GRAND PRIX : Hockenheim : Salo Hands It To Irvine - Ferrari Happenings

GRAND PRIX : Hockenheim : Salo Hands It To Irvine
1.8.99

Mika Salo looked good in qualifying and race.

Mika Hakkinen might have led the first half of the 45-lap German Grand Prix with ease, but by the time the chequered flag came out the race had turned into a convincing, though lucky, one-two win for Scuderia Ferrari.

It was a perfect day for Ferrari fans as Irvine was handed the lead by his own teammate Mika Salo on lap 26 of the race to take an eight point advantage over Hakkinen in the driver championship, while the maximum 16 points in the Constructors' Championship put Ferrari ahead by the same number of points over their McLaren rivals.

Eddie checks his radio, just in case...

Things started to go Ferrari's way at the pitstops, when Hakkinen fell back to fourth place after a slow stop (the notorious McLaren fuel rig once again not doing its job). He soon snatched third and was chasing down the Ferraris for the lead when a rear tyre on his McLaren threw its tread sending Hakkinen spinning out of the race into the tyre barrier.

The second McLaren of David Coulthard had faded from the picture on lap 10 when he ran into the back of Salo's car as he challenged him for second place. "I didn't even feel him touch me," said Salo later, but it was hard enough to damage the front wing of the McLaren, the Scot stopping at the pits for repairs which dropped him back to tenth place. He was to recover to fifth by the finish, albeit with a 10 seconds stop/go penalty for cutting the chicane while overtaking Olivier Panis.

...whilst Salo gets the dreaded message.

The only other challenger to the Ferrari victory was Heinz Harald Frentzen in the Jordan Mugen Honda. After a bad start he was running fourth just ahead of Irvine and then went to third when Coulthard pitted.

Slick pit work from the Ferrari team and a fast lap from Irvine just before his stop saw the Irishman get ahead of Frentzen at his stop and a word from the Ferrari pit saw Salo let Irvine into the lead for the rest of the race.

"I know what it feels like to have to let me by," said Irvine with a smile. "I am going to give Mika the trophy. I couldn't bear to look at it on my mantelpiece. It was his race. What a star," admitted a grateful Irvine.

"I had problems throughout the race with my oil temperature. I couldn't push as hard as I would have liked, especially behind Frentzen, because every time I did the oil warning light would come on," explained Irvine.

Salo drove a superb race to take second place, although he admitted, smiling, that he had his doubts about letting Irvine through when he slowed the pace allowing Frentzen to close up again. "I was calling the pits telling them to ask him to go faster," said Salo, who was delighted with his first Formula One podium finish in his second race for Ferrari.

Irvine slips by to head the 1-2.

Just 5 seconds separated Frentzen from the Ferraris at the finish, Ralf Schumacher taking a strong fourth place a further 7 seconds behind with Coulthard fifth. The final point of the day went to Olivier Panis, one of just 10 cars that got to the flag in a race that traditionally takes a heavy toll on the machinery.

Eddie Irvine wasn't planning any big celebrations after his third win of the season. "It was very boring. I don't feel like celebrating. I got ten points, but it wasn't a great win. It wasn't as though we had taken the race to McLaren and beaten them. They shot themselves in the foot," explained Eddie.

He wasn't even speculating on his Championship chances after re-taking the lead which he had held after his win in the first race of the season. "I am not even thinking about the Championship. It's like a young boy dreaming about going to the moon. I don't even think about it. I am too much of a realist. Whatever is going to happen will happen."

Jean Todt

"This was a great race. Today was really our day. Mika Salo was absolutely fantastic and displayed a great team spirit. Eddie drove a perfect race which is necessary on this track which is a hard test of reliability, brakes and engine. There are six races remaining in the Championship. We always believed we could win the Championship and it is still possible. I felt it was the right thing to do to send our chief mechanic Nigel Stepney onto the podium to represent all the mechanics who have worked so hard, both day and night."

