| 1999 Japanese Grand Prix | |||||
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Race 16 of 16 in the1999 Formula One World Championship
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.svg) Suzuka International Racing Course(last modified in 1991) | |||||
| Race details | |||||
| Date | 31 October 1999 | ||||
| Official name | XXVFuji Television Japanese Grand Prix | ||||
| Location | Suzuka,Mie,Japan | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
| Course length | 5.860 km (3.641[1] miles) | ||||
| Distance | 53 laps, 310.596[2] km (192.995 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Overcast, mild, dry | ||||
| Attendance | 318,000[3] | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||||
| Time | 1:37.470 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | |||
| Time | 1:41.319 on lap 31 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | McLaren-Mercedes | ||||
| Second | Ferrari | ||||
| Third | Ferrari | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The1999 Japanese Grand Prix, formally theXXV Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix, was aFormula One motor race held on 31 October 1999 at theSuzuka Circuit. It was the sixteenth and final race of the1999 Formula One World Championship.McLaren driverMika Häkkinen won the 53-lap race after starting from second position.Michael Schumacher finished second in aFerrari with teammateEddie Irvine finishing third. Häkkinen's victory confirmed him as1999 Drivers' Champion. Ferrari were also confirmed asConstructors' Champions.
This was the last Formula One race forStewart Grand Prix,Toranosuke Takagi,Alessandro Zanardi and for the1996 World Champion,Damon Hill.
Going into this race,Ferrari'sEddie Irvine led the Drivers' Championship by four points from Häkkinen, 70 to 66. Häkkinen therefore needed to win the race, or to finish second with Irvine no higher than fifth, or to finish third with Irvine finishing outside the top six.
Victory for Häkkinen would give him the Championship regardless of where Irvine finished: even if Irvine finished second, both drivers would have 76 points but Häkkinen would have five wins to Irvine's four. Similarly, the Finn would be Champion if he finished second with Irvine fifth (as he would have three second places to Irvine's two), or if he finished third without Irvine scoring (as he would have four third places to Irvine's two).
Qualifying saw Irvine's Ferrari teammate,Michael Schumacher, take pole position with Häkkinen alongside on the front row.David Coulthard was third in the second McLaren, withHeinz-Harald Frentzen fourth in theJordan. Irvine struggled throughout, also suffering a heavy crash at the Hairpin, and could only manage fifth, over 1.5 seconds slower than Schumacher and over 1.1 slower than Häkkinen. The top ten was completed by theProsts ofOlivier Panis andJarno Trulli,Johnny Herbert in theStewart,Ralf Schumacher in theWilliams andJean Alesi in theSauber.
Häkkinen beat Schumacher off the line, with Panis charging into third ahead of Irvine, Coulthard and Frentzen. Zanardi pulled off the track into the pits in the second Williams with electrical problems on lap 1. The Finn quickly built a comfortable lead, and it became clear that the Ferraris could not match him. AsTrulli in the second Prost retired when his engine failed on lap 4.
Panis retired when hisalternator broke on lap 20, meanwhile Hill retired after spinning off the track but managed to come back to the pits to retire with mental driverfatigue on lap 21 in his final Grand Prix, Coulthard passed Irvine for third during the first round of pit stops. On lap 34, Coulthard made a mistake and spun into a wall, losing his nose. He pitted and rejoined a lap down, just in front of Schumacher. It was alleged that the Scot deliberately held up the German driver, before retiring several laps later with a hydraulic failure. Schumacher later criticized Coulthard's behaviour.
Häkkinen eventually took the chequered flag five seconds ahead of Schumacher and, with it, his second Drivers' Championship. Irvine finished a minute and a half behind Schumacher in third, nonetheless helping Ferrari secure their first Constructors' Championship since1983. The minor points went to Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher and Alesi.
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| Previous race: 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1999 season | Next race: 2000 Australian Grand Prix |
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