Brazilian Grand Prix, April 1999

Brazilian Grand Prix, Interlagos, April 1999

Hakkinen back on top	It was almost business as usual as Mika Hakkinen chalked up his first victory of the season in the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos, although the McLaren still experienced technical gremlins suggesting all is not quite well. And predictably, it was Michael Schumacher's Ferrari that was lurking just a few seconds behind, waiting in vain this time to claim the spoils. Qualifying had placed the two McLarens on the front row, Hakkinen once again having the edge over David Coulthard. Local hero "Rubinho" Barrichello gave the crowd plenty to cheer about with an excellent third spot in the Stewart Ford, closely followed by an out of sorts Schumacher.
Giancarlo Fisichella lifted Benetton from the doldrums into fifth, whilst last time's winner, Eddie Irvine, had to be content with sixth in his Ferrari. The two Jordan boys were seventh and eighth, Damon Hill outqualifying Heinz-Harald Frentzen. The start could potentially have ended in carnage as David Coulthard stalled on the grid, causing half the field to take avoiding action as they swerved around the unexpected obstacle. Fortunately, there was no contact and although Coulthard was pushed into the pitlane and the car restarted he was three laps down. Hakkinen led Barrichello and Schumacher, with Irvine taking advantage of the confusion to jump to fourth ahead of Fisichella. Alexander Wurz in the second Benetton initially did well out of the start, moving from ninth on the grid to sixth, although Frentzen quickly passed him having already outmanouevred Hill. Wurz and Hill then collided a few laps later, putting the unhappy Jordan man out of the race and Wurz well down the field. On lap three, just as Coulthard rejoined from the pitlane, Hakkinen suddenly slowed forcing a dramatic swerve from Barrichello to avoid another potential accident. The Stewart powered into the lead, followed on the road by Coulthard and in position by Schumacher. Hakkinen's car then came back to life, having temporarily lost gears, and moved up behind the Ferrari although sometimes dropping back again. It seemed just a matter of time before something vital broke. To the noisy delight of the Brazilian crowd Barrichello opened up a 3 second lead, although as he was on softer tyres and an expected two stop strategy this was not likely to be enough of an advantage. Meanwhile Jean Alesi in the Sauber, another two stopper, was scything through the field moving up to fifth on lap 21 from a start position of fourteenth. However, all his good work came to nothing when he pitted on lap 27 and stalled, and then had to retire shortly afterwards. David Coulthard also gave up the fight on lap 27 as the gremlins struck the McLaren again. Barrichello pitted on lap 28, dropping down to fourth behind Eddie Irvine in the process. The Stewart began to make ground on the Ferrari number two and, by lap 35, was looming large in Eddie's mirrors. The Brazilian executed a neat overtaking manouevre on the following lap, which Irvine did little to resist, causing the crowd to go wild once more.
Michael Schumacher, having inherited the lead, was the first of the single stoppers to pit on lap 38. Hakkinen seized his chance and, despite encountering some traffic, put in three quick laps, including the fastest of the race so far. When Hakkinen encountered Eddie Irvine leaving the pits after his stop on lap 41, Ron Dennis quickly called his man in. The McLaren crew did the job over a second quicker than Ferrari and Mika rejoined some two seconds ahead of Schumacher.	The technically troubled McLarens regroup
Further back Fisichella, having run comfortably in fifth up until his stop, found himself unable to select first gear in the pits and was out of the race. This was followed by the heartbreaking sight of Barrichello's engine expiring on lap 43, the local hero heading home empty handed. It was by now a two horse race, Hakkinen and Schumacher having almost a minute advantage over Irvine. Frentzen was promoted to fourth and Ralf Schumacher in the Williams found himself fifth, albeit a lap down, followed by Olivier Panis in the Prost. Hakkinen built up a six second advantage over Schumacher, although his speed continued to fluctuate and he seemed to be experiencing some neck trouble. However, it was Irvine's Ferrari which developed a problem, thought to be debris in the radiator duct, and he was called into the pits again on lap 56 dropping two places and four valuable championship points. Despite the continuing threat of terminal failure, Hakkinen's McLaren kept running to the flag with Schumacher a few seconds behind. Frentzen had a stroke of luck as he ran out of fuel on the final lap, but as all the others were a lap behind the leaders his third position stood. Ralf Schumacher claimed fourth, Irvine fifth and Panis sixth. Irvine and Ferrari retain their respective championship leads as the Grand Prix circus heads for Europe, but McLaren have got off the starting blocks and are sure to hit their stride soon.