GRAND PRIX : European : Confusion Rains - Ferrari Happenings

GRAND PRIX : European : Confusion Rains
Nürburgring, 26.9.99

Diniz was lucky to get away with it.

Constantly changeable weather conditions caught out most teams, including Ferrari, who had a chaotic pit stop for Irvine when they could only find three tyres to put on his car. With Irvine scoring no points and Hakkinen only two, the Drivers' Championship now moves into the final couple of races with these protagonists separated by just two points.

After starting from a distant 14th place on the grid, Johnny Herbert was the surprise winner for the Stewart-Ford team in what turned out to be a lottery caused by the rain showers.

Availability proved a problem to Irvine.

For the first 32 laps of this 66-lap race it was pole winner Heinz-Harald Frentzen who looked all set to take the honours until his only pit stop of the race.

By that time Mika Hakkinen had dropped out of contention after being called in by his team for rain tyres while the others managed to keep going with dry weather tyres.

An excellent pit stop by the Jordan team saw Frentzen make it out of the pit lane still ahead of Coulthard, who had stopped on the same lap, but as Frentzen rejoined the circuit his race came to a sudden halt when the engine died because of an electrical problem. It was the same problem that had put out Hill from seventh place just after the start. His slowing Jordan causing Wurz to weave to avoid him and hit Pedro Diniz' Sauber. It was a tense moment as Diniz' car came to rest upside down with most of its roll-over bar broken away, but after several laps of the race run under the yellow flag, Diniz was extracted by the medical team with only minor injuries.

An opportunity lost with only 7th place.

With Frentzen out, Coulthard took over the lead and looked to be heading for the win until he got caught out by another rain shower and slid off the road and into a tyre barrier just five laps later.

The torch was taken up by Ralf Schumacher, who was having another good race for Williams after starting in fourth place , but a second pit stop for wet tyres allowed Giancarlo Fisichella's Benetton to take over the lead on lap 45.

Schumacher got a reprieve four laps later when the Italian spun off the slick track and out of the race, but Schumacher's joy was short lived when he too dropped down the field again as he limped to the pits with a flat rear tyre.

Just two points in it, with two races to go.

As the leaders all ran into trouble or got delayed by slow pit stops and wrong race tactics, including the two Ferraris of Eddie Irvine and Mika Salo, it was Johnny Herbert, who had chosen to stay on wet tyres, who came through to take the lead which he held to the end to finish a comfortable 22 seconds clear of his nearest rival. Jarno Trulli only just managed to hold off a determined attack from the second Stewart-Ford of Rubens Barrichello who, after dropping away when the track was at its wettest, picked up in the final laps to almost make it a Stewart-Ford one-two for the team's first ever race victory.

Schumacher managed to take fourth place for Williams with Mika Hakkinen eventually finishing in fifth place, the only one of the four Championship contenders to claim any points from this race. The final point of the day went to the Spaniard Marc Gene, the first point of his career and the first for his Minardi team this year.

The only other driver to finish on the same lap as the leader was Eddie Irvine, an eventual seventh for the Scuderia Ferrari. Team-mate Mika Salo dropped out of the race after 44 laps with binding brakes. However, he was well down the field at the time after losing time in the early laps with a pit stop to replace a damaged nose.

Jean Todt

"The race was a series of problems enlivened with much drama. We were unable to make the most of the continual changes in the weather and the situations these created. At the first pit stops, we were waiting for Eddie, but Salo came in first to change his damaged front wing, losing valuable time. Irvine came in soon after Mika, when a last minute change of tyre choice also lost us time. At the end of lap 45, Salo stopped with a brake problem, which we are currently analysing. In these unusual circumstances, our main rivals coped with the conditions better than us. The championships are still up for grabs. This is not the time for recriminations. If we want to fight to the end of the championship we must not stumble like this in the remaining races."

Eddie Irvine

"Our strategy was a bit wrong. We stayed out when we should have come in. It was yet another great opportunity missed. As for my first pit stop, the pit crew was ready for me, but Salo came in first and so the mechanics got rid of my tyres to put his tyres on. Then when I came in they could not find one of my tyres. They eventually found it and I lost a lot of time. It is difficult when you have one group of mechanics serving two cars. We should have been attacking ahead, instead of covering Hakkinen but there were too many mistakes. At the end, when the track was drying, I was unable to keep on the pace as the balance of my car was not right. Even so, we have got off lightly as I am still only two points behind the championship leader."

Mika Salo

"When I first changed onto wet tyres it was a mistake, but then I had a problem with the brakes as they were on all the time. It felt as though I had a handbrake on. The car was very difficult to drive, even in a straight line, as every time I backed off the throttle, I locked up the rear wheels. When the track started to dry out it was impossible to continue. I am not sure what went wrong with the pit stop."

Race Results

World Championship of Drivers, round 14;
66 laps, 300,679 kms.
Weather: occasional rain

CLASSIFIED

Pos  Driver        Team                  Time        
 1.  Herbert       Stewart Ford          1h 41.54:314
 2.  Trulli        Prost Peugeot         +     22:618
 3.  Barrichello   Stewart Ford          +     22:865
 4.  R.Schumacher  Williams Supertec     +     39:507
 5.  Hakkinen      Mclaren Mercedes      +   1.02:950
 6.  Gene          Minardi Ford          +   1.05:154
 7.  Irvine        Ferrari               +   1.06:683
 8.  Zonta         BAR Supertec          +   1 Lap   
 9.  Panis         Prost Peugeot         +   1 Lap   
10.  Villeneuve    BAR Supertec          +   5 Laps *

* retired with clutch failure

NOT CLASSIFIED / RETIREMENTS

Driver        Team               On Lap   Reason        
Badoer       Minardi Ford          53     engine    
de la Rosa   Arrows TWR            52     gearbox   
Fisichella   Benetton Supertec     48     spun off  
Salo         Ferrari               44     brakes    
Takagi       Arrows TWR            42     spun off  
Coulthard    Mclaren Mercedes      37     spun off  
Alesi        Sauber Petronas       35     driveshaft
Frentzen     Jordan Mugen-Honda    32     electrical
Zanardi      Williams Supertec     10     accident  
Hill         Jordan Mugen-Honda     0     electrical
Wurz         Benetton Supertec      0     accident  
Diniz        Sauber Petronas        0     accident  


Fastest Lap: M. Hakkinen, lap 64, 1.21:282 (202.786 kmph)


Drivers Points Standings after 14 rounds:

 1. Hakkinen      62        
 2. Irvine        60
 3. Frentzen      50        
 4. Coulthard     48
 5. R.Schumacher  33        
 6. M.Schumacher  32
 7. Barrichello   19        
 8. Fisichella    13
 9. Herbert       12       
10. Salo          10
11. Hill           7        
 =  Trulli         7
13. Diniz          3        
 =  Wurz           3
15. Panis          2       
16. Alesi          1
 =  de la Rose     1         
 =  Gene           1

Constructors' Points Championship:

1. McLaren-Mercedes          110
2. Scuderia Ferrari          102
3. Jordan-Mugen Honda         57
4. Williams-Supertec          33
5. Stewart-Ford               31
6. Benetton-Playlife          16
7. Prost Peugeot               9
8. Sauber-Petronas             4
9. Arrows                      1
=  Minardi                     1

All Timing Unofficial

Acknowledgements :
Photos - Sutton Photographic
Race Data - Atlas F1

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