F1: Schumacher Takes Four Point Lead to Monaco
6 May 1999
Michael Schumacher leads the Ferrari charge into the fourth round of the Formula One World Championship at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday 16 May. After an emotional day for the Italian team in Imola, Schumacher leads team-mate Eddie Irvine by four points in the Drivers' Championship while Ferrari lead McLaren by 12 points in the Constructors' title chase.Both world champion Mika Hakkinen and German Heinz-Harald Frentzen failed to finish in Imola but still share third place in the championship with Ralf Schumacher fifth, driving the Winfield WilliamsF1 FW21.
"I definitely do like racing in Monaco having won there three times in the last five years," explained the championship leader. "I think it will be a very close race with McLaren this time."
This will be the 57th time the most famous grand prix in the world races through the streets of Monaco, charging through the tunnel, braking into Casino square, racing along the harbour front and accelerating out of La Rascasse culminating in a unique event. It may be difficult to overtake round the 3.328km (2.087 miles) armco-lined track but is still regarded as the jewel in the crown by both drivers and spectators.
Many of the top drivers live in Monaco and so enjoy the weekend at home. Italian Alex Zanardi not only lives in the Principality but also echoes the thoughts of the majority of Formula One drivers about racing round the most famous circuit in the world.
"Monaco is a place where everybody would like to win and if you could win just one race all season it would be Monaco," explained the Winfield WilliamsF1 driver, who seeks his first championship points of the season. "If you don't have traffic in front of you and you are able to maintain a certain rhythm, you can really make up a lot of time difference which you can't at other circuits. It's a pleasure for the driver in front , but for others it can be frustrating if you are sitting behind someone in the race as it is almost impossible to get in front."
Hakkinen won the race for the first time last year but Michael Schumacher is still the expert after his impressive record in the last five years.
Qualifying on Saturday is vital with overtaking so difficult in the race and practice starts on Thursday with no Formula One action on Friday. The 78-lap, 259.584km (162.786 miles) race starts at 1400hrs and not 1430hrs as originally scheduled.
longeur du circuit:: 3.328km/2.087m longeur de la course:259.584km/162.786m laps: 78
SCHEDULE / PROGRAMME / ZEITPLAN / PROGRAMMA local time / heure locale / ortszeit / ora locale
13.5.99* untimed practice / essais libres / freis training / prove
libre 11.00-12.00 13.00-14.00
15.5.99 untimed practice / essais libres / freis training /prove
libre 09.00-09.45 10.15-11.00
timed qualifying / essais qualificatis / prove di qualificazione
13.00-14.00
16.5.99 untimed warm-up / sance de rodage / warm-up 10.00-10.30
Brazilian (ed. sic-Monaco? gt) Grand Prix 14.30
*first practice is held on Thursday / *la premiere seance d'essais deroule le jeudi *erstes training am donnerstag / *la prima sessione di prove si tiene il giovedi
Winner's Time and Speed / temps et moyenne du vainqueur / zeit und schnitt des siegers / tempo e media del vincitore: 1hr 51m 23.595s, 87.902mph/141.434kmph
Fastest race lap / meilleur tour en course / schnellellste rennrunde / giro pi veloce: Hakkinen 1m 22.948s 84.669mph/136.232kmph
Lap record / record du circuit / rundenrekord / record del circuito: Hakkinen 1m 22.948s 84.669mph/136.232kmph (1998)
flashback: MONACO GRAND PRIX 24/4/98
pole position: Mika Hakkinen McLaren 1m 19.798s
Top Ten Finishers of 78 lap race 1 Hakkinen McLaren 2 Fisichella Benetton 3 Irvine Ferrari 4 Salo Arrows 5 Villeneuve Williams6 Diniz Arrows 7 Herbert Sauber 8 Hill Jordan 9 Nakano Minardi 10 M Schumacher Ferrari
previous ten winners / les dix prcdents vainqueurs / die letzen 10 sieger / ultimi dieci vincitori: 1997: M Schumacher / Ferrari, 1996: Panis/Ligier, 1995: M Schumacher/Benetton, 1994: M Schumacher/Benetton, 1993: Senna/McLaren, 1992: Senna/McLaren, 1991: Senna/McLaren, 1990: Senna/McLaren, 1989: Senna/McLaren, 1988: Prost/McLaren
SCHUMACHER GIVES FERRARI FIRST IMOLA VICTORY FOR 16 YEARS
Michael Schumacher sent the patriotic home fans wild with delight after giving Ferrari their first victory at Imola for 16 long years, at the San Marino Grand Prix this afternoon (Sunday). Schumacher drove a superb 62-lap race after early leader and world champion Mika Hakkinen crashed, without injury, coming into the start and finish straight on lap 18. His McLaren team-mate David Coulthard took over but lost his lead at his pit stop and had to settle for second place, despite making only one stop. The impressive Brazilian Rubens Barichello dedicated his third place in the Stewart Ford to his countryman Ayrton Senna, who lost his life at Imola five years ago.
