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Formula One: Herbert pulls off surprise win; Hakkinen takes two-point lead over Irvine

27 September 1999

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

NURBURG, Germany--Johnny Herbert gave the Stewart-Ford team its first Grand Prix victory after he won a wet and wild European Grand Prix.

"Its great for Stewart-Ford," Herbert said after his third career victory. "Its sort of Jackies last year with the team with his name as we are changing to Jaguar next year. But its something thats great for Jackie because its something that he entered F1 hoping to accomplish."

Three-time World Champion and 1966 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Jackie Stewart and his son, Paul, started a F1 team that made its debut in 1997.

Recently, the team was sold to Ford, which will rename it Jaguar next season.

"It is just tremendous for the whole team," said Jackie Stewart. "This is undoubtedly the most important moment of my racing career. I have won Grands Prix, I have won World Championships, but to win as a Constructor is the highest emotion imaginable."

Stewarts last Grand Prix victory as a driver came at the old Nurburgring, located to adjacent to the new circuit that Herbert won on. Herberts victory was the 175th for Ford and his first since the 1995 Italian Grand Prix.

Averaging 110.003 mph (177.034 km/h), Herbert completed the 66-lap, 186.832-mile (300.679-km) race in one hour, 41 minutes and 54.314 seconds. His margin of victory was 22.618 seconds over Jarno Trulli, who finished a career-best second in his Gauloises Prost Peugeot. Trulli beat Rubens Barrichellos Stewart-Ford by .247 of a second after a fierce battle in the closing laps.

The race was action-packed as the track surface constantly changed while several rain showers moved through the area. The drivers and crews had to guess whether to stay on dry-weather slicks and hope that the track would dry or opt for rain tires and hope the track stayed wet.

The tricky conditions caught out many drivers, including David Coulthard and Giancarlo Fisichella as both spun out of the lead.

Of the four drivers in contention for the championship, only Mika Hakkinen scored points. He ended up fifth in his West McLaren-Mercedes after making the wrong tire choice and having to battle his way back into the points.

The other three championship contenders hit trouble: Heinz-Harald Frentzen led in his B&H Jordan-Mugen-Honda only to stop with electrical woes. Coulthards McLaren also never made it to the finish, while an extra long pit stop for Eddie Irvine meant that his Ferrari crossed the line seventh and out of the points.

Ralf Schumacher led in his Winfield Williams-Supertec, only to have to complete nearly an entire lap on a flat right-rear tire. That gave Herbert the lead.

Schumacher ended up fourth, ahead of Hakkinen. Marc Gene took sixth to give the Minardi team its first point in the Constructors Championship since 1995.

Pedro Diniz flipped his Red Bull Sauber-Petronas after being hit by Alexander Wurzs Benetton on the opening lap. He suffered bruising to his shoulder and knee and was flown to the hospital for a further precautionary examination.

With two races to go, Hakkinen has taken a two-point lead in the championship and now has 62 points. Irvine, with 60 points, Frentzen with 50 and Coulthard with 48 failed to add to their scores this weekend.

QUOTEBOOK:

JOHNNY HERBERT (Stewart-Ford, winner): "I was just hoping and praying that I could get to the end of this one and win the race for everybody at Stewart and Ford. I was changing gear earlier, braking earlier, and just trying to not put too much stress on the car. It was fortunate that after Ralf (Schumacher) dropped out I had such a big advantage over Jarno (Trulli) that I could take it easy."

JARNO TRULLI (Gauloises Prost-Peugeot, second): "The nice point in this race came when it started to rain, and most of the drivers decided to come in (for wet tires). Even my team called me up, to bring me in, but I decided to stay out and try to drive (in the wet) on the dry tires. This was very important. Then, when they called me a second time for the pit stop, it was a really good decision because it was raining and we had a good stop. Yes, we did make three stops, but I almost forgot because I was fighting so much in this race that I am still a bit confused."

RUBENS BARRICHELLO (Stewart-Ford, third): "My battle with (Jarno) Trulli was very fair, no problem at all. It is quite difficult to overtake on this track, so I was giving my best. Johnny (Herbert) and I were lucky today, for sure, because so many people dropped out and Ralf (Schumacher) had a puncture. I really thought I could give this win to Jackie (Stewart), but I am happy for Johnny because he has been having such a bad year in terms of reliability and so on. So for both cars to have taken podium places is quite remarkable."

MIKA HAKKINEN (West McLaren-Mercedes, fifth): "Today I scored two very hard-earned but valuable points."

EDDIE IRVINE (Ferrari, seventh): "Our strategy was wrong. We stayed out when we should have come in. The pit crew was ready for me, but Salo came in first so the mechanics got rid of my tires. Then when I came in they couldn t find one of my tires. I lost a lot of time."

JACQUES VILLENEUVE (British American Racing-Supertec, retired lap 62): "I had been expecting it because I had problems changing gear for about 10 laps before that. The positive thing is that our car is competitive, and we just have to go for it in the last two races. Points should now be our aim, not finishing races."

GIANCARLO FISICHELLA (Mild Seven Benetton-Playlife, retired lap 49): "I went off the track because of my own error. I could have won the race. I threw away a unique opportunity."

DAVID COULTHARD (West McLaren-Mercedes, retired lap 38): "I had a good lead. Its more acceptable to go off while you are chasing then when you are leading. Its the first time I have put a car off in a race this year."

HEINZ-HARALD FRENTZEN (B&H Jordan-Mugen-Honda, retired, lap 33): "It feels awful to drop out of a race while leading. Everything had gone so well for the first half of the race, but as I came out of the pits I seemed to have an electrical problem."

ALEX ZANARDI (Winfield Williams-Supertec, retired lap 11): "I had a very good start and overtook five or six cars. But in the accident between (Alexander) Wurz and (Pedro) Diniz, all I could do was avoid it by going over the gravel, and when I went back on the track I was last. I wanted to gain some positions, and an opportunity arose when Zonta and de la Rosa were slow out of the chicane. I passed Zonta, but de la Rosa braked too early and didnt leave me anyway out. I spun and then the gearbox broke, so I couldnt restart."

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