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Formula One: Hakkinen cruises to second straight Drivers title; Ferrari tops Constructors table

1 November 1999

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

SUZUKA, Japan-- Mika Hakkinen knew he could clinch the FIA Formula One World Drivers Championship if he won the Japanese Grand Prix, and he did just that with dominating win in his West McLaren-Mercedes in Sundays Formula One season finale.

Eddie Irvine failed in his bid to become the first Ferrari driver to win the World Championship since Jody Scheckter in 1979, but Irvines third place, combined with Michael Schumachers second place, garnered Ferrari enough points to claim its first Constructors Championship since 1983.

Hakkinen led the final drivers standings with 76 points. Irvine was second with 74. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was a distant third at 54. Ferrari led the constructors standings at 128, with McLaren second at 124 and Jordan third at 61.

"The first time is the first time, and yes, it is a different feeling (to have done it again)," Hakkinen said after winning his second consecutive championship.

"This has been a very difficult year," Hakkinen said, "all the way through from the start of the season when we werent able to finish races and we lost a lot of points. Everyone knows those problems we had.

"To have won the championship in the last Grand Prix is nerve-cracking. Its an experience that I cant recommend to anyone! I have now experienced it with Michael (Schumacher) last year and again with Eddie (Irvine) this year."

Ferraris tactics were to get Schumacher out in front because, even if Hakkinen then finished second, Irvine could still win the championship by placing third. But Hakkinen, who qualified second, beat pole sitter Schumacher off the line.

"I knew that the start was the key," Hakkinen said after his fifth win of the season and the 15th of his career.

Schumacher agreed: "If I had won the start, it would have worked in our favor just as it worked in their favor. The start was a mess for me."

Schumacher, who had handling problems, complained bitterly about Hakkinens McLaren teammate, David Coulthard, who was a lap down after spinning and pitting for repairs. Coulthard, Schumacher said, unfairly blocked him.

Irvine, who crashed heavily in qualifying, couldnt match the pace of Schumacher, and Schumacher never got close to Hakkinen, who was driving what he would call "one of my best races."

This was Hakkinens first victory in five races. He averaged 126.813 mph (204.086 km/h) to complete the 53-lap, 192.995-mile (310.596-km) race in one hour, 31 minutes and 18.785 seconds. His margin of victory was 5.015 seconds.

QUOTEBOOK:

RON DENNIS (Director Team McLaren): "An almost perfect weekend. Mika (Hakkinen) deserves this result -- it was one of his best races, if not his best."

MIKA HAKKINEN (West McLaren-Mercedes, winner, 1999 World Champion): "The start is always difficult here at Suzuka because its downhill. I knew I could do well, and I was very confident. When the lights changed, I immediately realized I had an advantage over Michael (Schumacher), and at the moment when we shifted into second gear I was already one cars length in the lead. At that point I knew that all I had to do was to keep that position. All the way through the race I didnt have any particular problems, and I was able to build up the gap on Michael all the time, if I wanted to."

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER (Ferrari, second): "Mika is definitely a great champion. Today he won the championship by winning the race, and there is no reason why he should not celebrate that 100 percent. But his team should be asked why they expect the drivers to do things like they did today. It was a different thing (between me and Mika) in Malaysia, where I was actually racing for position and had not been lapped. (In that position) you can play tactics. But if you have been lapped, you should give space. David (Coulthard) had some kind of problem, but he was really driving zigzagging. I am very disappointed to see such a maneuver that nobody would expect such a guy to have done, because I was really challenging Mika. It would have been a very close race toward the end, but that situation cost me, I think, about 10 seconds."

EDDIE IRVINE (Ferrari, third): "Third place was a good result for me, given the problems I had in qualifying. I had a pretty boring race, just watching the TV screens to see if anything would happen to Mika (Hakkinen). But at least we have won the Constructors Championship, which is important. We didn't win the one that both Ferrari and I would have preferred, but at least we got the consolation prize."

DAVID COULTHARD (McLaren-Mercedes, retired lap 39): "He (Michael Schumacher) only lost two seconds, not 10. There is one set of rules for Michael, and there is one set for everyone else. He has a real problem admitting his mistakes. I am not denying I held him up, but it was not a deliberate attempt to ruin his race."

JACQUES VILLENEUVE (British American Racing-Supertec, ninth): "Its been a difficult year, and today was again hard. I was attacking during the whole race, but it wasnt enough -- the car was on the limit. Now we can look forward to next year without looking back."

ALEX ZANARDI (Winfield Williams-Supertec, retired lap 1): "I experienced an electrical problem that put an early end to my race. The pit-lane speed limiter activated itself, and when I tried to release it, the engine went into neutral and shut off. Its a pity because I was ninth, having gained five positions at the start and overtaken two more cars in the first half lap."

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