The 1999 Brazilian Grand Prix (formally the XXVIII Grande Prêmio Marlboro do Brasil) was a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

motor race held on 11 April 1999 at the

Autódromo José Carlos Pace The Autódromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos, is a motorsport circuit located in the city of São Paulo, in the neighborhood of Interlagos. It was inaugurated on 12 May 1940, by the federal intervener Adhemar de Barros. The t ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. It was the second race of the

1999 Formula One season The 1999 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 53rd season of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Formula One motor racing. It commenced on 7 March and ended on 31 October after sixteen races. The Drivers' Championship w ...

. The 71-lap race was won by

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 Formu ...

driver

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 Fo ...

after starting from

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

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 ...

finished second in a

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 ...

with

Heinz-Harald Frentzen Heinz-Harald Frentzen (born 18 May 1967) is a German former racing driver. He competed in multiple disciplines including Sportscars, Formula One and DTM. He had his most success in Formula One, entering over 150 Grands Prix and winning three. ...

third for the

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

team.

Ricardo Zonta Ricardo Luiz Zonta (born March 23, 1976) is a Brazilian professional racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 10 Toyota Corolla E210 for RCM Motorsport. Early career Born in Curitib ...

did not qualify for the race, after he had injured his left foot in a big crash during Saturday's practice.
- article written by Ian Gordon. Published by Sporting Life (British newspaper), Sporting Life.

Report

Background

Driver changes

The race marked the debut for

Stéphane Sarrazin Stéphane Jean-Marc Sarrazin (born 2 November 1975) is a French professional racing driver. He has won races across a number of single-seater, sportscar and rallying disciplines and competitions, was French Formula Renault champion in 1994, and ...

, who drove the

Minardi Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal followi ...

for an injured

Luca Badoer Luca Badoer (born 25 January 1971) is an Italian former racing driver. Badoer has raced for the Scuderia Italia, Minardi, Forti and most recently, Ferrari teams. In addition to his racing duties, Badoer was one of the active test and reserve driv ...

.Stéphane Sarrazin - Biography
Badoer had injured his hand in a testing accident, and Sarrazin - then the test driver for Prost - was drafted in to Minardi. 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.

Race

At the start of the race, pole sitter

raced off with the lead, while his McLaren teammate

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 ...

stalled on the grid. McLaren at this point had been reeling from a double-DNF at the season-opening

Australian Grand Prix The Australian Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different ven ...

, and Coulthard's failure raised eyebrows at the team. Coulthard's car was pushed into the pit lane, where it was restarted as the leaders began lap 4. On lap 4, local hero

Rubens Barrichello Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (, ; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 T ...

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 by

before his car regained the ability to select gears.Car Enthusiast - Brazilian Grand Prix 1999
/ref> Barrichello was able to stay in front until he pitted on lap 27.BBC News , Formula 1 , Hakkinen takes Brazilian Grand Prix
/ref> It was the first time a Stewart car had led a race. The crowd of roughly 80,000 cheered wildly as "Rubinho" built a lead of about 5 seconds over Schumacher. Alexander Wurz and

Damon Hill Damon Graham Devereux Hill, (born 17 September 1960) is a British former professional racing driver from England and the 1996 Formula One World Champion. He is the son of Graham Hill, and, along with Nico Rosberg, one of two sons of a Formula ...

collided on lap 10, ending Hill's race. Rubens Barrichello fell to fourth place after his pit stop, and Michael Schumacher took over the lead. David Coulthard's day ended when he pulled off the track with a mechanical failure.

, in his only F1 entry, had a massive crash on the pit straight on lap 31 after suffering a wing failure, with him spinning more than six times. On lap 35, Barrichello passed

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 ...

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. Lap 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. On lap 42,

Pedro Diniz Pedro Paulo Falleiros dos Santos Diniz (born 22 May 1970) is a Brazilian businessman and former racing driver. Diniz began karting at the age of eighteen and achieved minor success, before progressing to car racing in the Brazilian Formula Ford ...

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. Eddie Irvine came in for an unscheduled pit stop on lap 55 to clear the radiators of his overheating

, dropping him back to fifth. Mika Häkkinen won the race, with Michael Schumacher second.

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 for

Classification

Qualifying

:1. Qualified 16th, stripped of time due to illegal fuel.Brazil - Grid , Sporting Life - F1 News , Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Renault, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Reports, Results & Standings

Race

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Constructors' Championship standings * Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings

References

* {{F1GP 90-99

Brazilian Grand Prix The Brazilian Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio do Brasil), currently held under the name São Paulo Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio de São Paulo), is a Formula One championship race which is currently held at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace ...

Brazilian Grand Prix

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...