"We knew we were lacking in performance at the opening two races and that we had to turn it around," said Schumacher, who took over the world championship lead from his team-mate Eddie Irvine after securing Ferrari's first victory at Imola since Patrick Tambay in 1983. "Both David and myself had trouble with back markers but it is difficult for the other drivers because they are racing their own race. We took the option of making two pit stops which was no great risk."
Ralf Schumacher was battling for fifth place but went out with mechanical problems after his pit stop while his Winfield WilliamsF1 team-mate Alex Zanardi looked certain to secure his first finish of the season but spun-out of sixth place with two laps remaining when Johnny Herbert's Stewart blew-up in front of him and spread oil on the track.
"I was happy because I made a good start and the car was behaving well," recalled Ralf Schumacher. "I was fifth and keeping pace with other drivers and I thought I could score a very good result, finishing once again in the points. But on lap 29, after my first pit stop when almost at half distance, I suddenly felt a dramatic loss of power, saw smoke coming from my car and had to stop on the trackside."
Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve failed to start due to gearbox problems in his BAR while on the third row of the grid and Hakkinen led the way after securing his 13th pole position. It turned into unlucky 13 for the world champion who was leading comfortably when he put his back wheel onto the grass coming into the start and finish straight and spun into the wall. Schumacher in second place then hunted down the new leader Coulthard and after his very fast first Ferrari pit stop it was only a matter of time before he took the lead. It came at Coulthard's only stop and Schumacher built up a big enough advantage to still lead after a second stop as Coulthard had to battle his way through the back markers.
Schumacher lapped everybody but Coulthard and former world champion Damon Hill secured his first points of the season after finishing fourth. His team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Irvine both went out of the race on the 46th lap, after the Jordan span-out on Herbert's oil spillage and the Ferrari suffered mechanical problems. Giancarlo Fisichella was fifth, driving the Benetton with Jean Alesi helping Sauber celebrate their 100th grand prix by completing the points scoring in sixth place.
Jarno Trulli crashed his Prost on the first lap and Alexander Wurz and Pedro de la Rosa retired after a collision on the sixth lap.
