San Marino Grand Prix, May 1999

San Marino Grand Prix, Imola, May 1999

The McLarens were faster, but Ferrari won and that kept the Italian crowd happy. Michael Schumacher made the most of an uncharacteristic error from world champion Mika Hakkinen to sneak his first victory of the season, helped in no small way by the usual superb tactics from Ross Brawn. Qualifying had produced the expected McLaren front row, Hakkinen heading David Coulthard as now seems to be the norm. Schumacher, as ever, was the best of the rest followed by team mate Eddie Irvine.	Schuey makes his point
More surprising was Jacques Villeneuve's presence in the BAR in fifth place, a real achievement for the fledgling team. The pace of the revitalised Stewart Ford team was also proved again with Rubens Barrichello claiming sixth spot, followed by the two Jordans of Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Damon Hill. Villeneuve's effort proved to be in vain as he found himself unable to select first gear at the start but, apart from a few near misses around the stranded BAR, the race got away without drama. The cars settled down in more or less qualifying order, although Ralf Schumacher in the Williams gained a place on Damon Hill for seventh. Mika Hakkinen immediately began to open up a massive lead and seemed to be pushing hard, 5 seconds ahead of third placed Michael Schumacher by lap 5, 10 seconds ahead by lap 8, 15 by lap 13. He was also running away from David Coulthard, suggesting the possibility of a two stop strategy against Coulthard's single stop. Boredom was setting in when, suddenly on lap 17, Hakkinen pushed a little too hard and let a rear wheel stray onto the grass. That was all it took to whip the McLaren round and shunt it into the adjoining wall. It is a rule that racing drivers almost never accept responsibility for their accidents but, in this case, a shamefaced Mika had no option but to admit his guilt. So now we had a race on again and Schumacher immediately began to pile the pressure on Coulthard, whittling a 4 second advantage down to 1 second by lap 30. The pitstops began a few laps earlier, Irvine retaining third ahead of Barrichello and Frentzen. Ralf Schumacher retired on lap 29 giving Hill sixth position.
This was just what the Italian crowd wanted to see!	On lap 31 Michael Schumacher pitted, taking on a light fuel load which delayed him only 6.9 seconds. He came out and immediately set the fastest lap of the race so far. Coulthard stuck it out for four more laps but was held up by traffic and, on old tyres, couldn't match the Ferrari pace. What's more, his pitstop took 9.2 seconds and the lead was lost. Schumacher was now a second a lap quicker than Coulthard and pushing hard, setting more fastest laps.
To add to the McLaren driver's woes, Coulthard had trouble getting around a private tussle between two back markers, even taking an off-track excursion at one point. The gap was 13 seconds within a few laps and by lap 45 had increased to 21 seconds. Schumacher then caught most people off-guard by making a second stop to top up his fuel, but Ross Brawn's tactic had worked and he emerged still 4 seconds clear of a demoralised Coulthard. With the lead settled there was little else happening of interest in the race, which was turning into something of a procession. However, there was some attrition to come. On lap 48 Eddie Irvine's engine blew, spraying oil on the track which Frentzen immediately tripped over causing the Jordan to slide out of the race. This moved Johnny Herbert in the second Stewart and Giancarlo Fisichella 's Benetton up into the points. It didn't last long for Johnny though as his Ford engine also blew on lap 60, just two laps from the finish. This time the unfortunate Alessandro Zanardi in the Williams was the unwitting victim of the spilled oil, finishing his race in the gravel. Jean Alesi's Sauber now moved into sixth. Schumacher and Coulthard were a lap ahead of the rest of the field by this time and the Ferrari maintained a four second gap to claim the chequered flag in front of the partisan Italian crowd. Rubens Barrichello took third with Damon Hill right on his tail in fourth, Damon's first finish of the season. Fisichella kept fifth with Alesi sixth. This was not the most exciting of races but, as is often the case, it proved a tactical masterpiece for Ferrari and a bitter pill to swallow for McLaren. Three races gone, Ferrari leading the constructors table and Michael Schumacher moving to the head of the drivers championship. Not a bad weekend's work for the home team.