Benetton B199
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The Benetton B199 is a
Formula One racing car A Formula One car (also known as an F1 car) is a single-seat, open-cockpit, open-wheel formula racing car with substantial front and rear wings, and an engine positioned behind the driver, intended to be used in competition at Formul ...
with which the Benetton team competed in 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 ...
. It was driven by
Giancarlo Fisichella Giancarlo Fisichella (; born 14 January 1973), also known as Fisico, Giano or Fisi, is an Italian professional racing driver, also captain of the official ''Nazionale Piloti'' association football team (composed of the racing drivers). He has d ...
and
Alexander Wurz Alexander Georg Wurz (born 15 February 1974) is an Austrian former professional racing driver, driver training expert and businessman. He competed in Formula One from until , and is also a two-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours. He is curren ...
, who were both in their second full seasons with the team.
Laurent Redon Laurent Redon (born 5 August 1973) is a former race car driver from Loire, France. Redon began his professional racing career in the French Formula Three Championship, winning it in 1995. He then moved to International Formula 3000 where he finish ...
was the team test driver.


Design and development

The B199 was officially launched in January, 1999 at Enstone by company CEO
Rocco Benetton Rocco Benetton (born 29 September 1969) is an Italian entrepreneur publicly known for his role as Chief Executive Officer of championship-winning Formula One Team Benetton. Personal background He is the son of Maria Teresa and Luciano Benetton a ...
. It was the second car designed by
Nick Wirth Nicholas John Peter Wirth (born 26 March 1966) is an automotive engineer and the founder and owner of Wirth Research. He is also the former owner of the Simtek Formula One team, a former aerodynamicist at March and former technical director at ...
, who was quoted during the launch as stating the B199 was significantly more aggressive in design than the B198 from the previous season. In late 1998, Benetton had introduced a new wind tunnel on site, and added new sophisticated parts including a front-torque transfer system, and a twin-clutch gearbox. As the team had retained both Fisichella and Wurz from 1998, both drivers were heavily involved in testing and development of the new car. As in previous seasons, the car was dominated by
Mild Seven , previously called , is a Japanese brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Japan Tobacco. History Mevius was launched in 1977 under the name Mild Seven. It was intended to be a mild version of the Seven Stars (cigarette), Seve ...
sponsorship and finished in the companies sky blue colour. The engines were manufactured by Supertec in an effort between the themselves,
Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
and
Mecachrome Mecachrome SAS is a precision engineering company based in France that operates in the aerospace, motor racing, energy and defence sectors. History Mecachrome was founded in 1937 in Colombes, France. As a precision engineering company, Mecachrom ...
. However, as in 1998 they were badged
Playlife Playlife was a fashion company based in Treviso, Italy. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Benetton Group. History In July 1997, Benetton Group acquired a 57% stake in Benetton Sportsystem from Edizione Holdings for 318bn lire. At this tim ...
to represent one of the
Benetton Group Benetton Group S.r.l. () is a global fashion brand based in Ponzano Veneto, Italy, founded in 1965. Benetton Group has a network of about 5,000 stores worldwide. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Benetton family's holding company Edizio ...
companies. The B199 was extensively tested during pre-season. In Barcelona, the cars were very much in the midfield. By the final Friday of the January test, Fisichella was nearly 2 seconds slower than
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 ...
's McLaren. During February, development tests ran at Silverstone. The team would also take part in car development tests in June at the circuit, ahead of the British Grand Prix. This gave Redon an opportunity in the car. Over 14 days of testing pre season, the cars completed 4127km.


Racing performance

At the first 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 ...
, the cars qualified in 7th and 10th putting them firmly in the midfield. Fisichella was three tenths off Ferrari driver
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 ...
's fastest lap, however both cars were around 2 seconds slower than pole-sitter
Mika Hakkinen Mika is a given name, a nickname and a surname. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People known just as Mika * Mika (singer) (born 1983), Lebanese-born British singer-songwriter Michael Penniman, Jr. * Mika (footbal ...
. In the race, Fisichella managed to finish in 4th, whilst Wurz retired with suspension failure. The team failed to score points at the next round in Brazil, whilst Fisichella managed a fifth place at
San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...
. It was
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 ...
before both cars scored points at the same race, and Wurz got off the mark with a 5th and 6th place respectively. The B199's crowning moment would come in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. Fisichella scored a podium with a second place finish in the race after starting 7th on the grid. The remainder of the season would be a myriad of retirements through failures or accidents for the team. The final points scored were at the British Grand Prix, with Wurz managing 5th place. The team would finish the season with 16 points, meaning 6th in the Constructors Championship, their worst finish since Benetton's debut season in 1986.


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) * Denotes
Supertec Supertec was a brand of Formula One engines supplied by Dutch company Super Performance Competition Engineering BV, managed by Flavio Briatore and Bruno Michel. Supertec engines were updated 1997 Renault RS9 units, built by Mecachrome. In May 199 ...
-built engines, badged as
Playlife Playlife was a fashion company based in Treviso, Italy. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Benetton Group. History In July 1997, Benetton Group acquired a 57% stake in Benetton Sportsystem from Edizione Holdings for 318bn lire. At this tim ...


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)


External links

B199 1999 Formula One season cars {{f1-stub