Formula One: Irvine takes Formula One Drivers Championship Points Lead With Win at Hockenheim

2 August 1999

HOCKENHEIM, Germany- Eddie Irvine took over the lead in the World Drivers Championship, and Ferrari increased its lead in the Constructors Championship after Ferrari teammates Eddie Irvine and Mika Salo scored a one-two finish in the German Grand Prix.

West McLaren-Mercedes teammates Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard, meanwhile, had a disastrous race with Hakkinen crashing because of a tire failure and Coulthard salvaging just two points after an eventful race. Irvine now has 52 points to Hakkinen's 44. Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who finished third, moved into third place in the points standings with a score of 33. Michael Schumacher, out of action with a broken leg, has 32 points and Coulthard has 30.

Ferrari moved out to a 16 point lead in the Constructors Championship, with a total of 90 to the 74 of McLaren-Mercedes.

Hakkinen led the first 24 laps of the race but had a 24.3 second pitstop when the refueling nozzle jammed. He then spun into the wall less than two laps later when the tread suddenly flew off his left rear tire.

Salo, substituting for Schumacher, led a Grand Prix for the first time in his life, but then he had to let Irvine go by due to team orders from Ferrari, which wanted Irvine to score as many points as possible.

Irvine, sixth on the second lap, had worked his way up to second behind Salo.

"Mika (Salo) was the star today, and he won the race," said Irvine. "He is 'Boy Wonder,' and I'm going to give him my trophy. Now that he is fully on he pace, we can start to think about the Constructors Championship, which we were not sure about before. It has taken me half a season to lead the Drivers Championship again, but I'm not thinking about winning it because I'm a realist."

Irvine scored his third victory of the year. He averaged 139.636 mph (224.723 km/h) to complete the 45-lap, 190.036-mile (307.035-km) race in one hour, 21 minutes and 58.594 seconds.

Salo held formation to finish second - his previous best finish in F1 was fourth in Monaco last year - and crossed the line 1.007 seconds behind Irvine.

At the end of the 45-lap high-speed race, Germany's Frentzen was third in his B&H Jordan Mugen-Honda and only 5.1 seconds behind the winner. Fellow countryman Ralf Schumacher took fourth in his Winfield Williams-Mecachrome.

After running third in the early stages, Coulthard had to pit for repairs after his McLaren broke a front wing when he hit Salo's Ferrari. Later, Coulthard had to serve a 10 second stop-and-go penalty because he had all four wheels off the track when he passed Olivier Panis.

Panis finished in the points for the first time since the second Grand Prix of the season after bringing his Gauloises Prost-Peugeot home sixth.

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