1999 Australian Grand Prix

The 1999 Australian Grand Prix, otherwise known as the LXIV Qantas Australian Grand Prix, was the opening round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, held at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, on the 7 March 1999.'Australian GP, 1999', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2014), https://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr631.html, (Accessed 25/08/2019) The race would see Eddie Irvine sweep to a maiden victory for , as all of his major rivals were hit by mechanical strife.
The winter of had seen a few changes on the driver front, although Mika Häkkinen remaining at to defend his maiden crown. Michael Schumacher had likewise stayed at Ferrari, while Champion Jacques Villeneuve left after a poor season to join the new squad.
Indeed, BAR-Supertec were a new entry, after British American Tobacco had bought out , ending the former squad's thirty year involvement in F1. They hired Villeneuve the headline a big-budget squad, partnering the Canadian with reigning FIA GT1 Champion Ricardo Zonta, who had tested for McLaren in 1998.
Elsewhere, Goodyear had quit F1 at the end of the 1998 season, leaving Bridgestone as the sole tyre supplier. There would also be a change to the tyres themselves, with a fourth groove added to the front tyres, while tethers intended to keep wheels attached to the chassis were made compulsory.
Qualifying at the opening round saw Häkkinen and teammate David Coulthard dominate, with the Finn sweeping to pole ahead of the Scot. Schumacher was best of the rest in third ahead of Rubens Barrichello, while Irvine could only muster sixth behind Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
Irvine's luck changed on race day, with the both s suffering engine fires on the grid as the field came to start. That removed Barrichello, who started from the back in the spare, and Johnny Herbert from the field, before Schumacher stalled on the second formation lap.
The German would also start from the back of the field, leaving the entire second row empty for the second attempted start. This time there were no issues as Häkkinen pulled smartly ahead of Coulthard, while Irvine scrambled ahead of Frentzen to secure third.
The top six would remain unchanged during the early stages, while Schumacher carved his way up into the top half of the field after starting from the back. The two McLarens, meanwhile, would work together to establish an eighteen second lead over Irvine before the end of lap thirteen.
Moments later, however, and the imperious McLarens saw their advantage demolished, with the first drama seeing Coulthard drop out with a gearbox failure. The, Villeneuve lost his rear-wing a lap later, a failure which sent the BAR into a series of high-speed spins, and resulted in the first appearance of the season for the Safety Car.
Häkkinen's advantage was gone, and when he came to restart the race his car failed him, a throttle issue causing him to back up the field. He peeled off to hand the lead to Irvine, while, further back, Barrichello accidentally passed Schumacher before the start/finish line, handing himself a penalty as the field tried to avoid tripping over one-another.
A lap later and the safety car was back out, with Alex Zanardi smashing into the wall all on his own. Irvine again aced the restart to claim the lead six laps later, with several drivers opting to make their first stops.
The order behind Irvine would shift dramatically as the field made their stops, with Schumacher dropping down the field again after picking up a front wing destroying vibration. Elsewhere, Frentzen shuffled back up to second ahead of Ralf Schumacher, while Giancarlo Fisichella found himself fighting Barrichello and debutante Pedro de la Rosa.
Out front, meanwhile Irvine controlled his pace and tyre wear to claim an impressive victory, although Frentzen was only a second shy when the chequered flag fluttered. Ralf Schumacher completed the podium ahead of Fisichella, while Barrichello and de La Rosa secured the remaining points.
==Background==
===Entry list===
The full entry list for the is outlined below:
No. 	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor 	Chassis 	Engine 	Model 	Tyre
1 	Mika Häkkinen 	West McLaren Mercedes 	 	MP4/14 	 	FO110H 3.0 V10 	
2 	David Coulthard 	West McLaren Mercedes 	 	MP4/14 	 	FO110H 3.0 V10 	
3 	Michael Schumacher 	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 	 	F399 	 	048 3.0 V10 	
4 	Eddie Irvine 	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 	 	F399 	 	048 3.0 V10 	
5 	Alessandro Zanardi 	Winfield Williams 	 	FW21 	 	FB01 3.0 V10 	
6 	Ralf Schumacher 	Winfield Williams 	 	FW21 	 	FB01 3.0 V10 	
7 	Damon Hill 	Benson & Hedges Jordan 	 	199 	 	MF-301HD 3.0 V10 	
8 	Heinz-Harald Frentzen 	Benson & Hedges Jordan 	 	199 	 	MF-301HD 3.0 V10 	
9 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	Mild Seven Benetton Playlife 	 	B199 	 	FB01 3.0 V10 	
10 	Alexander Wurz 	Mild Seven Benetton Playlife 	 	B199 	 	FB01 3.0 V10 	
11 	Jean Alesi 	Red Bull Sauber Petronas 	 	C18 	 	SPE-03A 3.0 V10 	
12 	Pedro Diniz 	Red Bull Sauber Petronas 	 	C18 	 	SPE-03A 3.0 V10 	
