Formula One: Schumacher breaks through for first win of '99 before Ferrari faithful
3 May 1999
By Dan KnutsonIMOLA, Italy--Over 90,000 fans celebrated as Michael Schumacher's Ferrari crossed the line to win the San Marino Grand Prix. The tifosi -- the impassioned Ferrari fans that come to this race each year--have waited a long time for a Ferrari victory here. Ferrari's last triumph in this Grand Prix was in 1983 with former Can-Am driver Patrick Tambay behind the wheel.
The win -- the 34th career Grand Prix victory for Schumacher and the 121st for Ferrari -- vaulted Schumacher into the lead of the World Championship as the four drivers leading the standings prior to the race all failed to finish.
"It's always a good feeling to be driving around Imola when you drive a Ferrari," Schumacher said. "Today it felt good already on the parade lap.
"Being as well supported as we are here, and after such a long time without a victory, it was a great feeling to deliver the wishes of the fans after all the suffering at the beginning of the season. I really enjoyed going round slowly afterward, looking into the faces of the people. I was soaking it up."
Schumacher averaged 121.466 mph (195.481 km/h) to complete the 62-lap, 189.783-mile (305.428-km) race in one hour, 33 minutes and 44.792 seconds. Mika Hakkinen led in the early going, setting a string of fastest laps in his West McLaren-Mercedes as he pulled away from his teammate David Coulthard and Schumacher. But Hakkinen made a mistake in the final corner at the end of Lap 16, spun into the wall, and handed first place to Coulthard.
Coulthard's pit-stop strategy called for one stop. Schumacher opted for two quicker stops and took over the lead on Lap 36 after the first round of pit stops. Schumacher then pulled away as Coulthard was badly balked by Olivier Panis in the Gauloises Prost-Peugeot. That allowed Schumacher to pull out a big enough advantage to make a quick second pit stop and still maintain the lead.
Rubens Barrichello gave the Stewart-Ford a podium finish by finishing third ahead of Damon Hill's B&H Jordan-Mugen-Honda. Giancarlo Fisichella's Mild Seven Benetton-Playlife and Jean Alesi's Red Bull Sauber-Petronas rounded out the top six.
It was a race of attrition, with only half of the 22 starters being classed as finishers, and only eight cars actually making it to the checkered flag. The first retirement was Jacques Villenueve, who qualified his British American Racing-Supertec fifth, only to have gearbox woes that left him stranded on the grid.
Australian Grand Prix winner Eddie Irvine had an engine failure in his Ferrari on Lap 47. Johnny Herbert was heading for a fifth-place finish when his Stewart-Ford blew up with just four laps to go, and Alex Zanardi, who had been sixth in his Winfield Williams-Supertec, spun off on the resultant oil.
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