Race Classification - 62 laps - 305.428km (Grid position shown in brackets)1 (- 3) 3 - Michael Schumacher (D) Ferrari 1h 33.44.792s 2 (- 2) 2 - David Coulthard (GB) McLaren Mercedes 1h 33.49.057s 3 (- 6) 16 - Rubens Barrichello (BR) Stewart Ford 1 lap 4 (- 8) 7 - Damon Hill (GB) Jordan Mugen Honda 1 lap 5 (16) 9 - Giancarlo Fisichella (I) Benetton 1 lap 6 (13) 11 - Jean Alesi (F) Sauber Petronas 1 lap 7 (19) 23 - Mika Salo (Fin) BAR DNF 8 (22) 20 - Luca Badoer (I) Minardi Ford 3 laps 9 (21) 21 - Marc Gene (SP) Minardi Ford 3 laps 10 (12) 17 - Johnny Herbert (GB) Stewart Ford DNF 11 (10) 5 -Alex Zanardi (I) Winfield WilliamsF1 DNF 12 (15) 12 - Pedro Diniz (BR) Sauber Petronas DNF 13 (11) 18 - Olivier Panis (F) Prost Peugeot DNF 14 (- 4) 4 - Eddie Irvine (GB) Ferrari DNF 15 (- 7) 8 - Heinz-Harald Frentzen (D) Jordan Mugen Honda DNF 16 (20) 15 - Toranosuke Takagi (JPN) Arrows DNF 17 (- 9) 6 -Ralf Schumacher (D) Winfield WilliamsF1 DNF 18 (- 1) 1 - Mika Hakkinen (FIN) McLaren Mercedes DNF 19 (18) 14 - Pedro de la Rosa (SP) Arrows DNF 20 (17) 10 - Alexander Wurz (A) Benetton DNF 21 (- 5) 22 - Jacques Villeneuve (CDN) BAR DNF 22 (14) 19 - Jarno Trulli (I) Prost Peugeot DNF
Fastest Lap: 3 - Michael Schumacher (D) Ferrari 1m28.547s lap 45 Pole Position: 8 - Mika Hakkinen (FIN) McLaren Mercedes 1m26.362s
championship: CONSTRUCTOR'S
1 Ferrari points: 28 2 McLaren Mercedes 16 3 Jordan 13 4 Winfield WilliamsF1 7 5 Stewart Ford 6 6 Benetton 5 7 Arrows 1
Prost Peugeot 1
Sauber 1
championship: DRIVER'S
1 Michael Schumacher (D) points: 16 2 Eddie Irvine (GB) 12 3 Mika Hakkinen (FIN) 10
Heinz-Harald Frentzen (D) 10 5 Ralf Schumacher (D) 7 6 David Coulthard (GB) 6
Rubens Barrichello (BRA) 6 8 Giancarlo Fisichella (I) 5 9 Damon Hill (GB) 3 10 Pedro de la Rosa (SP) 1
Olivier Panis (F) 1
Jean Alesi (F) 1
ALEX ZANARDI, after spinning out of sixth place with two laps remaining. "It's a pity. I had quite a bad start but I felt the car had good balance. During the race I lost a lot of time because of some strange electronic problems that we hope to detect. My weekend was going to have a happy ending and I was seventh with two laps to go when Herbert's engine engine broke in front of me. I did not expect that much oil on the track and when I hit the oil I could not avoid spinning off."
LUCA di MONTEZEMOLO, President of Ferrari. "Winning at Imola after 16 years is down to having a strong team, both here at the track and back at the factory. The victory was achieved thanks to a truly great driver."
JACQUES VILLENEUVE, after failing to start from the third row of the grid. "I'm not sure what really happened, there was no warning. The engine was running but there was a problem with the gearbox electronics. I couldn't go forward. There was no drive so I had to switch the engine off. We're going top have to make sure that things like this don't happen again, and hope to finish a race soon."
MIKA HAKKINEN, after spinning out of the race while leading. "Not a very good day for me. I made a good start and was leading the rest of the field when I made a mistake. It's as simple as that. It was a driver error and meant that I went out of the race. But now I'm looking forward to Monaco and what I can achieve there."
DAMON HILL, after scoring his first points of the season. "This is the first race I've finished since Suzuka last year and it felt great, although exhausting in the heat. The results keep coming for the team and our race performance is very impressive."
EDDIE JORDAN, on speculation that Damon Hill is going to retire at end of the season and Eddie Irvine will rejoin Jordan next season. "Damon has certainly never mentioned anything like that to me and the same magazine had a story about Eddie Irvine rejoining Jordan but I know this is pure speculation because I have never spoken to Eddie about this sort of thing. The last time I even spoke to him was in Melbourne to congratulate him on his win. We must be crazy to be discussing driver movements when only the first two races have been contested."
STATISTICS
The Swiss based Sauber team competed in their 100th grand prix.
