On this day in 1999, Eddie Irvine won his second race of the season after David Coulthard spun his teammate Mika Hakkinen in the second corner of the first lap.
Austria was the ninth of the 16 races of the championship while at the previous race at Silverstone Michael Schumacher had an accident in the first lap when his rear brakes failed, after which he hit the tyre wall at Stowe and broke his leg.
Schumacher was replaced by the Finn Mika Salo, and in qualifying, the McLarens were second ahead of the third placed Irvine in Ferrari and everyone was expecting a dominant win for the silver cars.
That was not the idea of David Coulthard, who in the second corner went too late on the brakes, touched and spun Hakkinen who was last after the accident.
Irvine won with three tenths in front of Coulthard while Hakkinen was third after recovering from his first lap accident with his team mate.
Irvine was only two points behind Hakkinen in the overall standings after Austria, while Ferrari had two more points than McLaren.
“I knew qualifying did not represent our real performance and for that I managed to win the real strategy,” Irvine commented after the race.
“I’ve proved that I can do my job. In the early stages of the race I had to save fuel, but then I made up for it before entering the pits.”
“The smoke from my car before the end of the race was probably coming from my brain because I had to think about so many things, fuel, brakes, tyres, it was not just a ride.”
“Last week on Monza testing we made a big step forward on high speed tracks, so I’m confident ahead of Hockenheim.”
STARTING GRID
| 1 | 1 | Mika Häkkinen | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:10.954 | – |
| 2 | 2 | David Coulthard | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:11.153 | 0.199 |
| 3 | 4 | Eddie Irvine | Ferrari | 1:11.973 | 1.019 |
| 4 | 8 | H-H.Frentzen | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 1:12.266 | 1.312 |
| 5 | 16 | R.Barrichello | Stewart/Ford | 1:12.342 | 1.388 |
| 6 | 17 | Johnny Herbert | Stewart/Ford | 1:12.488 | 1.534 |
| 7 | 3 | Mika Salo | Ferrari | 1:12.514 | 1.560 |
| 8 | 6 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams/Supertec | 1:12.515 | 1.561 |
| 9 | 22 | J.Villeneuve | BAR/Supertec | 1:12.833 | 1.879 |
| 10 | 10 | Alexander Wurz | Benetton/Playlife | 1:12.850 | 1.896 |
| 11 | 7 | Damon Hill | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 1:12.901 | 1.947 |
| 12 | 9 | G.Fisichella | Benetton/Playlife | 1:12.924 | 1.970 |
| 13 | 19 | Jarno Trulli | Prost/Peugeot | 1:12.999 | 2.045 |
| 14 | 5 | A.Zanardi | Williams/Supertec | 1:13.101 | 2.147 |
| 15 | 23 | Ricardo Zonta | BAR/Supertec | 1:13.172 | 2.218 |
| 16 | 12 | Pedro Diniz | Sauber/Petronas | 1:13.223 | 2.269 |
| 17 | 11 | Jean Alesi | Sauber/Petronas | 1:13.226 | 2.272 |
| 18 | 18 | Olivier Panis | Prost/Peugeot | 1:13.457 | 2.503 |
| 19 | 20 | Luca Badoer | Minardi/Ford | 1:13.606 | 2.652 |
| 20 | 15 | T.Takagi | Arrows | 1:13.641 | 2.687 |
| 21 | 14 | Pedro de la Rosa | Arrows | 1:14.139 | 3.185 |
| 22 | 21 | Marc Gené | Minardi/Ford | 1:14.363 | 3.409 |
RACE RESULTS
| 1 | 4 | Eddie Irvine | Ferrari | 71 | 1:28:12.438 | |
| 2 | 2 | David Coulthard | McLaren/Mercedes | 71 | 1:28:12.751 | 0.313 |
| 3 | 1 | Mika Häkkinen | McLaren/Mercedes | 71 | 1:28:34.720 | 22.282 |
| 4 | 8 | H-H.Frentzen | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 71 | 1:29:05.241 | 52.803 |
| 5 | 10 | Alexander Wurz | Benetton/Playlife | 71 | 1:29:18.796 | 1:06.358 |
