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FORMULA ONE: Coulthard ends drought with 'home' victory; M. Schumacher breaks leg in crash

12 July 1999

SILVERSTONE, England -- David Coulthard held off Eddie Irvine to win the British Grand Prix and score his fifth career Formula One victory and his first since the San Marino Grand Prix in April 1998.

It was also the first time that Scotland's Coulthard had won at "home" in the Grand Prix of Great Britain.

"I have to say that this is definitely the best feeling I have ever had in my racing career," Coulthard said. "This has always been the one that I would trade for any other win."

Two-time World Champion Michael Schumacher, second in points this season, suffered a broken right leg in a first-lap crash of his Ferrari. It's not known yet when Schumacher will be able to race again.

Northern Ireland's Irvine chased Coulthard's West McLaren-Mercedes to the checkered flag, but superior pit work by the McLaren crew meant that their car crossed the finish line 1.829 seconds ahead of the Ferrari. Ralf Schumacher took third in his Winfield Williams-Supertec.

Coulthard averaged 124.255 mph (199.970 km/h) to complete the 60-lap, 191.566-mile (308.296-km) race in one hour, 32 minutes and 30.144 seconds. The first start of the race had to be aborted after Michael Schumacher's Ferrari hit a tire-lined wall head on.

"Michael had an accident on the opening lap because of a problem with the rear brakes," said Ferrari's sporting director Jean Todt. "We are investigating the cause. Michael has broken the tibia and fibula of the right leg. He (underwent) an operation at Northhampton General Hospital." The restart was a bonus to 1995 Indianapolis 500 winner Jacques Villeneuve, who had stalled with gearbox problems but was now able to use the spare car.

Villeneuve's British American Racing crew chose a one-stop strategy, and the Canadian headed for a top-six finish when his car suddenly stopped at the midpoint of the 60-lap race.

Two-time CART champ Alex Zanardi also stalled at the first start. He would eventually end up 11th in his Winfield Williams-Supertec.

Pole sitter Mika Hakkinen led from the start in his West McLaren-Mercedes but had problems with a loose left-rear wheel, which eventually flew off. Luckily, he was near pit entrance and managed to skate his car in on three wheels.

Although Hakkinen returned to the race, the team eventually called him in for safety reasons.

Irvine now led with Coulthard second, but Coulthard took over first when Irvine overshot his pit. Coulthard held on to give McLaren its first British Grand Prix victory since 1989.

Benson & Hedges Jordan-Mugen-Honda teammates Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Damon Hill took fourth and fifth, respectively, while Pedro Diniz rounded out the top six in his Red Bull Sauber-Petronas.

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