Eddie Irvine

"Mika was the star today and he won the race. He is "Boy Wonder"! I will give him my trophy. Now that he is fully on the pace, we can start to think about the Constructors' Championship, which we were not sure about before. It has taken me half the season to lead the Championship again, but I am not thinking about winning because I am realist. At the start, I got boxed in and was sixth after one lap. I also had a problem with my oil temperature, so I was changing gear early to use less revs and moving out of the slipstream to keep the engine cool. I decided to look after my tyres and push hard before the pit-stop and that is what I did. Then the race came to us. Once I had passed Mika I knew I was safe, but Ross Brawn told me to speed up a bit. When I did, the oil temperature went up again. I think Hungary will suit our car better, but we must work on improving the performance of the car, especially in qualifying."

Mika Salo

"I am very happy with the best result of my Formula 1 career. When I saw "P1" on my pit board, I could not believe it. My car ran perfectly all day and I had no problems. I did not feel it when Coulthard hit me, but I was glad he was gone, as then I could concentrate on catching another Mika. I let Eddie pass after the pit-stop, but then I asked the team to tell him to speed up a bit as I had Frentzen right behind me. After two races in one week I am looking forward to doing some more testing and getting to know the car even better so that I can be even more ready for Hungary. I spoke to Michael Schumacher when I had just joined the team and he told me: 'Just drive the car and the team will do the rest.' He was right."

Race Results:

German Grand Prix
World Championship of Drivers, round 10;
Hockenheimring, August 1st, 1999;
45 laps, 307,035 kms
Weather: Sunny
Temperatures: Air 29°C Track 45°C

CLASSIFIED

Pos  Driver        Team                Time        
 1.  Irvine        Ferrari             1h 21:58.594
 2.  Salo          Ferrari             + 0:01.007  
 3.  Frentzen      Jordan Mugen-Honda  + 0:05.195  
 4.  R.Schumacher  Williams Supertec   + 0:12.809  
 5.  Coulthard     McLaren Mercedes    + 0:16.823  
 6.  Panis         Prost Peugeot       + 0:29.873  
 7.  Wurz          Benetton Playlife   + 0:33.300  
 8.  Alesi         Sauber Petronas     + 1:11.200  
 9.  Gene          Minardi Ford        + 1 Lap     
10.  Badoer        Minardi Ford        + 1 Lap     


NOT CLASSIFIED / RETIREMENTS

Driver        Team               On Lap   Reason
Herbert       Stewart Ford         40     gearbox
de la Rosa    Arrows TWR           37     crash
Hakkinen      McLaren Mercedes     25     tyre failure           
Zanardi       Williams Supertec    21     differential           
Zonta         BAR Supertec         20     engine                 
Takagi        Arrows TWR           15     engine                 
Hill          Jordan Mugen-Honda   13     retired           
Trulli        Prost Peugeot        10     engine                 
Fisichella    Benetton Playlife     7     front suspension damage
Barrichello   Stewart Ford          6     differential seal      
Diniz         Sauber Petronas       0     crash with Villeneuve  
Villeneuve    BAR Supertec          0     crash with Diniz       


Fastest Lap: David Coulthard, Lap 43, 1:45.270 (233.331 kmph)

Drivers Points Standings after 10 rounds:

 1. Irvine        52        
 2. Hakkinen      44
 3  Frentzen      33        
 4. M.Schumacher  32
 5. Coulthard     30        
 6. R.Schumacher  22
 7. Fisichella    13        
 8. Barrichello   10
 9. Salo           6       
10. Hill           5
11. Diniz          3        
 =  Wurz           3
13. Herbert        2        
 =  Panis          2
15. Alesi          1        
 =  Trulli         1
 =  de la Rose     1

Constructors' Points Championship:

1. Scuderia Ferrari           90
2. McLaren-Mercedes           74
3. Jordan-Mugen Honda         38
4. Williams-Supertec          22
5. Benetton-Playlife          16
6. Stewart-Ford               12
7. Sauber-Petronas             4
8. Prost Peugeot               3
9. Arrows TWR                  2

Click here to return to the Ferrari Happenings page.