| 1999 Brazilian Grand Prix | |||||
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Race 2 of 16 in the1999 Formula One World Championship
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| Race details | |||||
| Date | 11 April 1999 | ||||
| Official name | XXVIII Grande PrêmioMarlboro do Brasil | ||||
| Location | Autódromo José Carlos Pace Interlagos,São Paulo,Brazil | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
| Course length | 4.309 km (2.667 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 72 laps, 310.248 km (192.024 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Sunny, hot, dry 25 °C (77 °F)[1] | ||||
| Attendance | 80,000 | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | McLaren-Mercedes | ||||
| Time | 1:16.568 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Mika Häkkinen | McLaren-Mercedes | |||
| Time | 1:18.448 on lap 70 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | McLaren-Mercedes | ||||
| Second | Ferrari | ||||
| Third | Jordan-Mugen-Honda | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The1999 Brazilian Grand Prix (formally theXXVIII Grande Prêmio Marlboro do Brasil) was aFormula One motor race held on 11 April 1999 at theAutódromo José Carlos Pace inSão Paulo,Brazil. It was the second race of the1999 Formula One season. The 71-lap race was won byMcLaren driverMika Häkkinen after starting frompole position.Michael Schumacher finished second in aFerrari withHeinz-Harald Frentzen third for theJordan team.
Ricardo Zonta did not qualify for the race, after he had injured his left foot in a big crash during Saturday's practice.[2]
The race marked the debut forStéphane Sarrazin, who drove theMinardi for an injuredLuca Badoer.[3] Badoer had injured his hand in a testing accident, and Sarrazin - then the test driver forProst - was drafted in to Minardi.[3]
As Luca Badoer returned for the following race, and he was still the test driver for Prost, it was Stéphane Sarrazin's only entry in Formula One.[3]
At the start of the race, pole sitterMika Häkkinen raced off with the lead, while his McLaren teammateDavid Coulthard stalled on the grid.[2] McLaren at this point had been reeling from a double-DNF at the season-openingAustralian Grand Prix, and Coulthard's failure raised eyebrows at the team.[2] Coulthard's car was pushed into the pit lane, where it was restarted as the leaders began lap 4.
On lap 4, local heroRubens Barrichello took the lead of the race from Mika Häkkinen after Häkkinen's car suffered a temporary transmission malfunction and was unable to select any gears. Häkkinen was also passed byMichael Schumacher before his car regained the ability to select gears.[4] Barrichello was able to stay in front until he pitted on lap 27.[5] It was the first time aStewart car had led a race.[5] The crowd of roughly 80,000[5] cheered wildly as "Rubinho" built a lead of about 5 seconds over Schumacher.[2]
Alexander Wurz andDamon Hill collided on lap 10, ending Hill's race.[2] Rubens Barrichello fell to fourth place after his pit stop, and Michael Schumacher took over the lead.[4] David Coulthard's day ended when he pulled off the track with a mechanical failure.Stéphane Sarrazin, in his only F1 entry,[3] had a massive crash on the pit straight on lap 31 after suffering a wing failure, with him spinning more than six times.[3] On lap 35, Barrichello passedEddie Irvine under braking into the first corner to take third place.
Michael Schumacher came in for a pit stop on lap 38, allowing Mika Häkkinen past. Häkkinen had been held up by Schumacher, so he began trying to build up enough of a gap so he could come out ahead of Schumacher after his own pit stop. Lapped traffic delayed his progress at first, but after one lap he was able to turn in a couple of fast laps. He pitted on lap 42, and his fast laps combined with quick work by his pit crew allowed him to easily retain the lead over Schumacher.[4]
On lap 42,Pedro Diniz spun off and beached his car after trying to pass another car to the inside. Rubens Barrichello's race ended on the same lap with a blown engine.[2] Eddie Irvine came in for an unscheduled pit stop on lap 55 to clear the radiators of his overheatingFerrari, dropping him back to fifth.[4]
Mika Häkkinen won the race, with Michael Schumacher second.Heinz-Harald Frentzen was classified third despite running out of fuel on the final lap, as the next car was a lap down.Ralf Schumacher finished fourth after being closely pursued by Eddie Irvine for the last few laps. 10th race win forMika Häkkinen.[5]
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| Previous race: 1999 Australian Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 1999 season | Next race: 1999 San Marino Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1998 Brazilian Grand Prix | Brazilian Grand Prix | Next race: 2000 Brazilian Grand Prix |
