Malaysian Grand Prix, October 1999

Malaysian Grand Prix, Kuala Lumpur, October 1999

Michael Schumacher is back for Ferrari, and proved it by completely dominating proceedings at the inaugural Malaysian Grand Prix in Kuala Lumpur. However, in the end it was a messy affair as to whether his team mate Eddie Irvine or McLaren's Mika Hakkinen would take the points as Ferrari were sensationally disqualified, and then reinstated on appeal 5 days later. Schumacher, out of action since breaking his leg in the British Grand Prix in July, amazed everybody by jumping straight back into pole position with a lap over a second quicker than anybody else. There is little doubt that the German would have the championship wrapped up by now had his season not been interrupted.	Eddie celebrates prematurely
The Ferrari car was rejuvenated too, and Eddie Irvine was suddenly back on the pace after a number of disappointing outings to qualify second. The McLarens had to be content with third and fourth, David Coulthard outpacing Hakkinen for a change. Stewart Ford maintained the momentum of the European Grand Prix with Johnny Herbert lining up fifth, followed by team mate Rubens Barrichello in sixth. Outside championship contender Heinz-Harald Frentzen, in the Jordan, found himself out of the running in fourteenth. The new track at Kuala Lumpar was popular with the drivers, who enjoyed the relatively long lap, and none more so than Michael Schumacher. From the start he just drove away from the rest of the field, which strung out behind him. Johnny Herbert made a slow getaway and was passed by both Barrichello and Alexander Wurz in the Benetton, who had been seventh on the grid. However, Herbert recovered to repass Wurz during the opening lap. Having demonstrated what he could do, Schumacher was then obliged to grit his teeth and drive for the benefit of the team. On lap four he duly slowed down, allowed Irvine to pass and then began the business of holding Coulthard up. This didn't last long as Coulthard managed to slip through on lap five and set off in pursuit of Irvine, whilst Schumacher now concerned himself with delaying Hakkinen. Barrichello and Herbert maintained station. By lap 9 Coulthard was harrying Irvine, although finding no way past, but as has happened so many times this season the McLaren let Coulthard down on lap 15 when the engine failed and he coasted to a halt on the pit straight. Irvine now had a healthy lead of 11 seconds or so as Schumacher continued to back the field up behind him. On lap 19 Barrichello took an early pitstop to get out of the jam, but although he rejoined eighth he seemed to lose the pace of his early stint. Meanwhile, Jean Alesi in the Sauber who had been running behind Wurz managed to pass the Benetton to take fifth place.
Ferrari dominate in Kuala Lumpar	Over the next few laps the leaders all pitted. On lap 25 Schumacher speeded up again as Irvine pitted to build a cushion over Hakkinen for his own stop. As the stops worked through Barrichello regained fourth with Herbert fifth whilst Frentzen, who had not yet stopped, moved up into sixth position. When he finally came in on lap 30, Alesi inherited sixth but Frentzen, along with Schumacher and Herbert, were clearly one stopping to the others two.
Schumacher was once again backing up the field, with Hakkinen falling about 18 seconds behind Irvine by the time the second stops began. However, the gap was not quite enough and Irvine rejoined third behind Schumacher and Hakkinen. Had Ferrari blown it, was Hakkinen one stopping too? The answer came as late as lap 46 when the Finn finally made a splash and dash stop, but that let both Irvine and Herbert through. Barrichello was now in fifth, having made his second stop, and Frentzen was back up to sixth, not a bad effort considering his grid position. Schumacher, who was six seconds clear despite spending most of the race giving way and delaying others, was once again called upon to let Irvine through on lap 53. Hakkinen managed to pass Herbert on lap 54 but by then Ferrari had the race sewn up. Or did they? The post-race celebrations came to an unexpected end when it was announced that both Ferrari cars were disqualified because of illegal barge boards, a matter of 1cm missing. This appeared to give Mika Hakkinen the drivers championship, a somewhat hollow victory and a complete anti-climax to the whole season. No doubt with this in mind an appeal the following Friday reversed the steward's decision and the victory was reinstated. The episode once again opened the sport to ridicule, but at least we can look forward to a fight to the wire in the final race of the season in Japan. Irvine leads Hakkinen by just four points.