14 	Pedro de la Rosa 	Repsol Arrows F1 Team 	 	A20 	 	T2-F1 3.0 V10 	
15 	Toranosuke Takagi 	Repsol Arrows F1 Team 	 	A20 	 	T2-F1 3.0 V10 	
16 	Rubens Barrichello 	HSBC Stewart Ford 	 	SF3 	 	CR-1 3.0 V10 	
17 	Johnny Herbert 	HSBC Stewart Ford 	 	SF3 	 	CR-1 3.0 V10 	
18 	Olivier Panis 	Gauloises Prost Peugeot 	 	AP02 	 	A18 3.0 V10 	
19 	Jarno Trulli 	Gauloises Prost Peugeot 	 	AP02 	 	A18 3.0 V10 	
20 	Luca Badoer 	Fondmetal Minardi Team 	 	M01 	 	VJM1 Zetec-R 3.0 V10 	
21 	Marc Gené 	Fondmetal Minardi Team 	 	M01 	 	VJM1 Zetec-R 3.0 V10 	
22 	Jacques Villeneuve 	British American Racing 	 	01 	 	FB01 3.0 V10 	
23 	Ricardo Zonta 	British American Racing 	 	01 	 	FB01 3.0 V10 	
Source:'Australia 1999: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/engages.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'Australia 1999: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/engages.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'Australia 1999: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/engages.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'Australia 1999: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/engages.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'Australia 1999: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/engages.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'Australia 1999: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/engages.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'Australia 1999: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/engages.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'Australia 1999: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/engages.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)
==Practice Overview==
==Qualifying==
===Qualifying Report===
===Qualifying Results===
The full qualifying results for the are outlined below:
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Time 	Gap 	Ave. Speed
1 	1 	Mika Häkkinen 	 	1:30.462 	— 	210.997 km/h
2 	2 	David Coulthard 	 	1:30.946 	+0.484s 	209.874 km/h
3 	3 	Michael Schumacher 	 	1:31.781 	+1.319s 	207.965 km/h
4 	16 	Rubens Barrichello 	 	1:32.148 	+1.686s 	207.136 km/h
5 	8 	Heinz-Harald Frentzen 	 	1:32.276 	+1.814s 	206.849 km/h
6 	4 	Eddie Irvine 	 	1:32.289 	+1.827s 	206.820 km/h
7 	9 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	 	1:32.540 	+2.078s 	206.259 km/h
8 	6 	Ralf Schumacher 	 	1:32.691 	+2.229s 	205.923 km/h
9 	7 	Damon Hill 	 	1:32.695 	+2.233s 	205.914 km/h
10 	10 	Alexander Wurz 	 	1:32.789 	+2.327s 	205.705 km/h
11 	22 	Jacques Villeneuve 	 	1:32.888 	+2.426s 	205.486 km/h
12 	19 	Jarno Trulli 	 	1:32.971 	+2.509s 	205.303 km/h
13 	17 	Johnny Herbert 	 	1:32.991 	+2.529s 	205.259 km/h
14 	12 	Pedro Diniz 	 	1:33.374 	+2.912s 	204.417 km/h
15 	5 	Alex Zanardi 	 	1:33.549 	+3.087s 	204.034 km/h
16 	11 	Jean Alesi 	 	1:33.910 	+3.448s 	203.250 km/h
17 	15 	Tora Takagi 	 	1:34.182 	+3.720s 	202.663 km/h
18 	14 	Pedro de la Rosa 	 	1:34.244 	+3.782s 	202.530 km/h
19 	23 	Ricardo Zonta 	 	1:34.412 	+3.950s 	202.169 km/h
20 	18 	Olivier Panis 	 	1:35.068 	+4.606s 	200.774 km/h
21 	20 	Luca Badoer 	 	1:35.316 	+4.854s 	200.252 km/h
107% Time: 1:36.794 	107% Time: 1:36.794 	107% Time: 1:36.794 	107% Time: 1:36.794 	107% Time: 1:36.794 	107% Time: 1:36.794 	107% Time: 1:36.794
NC* 	21 	Marc Gené 	 	1:37.013 	+6.551s 	196.749 km/h
Source:'1999 Qantas Australian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1999/races/687/australia/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 25/08/2019)'Australia 1999: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'1999 Qantas Australian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1999/races/687/australia/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 25/08/2019)'Australia 1999: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'1999 Qantas Australian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1999/races/687/australia/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 25/08/2019)'Australia 1999: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'1999 Qantas Australian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1999/races/687/australia/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 25/08/2019)'Australia 1999: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'1999 Qantas Australian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1999/races/687/australia/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 25/08/2019)'Australia 1999: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'1999 Qantas Australian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1999/races/687/australia/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 25/08/2019)'Australia 1999: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'1999 Qantas Australian Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2019), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1999/races/687/australia/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 25/08/2019)'Australia 1999: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)
*T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session.
*Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.
** Gené was allowed to start the race at the stewards' discretion.
===Grid===
** Schumacher and Takagi started from the back of the grid after stalling on the formation lap.
*† Barrichello started the race from the pitlane after taking his spare car for the restart.
*‡ Herbert was unable to start after a fire on the grid.
==Race==
===Report===
===Results===
The full results for the are outlined below:
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Laps 	Time/Retired 	Grid 	Points
1 	4 	Eddie Irvine 	 	57 	1:35:01.659 	6 	10
2 	8 	Heinz-Harald Frentzen 	 	57 	+1.027s 	5 	6
3 	6 	Ralf Schumacher 	 	57 	+7.012s 	8 	4
4 	9 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	 	57 	+33.418s 	7 	3
5 	16T 	Rubens Barrichello 	 	57 	+54.698s 	4 	2
6 	14 	Pedro de la Rosa 	 	57 	+1:24.317 	18 	1
7 	15 	Tora Takagi 	 	57 	+1.26.288 	17 	
8 	3 	Michael Schumacher 	 	56 	+1 Lap 	3 	
Ret 	23 	Ricardo Zonta 	 	48 	Gearbox 	19 	
Ret 	20 	Luca Badoer 	 	42 	Gearbox 	21 	
Ret 	10 	Alexander Wurz 	 	28 	Suspension 	10 	
Ret 	12 	Pedro Diniz 	 	27 	Transmission 	14 	
Ret 	21 	Marc Gené 	 	25 	Collision 	22 	
Ret 	19 	Jarno Trulli 	 	25 	Collision 	12 	
Ret 	18 	Olivier Panis 	 	23 	Wheel 	20 	
Ret 	1 	Mika Häkkinen 	 	21 	Throttle 	1 	
Ret 	5 	Alex Zanardi 	 	19 	Spun off 	15 	
Ret 	2 	David Coulthard 	 	15 	Hydraulics 	2 	
Ret 	22 	Jacques Villeneuve 	 	14 	Wing failure 	11 	
Ret 	7 	Damon Hill 	 	0 	Collision 	9 	
Ret 	11 	Jean Alesi 	 	0 	Gearbox 	16 	
DNS* 	17 	Johnny Herbert 	 	 	 	 	
Source:'Australia 1999: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/classement.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'Australia 1999: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/classement.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'Australia 1999: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/classement.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'Australia 1999: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/classement.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'Australia 1999: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/classement.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'Australia 1999: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/classement.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'Australia 1999: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/classement.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)	Source:'Australia 1999: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie/classement.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)
*T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
** Herbert was unable to start the race after a fire on the grid.
==Milestones==
* 100th Grand Prix start for Damon Hill.'1. Australia 1999', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1999/australie.aspx, (Accessed 25/08/2019)
* Jacques Villeneuve started his 50th Grand Prix.
* started their first Grand Prix as a constructor.
* Debut race for as a registered engine supplier.'1999 Australian GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2014), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1999&gp=Australian%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 25/08/2019)
* Marc Gené, Pedro de la Rosa and Ricardo Zonta made their Grand Prix debuts.
* 75th Grand Prix entry for David Coulthard.
* Alexander Wurz entered his 20th Grand Prix.
* Mika Häkkinen claimed the 75th pole position for a car using #1 as its race number.
* Maiden victory for Eddie Irvine.
** Also the twentieth win for a car using #4 as its race number.
* scored their 120th victory as a constructor and engine supplier.
** Tenth win for Bridgestone as a tyre supplier.
* Tenth podium finish for Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
** This was also the tenth podium for as a constructor.
* scored their maiden podium finish as an engine supplier.
==Standings==
Eddie Irvine unsurprisingly left the opening round at the head of the Championship hunt, leaving Australia with ten points to his name. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was second ahead of Ralf Schumacher, four and six behind the Brit after the first race. The other scorers after the opening race were Giancarlo Fisichella, Rubens Barrichello and Pedro de la Rosa.
 left Australia at the head of the Constructors Championship, holding a four point lead over . were next ahead of , while and completed the scorers. Defending Champions , meanwhile, failed to score.
World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts. 	+/-
1 	Eddie Irvine 	10 	
2 	Heinz-Harald Frentzen 	6 	
3 	Ralf Schumacher 	4 	
4 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	3 	
5 	Rubens Barrichello 	2 	
6 	Pedro de la Rosa 	1 	
World Championship for Constructors	World Championship for Constructors	World Championship for Constructors	World Championship for Constructors
Pos. 	Team 	Pts. 	+/-
1 	 	10 	
2 	 	6 	
3 	 	4 	
4 	 	3 	
5 	 	2 	
6 	 	1 	
Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.
==References==
Images and Videos:
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References:
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:1999 Grands Prix