Report
Mika Häkkinen and Eddie Irvine were battling for the drivers title. Eddie Irvine was leading by four points, meaning that if Häkkinen won the race then he would be Champion, regardless of where Irvine finished. However, if Häkkinen had finished second, Irvine would only have needed fourth to take the title.
In qualifying, Irvine's Ferrari team mate, Michael Schumacher took pole position, with Häkkinen second, David Coulthard, Häkkinen's McLaren team mate, third. Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen was fourth, with Irvine fifth, and Prost's Olivier Panis sixth. If the result of qualifying had been the result of the race, Häkkinen would have been the champion. However, as it was considered likely that Irvine would finish higher in the race, Häkkinen would almost certainly have to beat Schumacher to win the title. Irvine also had a peculiar crash with about 10 minutes to go in qualifying.
At the start of the race, Häkkinen took the lead from Schumacher, while Irvine passed Frentzen and Coulthard, all three were overtaken by Panis. The Häkkinen, Schumacher, Panis, Irvine, Coulthard, Frentzen order remained for the first part of the race, until lap 16 when Panis pitted. Three laps later Panis retired with a broken alternator drive. Schumacher briefly took the lead when Häkkinen pitted on lap 19, but Häkkinen retook the lead when Schumacher pitted on lap 22. Coulthard also pitted on lap 22, and when Irvine made his stop the following lap, Coulthard was able to pass him. The Häkkinen, Schumacher, Coulthard, Irvine order stood until lap 34, when Coulthard spun into the wall and lost his nose. He pitted for a new one and rejoined just in front of Schumacher. Coulthard deliberately held up Schumacher, costing him several seconds. Schumacher later criticized Coulthard's behaviour. Coulthard retired a few laps later with a hydraulic failure. There were no major changes up front after that, Häkkinen won the race and the drivers title.
Read more about this topic: 1999 Japanese Grand Prix
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