| 6 | 12 | Pedro Diniz | Sauber/Petronas | 71 | 1:29:23.371 | 1:10.933 |
| 7 | 19 | Jarno Trulli | Prost/Peugeot | 70 | 1:28:28.541 | 1 lap |
| 8 | 7 | Damon Hill | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 70 | 1:28:29.690 | 1 lap |
| 9 | 3 | Mika Salo | Ferrari | 70 | 1:28:35.747 | 1 lap |
| 10 | 18 | Olivier Panis | Prost/Peugeot | 70 | 1:28:40.035 | 1 lap |
| 11 | 21 | Marc Gené | Minardi/Ford | 70 | 1:29:25.126 | 1 lap |
| 12 | 9 | G.Fisichella | Benetton/Playlife | 68 | 1:25:51.478 | Engine |
| 13 | 20 | Luca Badoer | Minardi/Ford | 68 | 1:28:58.188 | 3 laps |
| 14 | 17 | Johnny Herbert | Stewart/Ford | 67 | 1:29:20.589 | 4 laps |
| 15 | 23 | Ricardo Zonta | BAR/Supertec | 63 | 1:19:59.481 | Clutch |
| (4) | 16 | R.Barrichello | Stewart/Ford | 55 | 1:09:00.915 | Engine |
| (6) | 11 | Jean Alesi | Sauber/Petronas | 49 | 1:01:43.944 | Out of fuel |
| (16) | 14 | Pedro de la Rosa | Arrows | 38 | 49:06.267 | Spun off |
| (13) | 5 | A.Zanardi | Williams/Supertec | 35 | 44:38.464 | Out of fuel |
| (12) | 22 | J.Villeneuve | BAR/Supertec | 34 | 43:20.616 | Halfshaft |
| (15) | 15 | T.Takagi | Arrows | 25 | 32:08.513 | Engine |
| (6) | 6 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams/Supertec | 8 | 10:27.914 | Spun off |
Fastest lap: Mika Hakkinen – 1:12.107 (lap 39)
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 9/16 RACES
| 1 | Mika Häkkinen | 44 | – | 10 | – | 4 | 10 | 10 | 6 | – | 4 |
| 2 | Eddie Irvine | 42 | 10 | 2 | – | 6 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 10 |
| 3 | Michael Schumacher | 32 | – | 6 | 10 | 10 | 4 | – | 2 | – | |
| 4 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | 29 | 6 | 4 | – | 3 | – | – | 10 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | David Coulthard | 28 | – | – | 6 | – | 6 | – | – | 10 | 6 |
| 6 | Ralf Schumacher | 19 | 4 | 3 | – | – | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | – |
| 7 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 13 | 3 | – | 2 | 2 | – | 6 | – | – | – |
| 8 | Rubens Barrichello | 10 | 2 | – | 4 | – | – | – | 4 | – | – |
| 9 | Damon Hill | 5 | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | 2 | – |
| 10 | Alexander Wurz | 3 | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | 2 |
| 11 | Pedro Diniz | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Johnny Herbert | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| 13 | Pedro de la Rosa | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 14 | Olivier Panis | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 15 | Jean Alesi | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 16 | Jarno Trulli | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – |
CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
| 1 | Ferrari | 74 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 10 |
| 2 | McLaren/Mercedes | 72 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 10 | |
| 3 | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 34 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | – | – | 10 | 5 | 3 |
| 4 | Williams/Supertec | 19 | 4 | 3 | – | – | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | – |
| 5 | Benetton/Playlife | 16 | 3 | – | 2 | 3 | – | 6 | – | – | 2 |
| 6 | Stewart/Ford | 12 | 2 | – | 4 | – | – | 2 | 4 | – | – |
| 7 | Sauber/Petronas | 4 | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | ||
| 8 | Prost/Peugeot | 2 | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | |
| 9 | Arrows | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
