"Winning this one after such a long time, the problems of the first two races this year and in front of an Italian crowd was really a special one," said Michael Schumacher who brought his Marlboro Ferrari home to a win at the team's home circuit for the first time in 16 years and the 34th win of his career.
With the two McLaren-Mercedes leading the field in the opening laps, it looked like being a tough struggle for Schumacher, but things got easier when race leader Mika Hakkinen crashed leaving David Coulthard within his grasp for the lead.
A perfect two-stop race strategy and some quick laps at the right moment sealed Schumacher's victory as he made his second stop and kept his lead over Coulthard to the delight of the 100,000 fans.
He kept a four seconds lead all the way to the flag and with it took the lead of the Driver's World Championship standings by four points over his team-mate Irvine who failed to score when he retired from third place on lap 46 with engine problems.
There was a tense moment at the start when Jacques Villeneuve stalled his BAR on the line, cars weaving around the stationary Canadian who was on the fifth spot and somehow missing each other.
Hakkinen won the drag race to the first chicane several hundred metres after the start, the rest of the field falling into Indian file behind with Coulthard leading Schumacher and Irvine in the Ferraris, the Stewart of Barrichello and Heinz Harald Frentzen's Jordan rounding out the top six.
Jarno Trulli did not see the end of the first lap in his Prost-Peugeot. A spin after banging wheels with de la Rosa going into the first corner saw him parked on the grass with a stalled engine.
By the time the race had settled down after a few laps, it looked to be that Mika Hakkinen was running a different race strategy from his team-mate, even though both cars were equipped with the harder of the two Bridgestone tyre compounds.
Hakkinen was setting fastest lap of the race lap after lap and was pulling almost a second per lap ahead of his team-mate. His advantage was so impressive, it lead to speculation whether or not he was running the same pit stop tactics as Coulthard. Until lap 16, that is. Hakkinen got sideways coming onto the pit straight at the end of lap 16. He over-corrected and the car speared off into the retaining wall right opposite his pit. The left front wheel was ripped off. Hakkinen's hopes for another win ripped apart. "I made a mistake," he earnestly said later.
However, suddenly the race came alive as Coulthard took the lead now only 3.7 seconds ahead of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari in second place, the Italian tifosi roaring their approval at Hakkinen's downfall.
Schumacher closed the gap to just over a second before he headed for the pits on lap 31. With Irvine trailing in a distant third place, it was a two horse race for the lead with Schumacher revealing his hand for a two stop race at his pit stop. "We left ourselves the option of a one or two stop race depending on the circumstances. I could tell David was on a one stop race but the final decision was up to Ross Brawn," said Michael.
His quick stop of just 6.1 seconds indicated that he planned another stop later in the race and it was a plan that paid off. Coulthard lost the race as he stayed out longer for a one stop race, Schumacher cutting into his lead.
Coulthard stopped four laps after Schumacher, but the cushion he needed to stay ahead after his own stop had been eroded away. He came out of the pits in second place, 5 seconds behind Schumacher and then found himself stuck behind Olivier Panis' Prost.
He lost over three seconds on Schumacher in one lap, then when he did get past Panis he lost more time when he slid wide and dropped behind him again. By the time he had finally lapped Panis and Fisichella, Schumacher's lead had opened up to 18 seconds.
"After that I pushed hard to try and increase my lead so that I had enough to make my second stop and stay in the lead," said Schumacher, who did just that. He had just over 20 seconds on Coulthard when the Ferrari made its second stop and when he came back into the race he kept the lead by four seconds.
It was all over for Coulthard, who could do nothing but follow the Ferrari to the finish, still 4.2 seconds clear at the end of the 62 laps race.
Eddie Irvine's dream of a third place finish and the World Championship lead with Schumacher was shattered when his engine let go in a great cloud of smoke and oil.
The oil caught out Heinz Harald Frentzen through the unflagged corner and he spun at high speed, bouncing his Jordan off the wall. Rubens Barrichello took over third place a lap behind the two leading cars, the first podium and points for the Stewart Ford this season after showing so much promise in the first two race.
Frentzen's demise, plus that of Ralf Schumacher who stopped with a throttle problem after his pit stop, let Damon Hill into fourth spot with the second Jordan for his first points of the year. Giancarlo Fisichella claimed fifth spot, Panis also disappearing from the race with a throttle problem.
Johnny Herbert was another who missed the points when his engine blew up. It would have put Zanardi in the points, but he also spun off on his oil leaving the final point of the day to Jean Alesi's Sauber.
A full race review will be available in the next issue of Atlas F1.
Race Results:
San Marino Grand Prix
World Championship of Drivers, round 3;
Imola, May 2nd, 1999;
62 laps, 305,428 kms.
Pos Driver Team Time
1 M.Schumacher Ferrari 1h 33:44:792
2 Coulthard Mclaren Mercedes + 4.2secs
3 Barrichello Stewart Ford + 1 Lap
4 Hill Jordan Mugen-Honda + 1 Lap
5 Fisichella Benetton Playlife + 1 Lap
6 Alesi Sauber Petronas + 1 Lap
7 Salo BAR Supertec + 3 Laps
8 Badoer Minardi Ford + 3 Laps
9 Gene Minardi Ford + 3 Laps
10 Herbert Stewart Ford + 4 Laps
11 Zanardi Williams Supertec + 4 Laps
All Timing Unofficial
Retirements:
Zanardi Williams Supertec Lap 58 Spun off Herbert's oil
Herbert Stewart Ford Lap 58 Engine
Diniz Sauber Petronas Lap 50 Crashed
Panis Prost Peugeot Lap 48 Electronic throttle
Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda Lap 46 Spun off Irvine's oil
Irvine Ferrari Lap 46 Engine
Takagi Arrows TWR Lap 29 Fuel pressure
R.Schumacher Williams Supertec Lap 28 Throttle system
Hakkinen Mclaren Mercedes Lap 17 Crashed
de la Rosa Arrows TWR Lap 5 Crashed with Wurz
Wurz Benetton Playlife Lap 5 Crashed with de la Rosa
Trulli Prost Peugeot Lap 0 Spun off and stalled
Villeneuve BAR Supertec Lap 0 Gearbox
Fastest Lap: M.Schumacher, 1:28.547, lap 42
Lap Leaders: Lap 1-17, Hakkinen
Lap 18-35, Coulthard
Lap 36- 62, M.Schumacher
Weather: sunny, dry. Temeratures: Air 22&#deg C Track 45&#deg C
Drivers Points Standings after 3 rounds:
1. M.Schumacher 16 2. Irvine 12
3. Hakkinen 10 = Frentzen 10
5. R.Schumacher 7 6. Coulthard 6
= Barrichello 6 8. Fisichella 5
9. Hill 3 10. de la Rosa 1
= Alesi 1 = Panis 1
Constructors' Points Championship:
1. Scuderia Ferrari 28
2. McLaren-Mercedes 16
3. Jordan-Mugen Honda 13
4. Williams-Supertec 7
5. Stewart-Ford 6
6. Benetton-Playlife 5
7. Sauber-Petronas 1
= Arrows TWR 1
= Prost Peugeot 1