The Ferrari F399 was the car that the

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

team competed with for the 1999 Formula One World Championship. The chassis was designed by

Rory Byrne Rory Byrne (born 10 January 1944) is a South African semi-retired engineer and car designer, most famous for being the chief designer at the Benetton and Scuderia Ferrari Formula One teams. Byrne-designed cars have won ninety-nine Grands Pri ...

Giorgio Ascanelli Giorgio Ascanelli (born 23 February 1959) is an Italian automotive engineer who has worked for several years in Formula 1. He is currently the technical head of Brembo, a supplier of Formula 1 brakes. Career Ascanelli began his sporting caree ...

Aldo Costa Aldo Costa (born 5 June 1961) is an Italian engineer and the Chief Technical Officer at Dallara. With eleven Constructors' Championships, Costa is considered one of the most successful engineers and designers in the category. Costa was born in Pa ...

, Marco Fainello,

Willem Toet Willem Toet (born 29 March 1952) is an Australian Formula One aerodynamicist. He is currently the Senior Sales Manager and Aerodynamics consultant for Sauber Aerodynamics and Alfa Romeo Racing. He was previously the head of aerodynamics for the ...

, and Nikolas Tombazis, with

Ross Brawn Ross James Brawn (born 23 November 1954) is a British Formula One managing director, motor sports and technical director. He is a former motorsport engineer and Formula One team principal, and has worked for a number of Formula One teams. Serv ...

playing a vital role in leading the production of the car as the team's technical director and Paolo Martinelli assisted by Giles Simon leading the engine design and operations. The F399 was almost identical to the previous season's F300, with small detail changes like a new front wing, wheel tethers, waisted sidepods, and an improved exhaust system and the use of

Bridgestone is a Japanese multinational tire manufacturer founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (1889–1976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of , meaning 'stone bridge' in Japan ...

tyres with four grooves instead of three. It was initially driven by

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

and

Eddie Irvine Edmund Irvine Jr. (; born 10 November 1965) is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He competed in Formula One between 1993 and 2002, and finished runner-up in the 1999 World Drivers' Championship, driving for Scuderia Ferrari. He b ...

, with

Mika Salo Mika Juhani Salo (born 30 November 1966) is a Finnish former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One between and . His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999, when he stood in for the injured Michael Schumacher ...

substituting for Schumacher when he broke his leg at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

. Ferrari used

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (now separate from Altria) outside the US. The largest Marl ...

logos, except at the French, British, and Belgian Grands Prix. Although the team's quest to win their first drivers' title since was halted by Schumacher's injury and the faster speed of the

McLaren MP4/14 The McLaren MP4/14 was a Formula One car built and designed by the McLaren- Mercedes team to compete in the 1999 Formula One World Championship. Designed primarily by Neil Oatley and Henri Durand under the direction of Adrian Newey, Mario Illie ...

, they managed to clinch their first constructors' title since .

Technical specifications

The

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

of the Ferrari F399 was almost identical to its predecessor, the F300. It had a reinforced

carbon-fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

and honeycomb

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

structure that could protect the driver from most accidents. The engine was an MR(Mid-engine, Rear wheel drive) layout. Changes from the F300 were that the front wing was slightly modified, the sidepods were waisted, and the exhaust was improved in order so that

could push harder in their fight with

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

. The

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Suspension (topology), in mathematics * Suspension (dynamical systems), in mathematics * Suspension of a ring, in mathematics * Suspension (chemistry), small solid particles suspend ...

for the front and rear areas of the car were the pushrod/double wishbone suspension systems that still exist today in Formula 1. The car also has wheel tethers on each wheel to prevent the tires from hitting the driver's head, a regulation that is still used by Formula One to this day. The

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

is an 790 BHP (552 KW), 80-degree 3.0 litre

V10 A V10 engine is a ten-cylinder piston engine where two banks of five cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V10 engines are much less common than V8 and V12 engines. Several V10 diesel engines have been pr ...

engine manufactured by

called the Tipo048/B/C. It also bears a 7-shift

transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission *** ...

that was in all Formula One car until the teams started using 8-shift transmission gearboxes since the 2014 season began. The car also used

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard ou ...

fuel to power its engine while the

tyres A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...

, which were designed by

, now had 4 grooves on all 4 tyres instead of 3 grooves on the front tyres. The new tyres with four grooves were a new rule change for the 1999 season and onward in the V10 era of the sport.

1999 season

Early in the season the car showed huge performance with Irvine winning the opening round in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

while Schumacher collected podiums along with wins at

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical re ...

and

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

, thereby making Ferrari a serious threat to the

duo of

Mika Häkkinen Mika Pauli Häkkinen (; born 28 September 1968), nicknamed "The Flying Finn", is a Finnish former racing driver. He won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1998 and 1999, both times driving for McLaren. Häkkinen is one of three For ...

and

David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard (; born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver from Scotland, later turned presenter, commentator and journalist. Nicknamed 'DC', he competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between and , taking 13 Grand Prix vi ...

throughout much of the 1999 season. While Irvine would also go on to win back-to-back victories at

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

along with the inaugural

Malaysian Grand Prix The Malaysian Grand Prix (officially the Malaysia Grand Prix from 1963–1965 and 2011–2017 and Malayan Grand Prix in 1962) was an annual auto race held in Malaysia. It was part of the Formula One World Championship from 1999 to 2017 and it ...

, Häkkinen and McLaren had shown great consistency over the season despite 4 retirements over the course of the season. Ferrari's championship aspirations also took a beating after Schumacher had broken his leg at

, resulting in Ferrari briefly replacing him with Mika Salo during the midway point of the season. Salo performed well, handing victory to Irvine in Germany and finishing third at Monza. The team were briefly excluded from Malaysia after the stewards found out that their

bargeboards Bargeboard (probably from Medieval Latin ''bargus'', or ''barcus'', a scaffold, and not from the now obsolete synonym "vergeboard") or rake fascia is a board fastened to each projecting gable of a roof to give it strength and protection, and to ...

were illegal, meaning that Häkkinen and McLaren were effectively handed their respective championships by default. However, Ferrari managed to appeal against the FIA's decision in court and both of their drivers were subsequently reinstated. After the season had ended, Häkkinen had claimed the driver's title by two points from Irvine while Ferrari claimed the constructor's title by four points from McLaren.

Complete Formula One results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

*''

AUTOCOURSE ''Autocourse'' is a series of annuals covering motor racing, and Formula One in particular. The annuals cover a long period of the sport's history, from 1951 to the present day, and, as such, are highly collectible. History The first edition o ...

1999–2000'', Henry, Alan (ed.), Hazleton Publishing Ltd. (1999)
"Malaysian GP 1999. Full Race – Irvine Wins at Schumi's Comeback."
''MAXF1net'', 19 Sept. 2017
"The Farce of the 1999 Title Decider."
'' Motor Sport Magazine'', 27 Apr. 2016 *Murphy, Luke
"Gallery: Ferrari Launch 'Michael 50' Exhibition."
''FormulaSpy.com'', 3 Jan. 2019. *S, Alexander
"Ferrari F399 - A Car That Ended the Drought for the Italian Team."
''SnapLap'', 3 Apr. 2019. *“Ferrari F1-2000.” ''Ferrari F1-2000 - F1technical.Net''
www.f1technical.net/f1db/cars/832/ferrari-f1-2000
*Grandprix.com - First & fastest: The original online F1 news service. “Testing Intensifies as New Cars Appear.” ''Latest Formula 1 Breaking News - Grandprix.com''

External links

{{F1 cars 1999 F399 1999 Formula One season cars Formula One championship-winning cars