-Mugen Honda) 1'21"556
Fourth row
Jarno Trulli (Ita/Prost-Peugeot) 1'21"769
Jacques Villeneuve (Can/BAR-Supertec) 1'21"827
Fifth row
Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita/Benetton-Supertec) 1'21"938
Alexander Wurz (Aut/Benetton-Supertec) 1'21"968
Sixth row
Alessandro Zanardi (Ita/Williams-Supertec) 1'22"152
Mika Salo (Fin/BAR-Supertec) 1'22"241
Seventh row
Johnny Herbert (Gbr/Stewart-Ford) 1'22"248
Jean Alesi (Fra/Sauber-Petronas) 1'22"354
Eighth row
Pedro Paolo Diniz (Bra/Sauber-Petronas) 1'22"659
Ralf Schumacher (Ger/Williams-Supertec) 1'22"719
Nineth row
Damon Hill (Gbr/Jordan-Mugen Honda) 1'22"832
Olivier Panis (Fra/Prost-Peugeot) 1'22"916
Tenth row
Toranosuke Takagi (Jap/Arrows) 1'23"290
Luca Badoer (Ita/Minardi-Ford) 1'23"765
Eleventh row
Pedro de la Rosa (Spa/Arrows) 1'24"260
Marc Gené (Spa/Minardi-Ford) 1'24"914

14 May 1999 The Paul Ricard company, owner of the Paul Ricard circuit, announced that they have reached an agreement with Bernie Ecclestone, who will become the new owner of the race track at the end of the year.

14 May 1999 Mika Salo feels well in shape and he is sure he will do well at the Monaco GP. Villenueve feels confident because nothing has gone wrong yet since he arrived in Monaco. Barrichello will run his 100th F1 GP on Sunday. He is happy with his car, despite a slight oversteering problem on fast bends. Hill is confident he will do well, but his team mate Frentzen crashed out after swerving to avoid a Prost that had slowed down. The gearbox on Badoer's car broke and caused the Minardi driver to do the slowest time. Hakkinen was worried in the morning because the car was very slow, then the mechanics found out that the setup was not correct and fixed it. The steering of one of the left wheels of M. Schumacher's car broke and caused the driver to hit the barrier. He managed to get back to the pits, had the problem fixed and clocked the fastest practice time. Fisichella is happy with his car and is hoping to be in the second or third row on the starting grid.

14 May 1999 Flavio Briatore stopped BAR from announcing that they will be using a Honda engine next year. BAR has signed a contract with Supertec for two years and they will not be allowed to pull out of it early. BAR intended to make the announcement at the Monaco GP.

14 May 1999 Brands Hatch will host the British GP for at least five years from 2002. The circuit will require an investement of 20 million pounds to bring it up to current FIA regilations. The British Racing Drivers Club, owner of Silverstone, decided that they could not renew the contract.

13 May 1999 Roger Penske and Gian Carlo Minardi both denied the rumour that Toyota might buy Minardi.

13 March 1999 M. Schumacher completed the Thursday practice session with the best time. Hakkinen followed in second position, with Panis third, Irvine fourth and Fisichella fifth. Coulthard (sixth) was hindered by pain in his right foot, which he injured in a charity football match on Tuesday. The Scot said that he is not going to let his injury interfere with the race.

Thursday Practice times:

Michael Schumacher (Ger/Ferrari) 1:22.718 (average 146.536 km/h)
Mika Hakkinen (Fin/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:22.854
Olivier Panis (Fra/Prost-Peugeot) 1:23.318
Eddie Irvine (Irl/Ferrari) 1:23.396
Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita/Benetton-Supertec) 1:23.458
David Coulthard (Gb/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:23.503
Rubens Barrichello (Bra/Stewart-Ford) 1:23.545
Mika Salo (Fin/BAR-Supertec) 1:23.793
Jacques Villeneuve (Can/BAR-Supertec) 1:23.862
Johnny Herbert (Gb/Stewart-Ford) 1:23.865
Damon Hill (Gb/Jordan-Mugen Honda) 1:23.874
Jarno Trulli (Ita/Prost-Peugeot) 1:23.958
Alessandro Zanardi (Ita/Williams-Supertec) 1:24.065
Alexander Wurz (Aut/Benetton-Supertec) 1:24.263
Jean Alesi (Fra/Sauber-Petronas) 1:24.492
Ralf Schumacher (Ger/Williams-Supertec) 1:24.906
Pedro Paolo Diniz (Bra/Sauber-Petronas) 1:25.094
Pedro de la Rosa (Spa/Arrows) 1:26.148
Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Ger/Jordan-Mugen Honda) 1:26.336
Toranosuke Takagi (Jap/Arrows) 1:27.618
Marc Gene (Spa/Minardi-Ford) 1:27.667
Luca Badoer (Ita/Minardi-Ford) 1:28.316

10 May 1999 Next year's US GP will take place on the 24th of September in Indianapolis. Race organiser Tony George said that a new 4.2 km circuit is being built, which will use some of the existing structures of the oval. The last US F1 race had taken place in 1991.

7 May 1999 Roger Penske, Toyota representative in the US, confirmed the rumours that Toyota is talking to Fondmetal-Minardi about buying the F1 team. He expects the deal to be closed very soon.

5 May 1999 Salo will race in Zona's place in the Monaco GP. The doctors and the BAR teams decided it would be better to allow more time for Zonta's tendons to heal.

1 May 1999 Hakkinen will be starting the San Marino GP from pole position, despite team mate Coulthard's best effort to beat him. Coulthard had to settle for second on the grid, while M. Schumacher and Eddie Irvine will be starting from the second row. Villeneuve managed a good fifth starting place followed by Barrichello. These are the qualifying times:

1.  Mika Hakkinen (Fin/Mclaren-Mercedes)    1'26"362
2.  David Coulthard (Gbr/Mclaren-Mercedes)  1'26"384
3.  Michael Schumacher (Ger/Ferrari)        1'26"538
4.  Eddie Irvine (Irl/Ferrari)              1'26"993
5.  Jacques Villeneuve (Can/Bar)            1'27"313
6.  Rubens Barrichello (Bra/Stewart-Ford)   1'27"499
7.  Heinz Harald Frentzen (Ger/Jordan)      1'27"613
8.  Damon Hill (Gbr/Jordan)                 1'27"708
9.  Ralf Schumacher (Ger/Williams)          1'27"770
10. Alex Zanardi (Ita/Williams)             1'28"142
11. Olivier Panis (Fra/Prost-Peugeot)       1'28"205
12. Johnny Herbert (Gbr/Stewart-Ford)       1'28"246
13. Jean Alesi (Fra/Sauber)                 1'28"253
14. Jarno Trulli (Ita/Prost-Peugeot)        1'28"403
15. Pedro Diniz (Bra/Sauber)                1'28"599
16. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita/Benetton)     1'28"750
17. Alexander Wurz (Aut/Benetton)           1'28"765
18. Pedro De La Rosa (Spa/Arrows)           1'29"293
19. Mika Salo (Fin/Bar)                     1'29"451
20. Toranosuke Takagi (Jap/Arrows)          1'29"656
21. Marc Gené (Spa/Minardi-Ford)            1'30"035
22. Luca Badoer (Ita/Minardi-Ford)          1'30"945

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Last updated on by Federica Massagrande