28 September 1999 Sauber have tested the force of impact that broke the rollbar in Diniz's car and found out that the force was a lot higher than what rollbars have to be able to sustain according to FIA regulations. Diniz came out unscathed from teh accident, having suffered only bruising to his head and neck.

26 September 1999 Johnny Herbert won the European GP for the delight of Jacky Stewart, who also saw Barrichello bring home third place despite his continuous attacks on Trulli, who fought bravely to finish in second position for Prost. R. Schumacher finished fourth after having suffered a puncture while in the lead. Hakkinen finished fifth after a last minute rush to overtake Irvine and Gené, having run a lacklustre and strategically poor race. Gené finished sixth to gain his and Minardi's first point this season. Ferrari suffered from a series of mishaps worth of a comedy of errors, including "forgetting" to put on one of Irvine's tyres during a pit stop, and failed to bring home a single point. The race was characterised by sudden violent downpours intemixed with bright dry spells which played havoc with teams' tyre strategies. Most of the big players retired, including Frentzen, who had started from pole position and had lead all the way, Coulthard and Fisichella. The race had to be restarted because Frentzen and other drivers had jumped the start, after the lights stayed on for a very long time, allegedly because of a problem with the computer that controlled them (no driver was penalised). At the second start Diniz was involved in a frightening accident with Wurz and Hill. Diniz's Sauber rolled on its top, the rollbar completely crashed, and the driver was left trapped inside, strapped upside down. The marshalls turned the car over and Diniz was taken out of the car and brought to hospital by ambulance. He will spend the night in hospital as a precaution, but the first reports say that he suffered no serious injuries. In Eddie Jordan's words "it was a freak of a race".

25 September 1999 Frentzen won a last-minute bid for the pole position of the European GP at the Nürburgring, overatking Coulthard who will start from second position. Hakkinen and R. Schumacher will share the second row and Panis and Fisichella the third. Bad starting positions for Ferrari with Irvine ninth and Salo 12th.

The qualifying times:

Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Ger/Jordan-Mugen Honda) 1'19"910 David Coulthard (Gb/McLaren-Mercedes) 1'20"176 Mika Hakkinen (Fin/McLaren-Mercedes) 1'20"376 Ralf Schumacher (Ger/Williams-Supertec) 1'20"444 Olivier Panis (Fra/Prost-Peugeot) 1'20"638 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita/Benetton-Supertec) 1'20"781 Damon Hill (Gb/Jordan-Mugen Honda) 1'20"818 Jacques Villeneuve (Can/BAR-Supertec) 1'20"825 Eddie Irvine (Gb/Ferrari) 1'20"842 Jarno Trulli (Ita/Prost-Peugeot) 1'20"965 Alexander Wurz (Aut/Benetton-Supertec) 1'21"144 Mika Salo (Fin/Ferrari) 1'21"314 Pedro Diniz (Bra/Sauber-Petronas) 1'21"345 Johnny Herbert (Gb/Stewart-Ford) 1'21"379 Rubens Barrichello (Bra/Stewart-Ford) 1'21"490 Jean Alesi (Fra/Sauber-Petronas) 1'21"634 Ricardo Zonta (Bra/BAR-Supertec) 1'22"267 Alessandro Zanardi (Ita/Williams-Supertec) 1'22"284 Luca Badoer (Ita/Minardi-Ford) 1'22"631 Marc Gené (Spa/Minardi-Ford) 1'22"760 Toranosuke Takagi (Jpn/Arrows) 1'23"401 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa/Arrows) 1'23"698

24 September 1999 BAR have renewed Zonta's contract for next year.

19 September 1999 Jean Todt said that M. Schumacher's absence is having serious repercussions on Ferrari's technical sector. In an article in German paper Welt am Sonntag he is quoted as saying that Ferrari have been rather confused on technical issues for the last few weeks due to the gap in expertise caused by M. Schumacher's absence.

12 September 1999 Frentzen won the Italian GP after Hakkinen made a mistake while comfortably in the lead, stalled his engine and retired. The Finn did not try to hide his anger, or even his tears, as he watched Irvine finish in sixth position to come level with him at the top of the Drivers Championship table. R. Schumacher was second, Salo third, Barrichello fourth and Coulthard fifth.

The finishing times:

1.H. H. Frentzen (Ger - Jordan) 1:17.02.923 2.R. Schumacher (Ger - Williams) + 3.272 3.M. Salo (Fin - Ferrari) + 11.932 4.R. Barrichello (Bra - Stewart) + 17.630 5.D. Coulthard (Gbr - McLaren) + 18.142 6.E. Irvine (Irl - Ferrari) + 27.402 7.A. Zanardi (Ita - Williams) + 28.0 8.J. Villeneuve (Can - Bar) + 41.7 9.J. Alesi (Fra - Sauber) + 42.1 10.D. Hill (Gbr - Jordan) + 56.2 11.O. Panis (Fra - Prost) + 1 lap

11 September 1999 Hakkinen won his 11th pole position out of 13 races. Fretzen will start the race alongside the Finn with Coulthard and Zanardi on the second row and R. Schumacher and Salo on the third. Title contender Irvine only managed eighth place behind Barrichello.

