Sunday October 17th, 1999
A perfectly executed strategy between Ferrari team-mates Eddie Irvine and Michael Schumacher and the wrong one by their McLaren rivals saw the two Marlboro drivers score a one-two win in Malaysia and go into the final race of the season ahead in both the drivers' and constructors' World Championship titles.
"Not only is Michael the best Number One driver - he is also the best Number Two," said Irvine in recognition of Schumacher's brilliant return to the F1 arena which saw the German control the McLaren attack and then hand Irvine the victory to help his Championship hopes.
It was a win that might have gone Mika Hakkinen's way for McLaren had they not made the surprising decision to make two pit stops despite the fact that he was the only driver in the field to run the harder compound rubber and the least troubled by tyre wear.
"I don't want to talk about it. It was a decision that came from the team," said an exhausted Hakkinen after the race which he described as the " hardest race of my life."
"I had to drive flat out all the way. I was never sure when Michael was going to brake. I had to be careful and it took maximum concentration to follow him for most of the race," said Hakkinen, who now trails Irvine by four points for the drivers' title.
"They had brilliant tactics. I don't blame them," added Hakkinen after finishing third to the Marlboro-Ferrari pair, a result which took Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro into a four point lead of the constructors' championship as well.
For Schumacher it was a perfect return. "Sure I would have liked to have won, but it wouldn't make sense with the Championship the way it is," he said. He had led the first three laps of the race from pole before handing the lead to Irvine and then working hard to stay ahead of the two McLarens. David Coulthard surprised him on lap 5 to take second place, damaging the front wing of Schumacher's car as he squeezed him out of a corner. "I lost a bit of the wing later on in the race and that caused a lot of understeer problem on my second stint," explained Schumacher, set the fastest lap of the race on lap 25.
Coulthard's chase of Irvine lasted just 14 laps when he coasted to a stop with a dead engine and suspected fuel pump failure.
Despite the softer tyres, the Ferrari team gambled on a one stop strategy for Schumacher in order to better aid Irvine who stopped twice, like Hakkinen. It was a strategy which paid off, for Schumacher was able to slow Hakkinen's progress again after Irvine's second stop, which briefly dropped him back to third place, until Hakkinen made a late second stop putting the Irishman back into second place. For the second time in the same race, Schumacher then moved over and let Irvine take the lead that was now secure to the finish.
Meanwhile, Hakkinen was further delayed in the closing stages when he had to fight his way past Johnny Herbert's Stewart- Ford, which ended up in fourth spot, Hakkinen trailing the two Ferraris by almost 10 seconds at the flag.
It was another good day for the Stewart team. Following their win at the last race, Rubens Barrichello took fifth spot behind his team-mate having lost the advantage when he also made a second stop compared with Herbert's one stop tactic.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen took the final point of the day, a good result considering he had started from 14th place on the grid after a troubled qualifying session. He took the second fastest lap of the race. Team-mate Damon Hill was again eliminated two corners into the race when he was knocked out of the race by Giancarlo Fisichella's Benetton which came home last after a long stop for repairs.
Engine and hydraulic problems took the two BAR cars out of the race again while the two Prost-Peugeots were also out within five laps after both suffered engine failures.
In all, only half the 22 starters made it home to the flag, six of them out of the race in the first 7 laps.
Malaysian Grand Prix
World Championship of Drivers, round 15;
Sepang, October 17th, 1999;
56 laps, 310,362 kms.
Weather: dry, partly cloudy
CLASSIFIED
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Irvine Ferrari 1h 36:38.494
2. M.Schumacher Ferrari + 1.040
3. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes + 12.743
4. Herbert Stewart Ford + 17.538
5. Barrichello Stewart Ford + 32.296
6. Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda + 34.884
7. Alesi Sauber Petronas + 54.408
8. Wurz Benetton Supertec + 1:00.934
9. Gene Minardi Ford + 1 Lap
10. Zanardi Williams Supertec + 1 Lap
11. Fisichella Benetton Supertec + 4 Laps
NOT CLASSIFIED / RETIREMENTS
Driver Team On Lap Reason
Villeneuve BAR Supertec 48 Gearbox
Diniz Sauber Petronas 44 Spun off
De La Rosa Arrows TWR 30 Engine
Badoer Minardi Ford 15 Engine
Coulthard McLaren Mercedes 14 Engine
R.Schumacher Williams Supertec 7 Spun off
Takagi Arrows TWR 7 Broken driveshaft
Zonta BAR Supertec 6 Spun off
Panis Prost Peugeot 5 Engine
Hill Jordan Mugen-Honda 0 Accident
Trulli Prost Peugeot 0 DNS
Fastest Lap: M. Schumacher, Lap 64, 1:40.267 (198,980 km/h)
Lap Leaders: Laps 01-03, M.Schumacher;
Laps 04-25, Irvine;
Laps 26-28, M.Schumacher;
Laps 29-41, Irvine;
Laps 42-52, M.Schumacher;
Laps 53-56, Irvine.
Drivers Points Standings after 15 rounds:
1. Irvine 70 2. Hakkinen 66
3. Frentzen 51 4. Coulthard 48
5. M.Schumacher 38 6. R.Schumacher 33
7. Barrichello 21 8. Herbert 15
9. Fisichella 13 10. Salo 10
11. Hill 7 = Trulli 7
13. Diniz 3 = Wurz 3
15. Panis 2 16. Alesi 1
= de la Rose 1 = Gene 1
Constructors' Points Championship:
1. Scuderia Ferrari 118
2. McLaren-Mercedes 114
3. Jordan-Mugen Honda 58
4. Stewart-Ford 36
5. Williams-Supertec 33
6. Benetton-Playlife 16
7. Prost Peugeot 9
8. Sauber-Petronas 4
9. Arrows 1
= Minardi 1
All Timing Unofficial