Mika Hakkinen secured his 13th pole position.
There were four previous winners of the Imola grid. Damon Hill (1995,96), Michael Schumacher (1994), Heinz-Harald Frentzen (1997) and David Coulthard (1998).
Only two drivers Marc Gene and Pedro de la Rosa made their Imola Formula One debuts.
Ferrari's last Imola victory was in 1983 with Frenchman Patrick Tambay winning from Alain Prost.
24,000 people attended Imola on Friday, 68,000 on Saturday and 90,000 on Sunday. Total attendance for the three days 182,000.
As expected Finn Mika Salo replaced the injured Ricardo Zonta in the BAR team. Zonta is still recovering from the damaged tendons in his foot following his practice crash in Brazil three weeks ago. Zonta could be fit to resume his first grand prix season at Monaco in two weeks time although Salo is regarded as an expert round the famous street circuit.........Luca Badoer returned to the Minardi team after missing the Brazilian race with a hand injury, sustained in a practice crash......One half of the famous 'tifosi' hill at Imola has been terraced. It provided a more comfortable vantage point to watch but lost a great deal of it's atmosphere where the Ferrari fans would sleep, eat and support their team for three days and nights of the grand prix......Over one thousand mourners attended the funeral of Harvey Postlethwaite last week. The top car designer died from a heart attack while attending a Honda test session in Barcelona almost three weeks ago......South African Jody Scheckter was in Imola working as a television commentator. He was the last driver to win a world title for Ferrari in 1979........ Mika Hakkinen secured the 13th pole position of his career when he led team-mate David Coulthard in qualifying by less than two hundredths of one second. The Ferrari duo of Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine filled the second row. The big surprise was former world champion Jacques Villeneuve who was fifth fastest in the BAR. In a slightly disappointing session for the Winfield WilliamsF1 team Ralf Schumacher was ninth and Alex Zanardi tenth. No surprise at the first day of practice in the Imola sunshine with Hakkinen and Coulthard leading the way. Irvine was third, Damon Hill fourth and Michael Schumacher fifth, despite stopping with a damaged wheel rim. Zanardi and Ralf Schumacher were sixth and seventh respectively. Coulthard led the Sunday morning warm-up from Irvine and Hakkinen...........Jordan announced that Zepter, a brand leader in home accessories, cosmetics and lifestyle products, will be a new sponsor of the team.......Johnny Herbert was fined US$3250 for speeding in pit lane during practice on Friday.......Benetton stole the Imola paddock show by unveiling their superb new motorhome.......Supermodel Naomi Campbell was guest of Supertech boss Flavio Briatore and met Frank Williams in the Winfield WilliamsF1 pit. Duran Duran star Simom Le Bon and his wife Yasmine were guests of the Stewart Team.......Brands Hatch boss Nicola Foulston was in Imola although the immediate future of the British Grand Prix appears to be at Silverstone after the British Racing Drivers Club, who own the circuit, rejected the idea of selling the track to Brands Hatch last week.........Speculation was rife in the paddock that Honda would be supplying engines to BAR next season. If that happens it would almost certainly mean that Honda's plans to make a full scale return to Formula One would be shelved. There is also counter rumours that BAR may still use the Supertec engines next season to ensure Honda do make their return to the fray.........The Sauber team made their 100th grand prix appearance on Sunday. Their first grand prix race was in the 1993 South African Grand Prix.Last year they finished sixth in the Constructors Championship.......Winfield-backed World 500cc motorcycle Champion Michael Doohan lies second after the opening two rounds of the World Championship in Malaysia and Japan. Both races were won by American Suzuki rider Kenny Roberts. The third round of the championships is at Jerez in Spain on Sunday.....Last year's runner-up Nick Heidfeld won the opening round of the Formula 3000 Championship at Imola on Saturday, driving the McLaren......Jarno Trulli almost lost his Prost car after sliding off the track on the last lap of the Sunday morning warm-up. He got out of the car which then started running downhill and Trulli had to guide it to a halt without being able to get back into the cockpit.
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