The qualifying times:

MIKA HAKKINEN (FIN/MCLAREN-MERCEDES) 1:22.432 HEINZ-HARALD FRENTZEN (GER/JORDAN-MUGEN HONDA) 1:22.926 DAVID COULTHARD (GBR/MCLAREN-MERCEDES) 1:23.177 ALESSANDRO ZANARDI (ITA/WILLIAMS-SUPERTEC) 1:23.432 RALF SCHUMACHER (GER/WILLIAMS-SUPERTEC) 1:23.636 MIKA SALO (FIN/FERRARI) 1:23.657 RUBENS BARRICHELLO (BRA/STEWART-FORD) 1:23.739 EDDIE IRVINE (GBR/FERRARI) 1:23.765 DAMON HILL (GBR/JORDAN-MUGEN HONDA) 1:23.979 OLIVIER PANIS (FRA/PROST-PEUGEOT) 1:24.016 JACQUES VILLENEUVE (CAN/BAR-SUPERTEC) 1:24.188 JARNO TRULLI (ITA/PROST-PEUGEOT) 1:24.293 JEAN ALESI (FRA/SAUBER-PETRONAS) 1:24.591 ALEXANDER WURZ (AUT/BENETTON-SUPERTEC) 1:24.593 JOHNNY HERBERT (GBR/STEWART-FORD) 1:24.594 PEDRO PAOLO DINIZ (BRA/SAUBER-PETRONAS) 1:24.596 GIANCARLO FISICHELLA (ITA/BENETTON-SUPERTEC) 1:24.862 RICARDO ZONTA (BRA/BAR-SUPERTEC) 1:25.114 LUCA BADOER (ITA/MINARDI-FORD) 1:25.348 MARC GENE (SPA/MINARDI-FORD) 1:25.695 PEDRO DE LA ROSA (SPA/ARROWS) 1:26.383 TORANOSUKE TAKAGI (GIA/ARROWS) 1:26.509

10 September 1999 R. Schumacher had the fastest time in the friday practice session, followed by Trulli, Zanardi, Alesi, Hakkinen and Panis.

The Friday practice times:

1. Ralf Schumacher (Ger - Williams) 1:24.507 (245.802 km/h) 2. Jarno Trulli (Ita - Prost) 1:24.692 3. Alex Zanardi (Ita - Williams) 1:24.823 4. Jean Alesi (Fra - Sauber) 1:25.030 5. Mika Hakkinen (Fin - McLaren) 1:25.103 6. Olivier Panis (Fra - Prost) 1:25.138 7. Jacques Villeneuve (Can Bar) 1:25.307 8. David Coulthard (Gbr - McLaren) 1:25.347 9. Pedro Diniz (Bra - Sauber) 1:25.388 10. Damon Hill (Gbr - Jordan) 1:25.397 11. Rubens Barrichello (Bra - Stewart) 1:25.499 12. Johnny Herbert (Gbr - Stewart) 1:25.551 13. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Ger - Jordan) 1:25.577 14. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita - Benetton) 1:25.701 15. Alexander Wurz (Aus - Benetton) 1:25.742 16. Eddie Irvine (Gbr - Ferrari) 1:25.897 17. Mika Salo (Fin - Ferrari) 1:25.931 18. Marc Gené (Spa - Minardi) 1:26.069 19. Ricardo Zonta (Brazil Bar) 1:26.181 20. Luca Badoer (Ita - Minardi) 1:26.633 21. Pedro De La Rosa (Spa - Arrows) 1:27.542 22. Toranosuke Takagi (Jpn - Arrows) 1:27.931

9 September 1999 Jacques Regis, president of the French federation for automotive sport, said in a press conference that he believes that France will host two GPs in 2001.

9 September 1999 Barrichello said that he is aware working at Ferrari will not be easy, but being hired by Ferrari is a result in itself. He will be M. Schuamcher's second driver but he does not feel like a "second", more like a "1B".

6 September 1999 Damon Hill may quit F1 after Sunday's Italian Grand Prix - on the condition Jordan cements third place in the Constructors' Championship.

6 September 1999 M. Schumacher will need to rest at least four more weeks before he will be able to go back to his usual training routine, accoding to his spokeperson Heiner Buchinger. The German driver underwent another medical test yesterday. It will be impossible for him to race at the Nürburgring.

4 September 1999 Maranello has issued an official statement confirming that next year Rubens Barrichello will taken Eddie Irvine's seat at Ferrari, alongside Michael Schumacher. In the same statement the Ferrari team thaks Irvine for his loyal and constructive work in the last four years. Irvine commented that after the current season it would have been impossible for him to stay at Ferrari and play M. Schumacher's second.

1 September 1999 M. Schumacher will not race in Monza and will probably miss The European GP at the Nürburgring in Germany. The injured driver tested in Monza but after only five laps pain in his broken leg forced him to stop.

Last updated on by Federica Massagrande