German Grand Prix, August 1999

German Grand Prix, Hockenheim, August 1999

Irvine's luck of the Irish	Eddie Irvine must now be a true believer in the luck of the Irish. Three races ago he had won only one Grand Prix, was contracted to finish behind his Ferrari team mate and could probably see McLaren running off with the silverware anyway. Suddenly, following the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim, he finds himself a winner for the third time this season and eight points clear in the drivers championship, McLaren apparently bent on self-destruction, and what's more he has a new team mate who now has to move out of his way! Could life be any sweeter? Well, qualifying could probably have gone a little better!
Predictably it was Mika Hakkinen's McLaren on pole, with Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen putting on a show for his home crowd in second. David Coulthard lined up third in the second McLaren whilst Ferrari's Schumacher stand-in, Mika Salo, really got to grips with the car and landed an exceptional fourth gaining plaudits all round. Irvine, who suffered some misfortune with traffic on his best run, could only manage fifth behind his new team mate whilst Rubens Barrichello kept up Stewart Ford's consistent performance with sixth. Hakkinen got a reliable start but Frentzen, weaving to protect his position, inadvertently opened the door to both Salo and Coulthard and was demoted to fourth. Barrichello also managed to pass Irvine as the leaders got away safely, although there was some midfield chaos as Jacques Villeneuve was punted into Pedro Diniz, leading to the premature retirement of both and some waved yellow flags. Hakkinen began to open up a small lead over Salo whilst Barrichello, on a light fuel load, was flying and passed Frentzen for fourth place on lap 3. Unfortunately, his pace was not matched by the reliability of the Stewart Ford and the car expired on lap 6, reportedly with hydraulic failure. This let Ralf Schumacher in the Williams into sixth position following a good start from eleventh on the grid. Coulthard was pressing Salo hard but overdid it a bit on lap 10, losing a piece of his front wing as it touched the Ferrari under braking. A visit to the pits for a new nose saw the Scot drop to eleventh and probably acquire another black mark in Ron Dennis's book. Alexander Wurz now moved into the top six in his Benetton, a position he held until lap 18 when Johnny Herbert in the second Stewart Ford managed to overtake. The leaders began pitting on lap 22 when Frentzen was first in, but Irvine did better the following lap and got out ahead of the German. However, on lap 24 when Hakkinen pitted with an 11 second lead the fuel rig refused to connect to his car. Although Coulthard's unit was quickly brought into service the damage was done and a 24.3 second stop saw the Finn down to fourth. Mika Salo, in only his second race for Ferrari, now found himself leading a Grand Prix for the first time ever followed by Irvine, Frentzen and Hakkinen. Coulthard, working his way up the field was now fifth and Ralf Schumacher sixth.
Hakkinen quickly passed Frentzen for third on lap 26 but, moments later, his rear tyre exploded. In scenes reminiscent of Schumacher's crash at the British Grand Prix the McLaren spun out of control and over the gravel trap before plunging nose first into the tyre barrier. Any thoughts of both main contenders being sidelined were dispelled as Hakkinen jumped from the car, but it was a worrying incident none the less.	Team orders work in Irvine's favour for a change
To rub salt into McLaren's wound, Coulthard was adjudged to have missed a chicane whilst passing Olivier Panis and received a 10 second stop-go penalty. Meanwhile, unseen in all this drama, Irvine quietly slipped past Salo under team orders, fair recompense for the times he has had to move over for Schumacher. We now had a different race, with Irvine leading Salo and Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher in fourth and the two-stopping Olivier Panis up to fifth in the Prost. Coulthard was back in sixth following his penalty, which became fifth when Panis made his second stop on lap 30. Johnny Herbert once again moved into sixth position. Coulthard, despite being in the pits twice so far, still had to make his regular stop which came on lap 39, dropping him to seventh behind Herbert and Panis. Two laps later and the Stewart Ford curse struck Johnny Herbert again as his gearbox failed, only four laps from home, whilst Coulthard managed to pass Panis without abusing the chicane. Irvine and Salo completed a memorable one-two for Ferrari in the circumstances, and the Irishman was generous enough to award Salo his winners trophy in recognition of his selfless drive. Frentzen and Schumacher Jr took third and fourth, both regular points scorers this season, with Coulthard ending another eventful race in fifth and Panis scraping a precious point for the struggling Prost team. Irvine is now the man to chase, but this is yet another race McLaren contrived to lose despite having the fastest car. There are still six races left, but just at the moment Irish eyes seem to be smiling.