On this day in 1999, Michael Schumacher won his first race of the season in Imola after Mika Hakkinen crashed from the leading position in lap 18 when he had 13 seconds advantage over his team mate David Coulthard.
Irvine celebrated in the first race in Australia, Hakkinen bounced back in Brazil, but Frentzen was second and third and third in the championship.
McLaren drivers locked out the front row for the third time in a row in 1999. when Hakkinen won another pole in front of Coulthard and Schumacher who was only 0.176 seconds behind Hakkinen.
But when lights went out, it was not that close because Hakkinen pulled out an incredible lead, increasing it almost for a second per lap. Finn had 13.4 seconds in front of Coulthard and 16.9 seconds ahead of Schumacher, but at the end of lap 17 Hakkinen crashed in the final chicane and retired immediately.
Coulthard took the lead, but Schumacher was first to pit due to his two stop strategy. German driver continued to drive very fast on lighter fuel load and fresh tyres and managed to pull out 22 seconds lead to get ahead of one stopping Coulthard.
It was first victory for Ferrari in San Marino GP since 1983. and first in 1999. Coulthard finished second and Barrichello in Sewart third. Only 11 drivers were classified at the end of the race from 22 starts.
“We were fast during the whole weekend so it seems that we managed to close a gap a little bit,” said Schumacher after the race.
“But we still need to develop the car to be really fastest of all. We are leading both championships which is a lot better than last year.”
Schumacher was leading the championship with 16 points, Irvine had 12 and Hakkinen and Frentzen 10. Ferrari led the constructors with 28 points, McLaren had 16 and Jordan 13.
It was also 100th race for Sauber team.
STARTING GRID
| 1 | 1 | Mika Häkkinen | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:26.362 | – |
| 2 | 2 | David Coulthard | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:26.384 | 0.022 |
| 3 | 3 | M.Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:26.538 | 0.176 |
| 4 | 4 | Eddie Irvine | Ferrari | 1:26.993 | 0.631 |
| 5 | 22 | J.Villeneuve | BAR/Supertec | 1:27.313 | 0.951 |
| 6 | 16 | R.Barrichello | Stewart/Ford | 1:27.409 | 1.047 |
| 7 | 8 | H-H.Frentzen | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 1:27.613 | 1.251 |
| 8 | 7 | Damon Hill | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 1:27.708 | 1.346 |
| 9 | 6 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams/Supertec | 1:27.770 | 1.408 |
| 10 | 5 | A.Zanardi | Williams/Supertec | 1:28.142 | 1.780 |
| 11 | 18 | Olivier Panis | Prost/Peugeot | 1:28.205 | 1.843 |
| 12 | 17 | Johnny Herbert | Stewart/Ford | 1:28.246 | 1.884 |
| 13 | 11 | Jean Alesi | Sauber/Petronas | 1:28.253 | 1.891 |
| 14 | 19 | Jarno Trulli | Prost/Peugeot | 1:28.403 | 2.041 |
| 15 | 12 | Pedro Diniz | Sauber/Petronas | 1:28.599 | 2.237 |
| 16 | 9 | G.Fisichella | Benetton/Playlife | 1:28.750 | 2.388 |
| 17 | 10 | Alexander Wurz | Benetton/Playlife | 1:28.765 | 2.403 |
| 18 | 14 | Pedro de la Rosa | Arrows | 1:29.293 | 2.931 |
| 19 | 23 | Mika Salo | BAR/Supertec | 1:29.451 | 3.089 |
| 20 | 15 | T.Takagi | Arrows | 1:29.656 | 3.294 |
| 21 | 21 | Marc Gené | Minardi/Ford | 1:30.035 | 3.673 |
| 22 | 20 | Luca Badoer | Minardi/Ford | 1:30.945 | 4.583 |
RACE RESULTS
| 1 | 3 | M.Schumacher | Ferrari | 62 | 1:33:44.792 | |
| 2 | 2 | David Coulthard | McLaren/Mercedes | 62 | 1:33:49.057 | 4.265 |
| 3 | 16 | R.Barrichello | Stewart/Ford | 61 | 1:33:46.721 | 1 lap |
| 4 | 7 | Damon Hill | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 61 | 1:33:47.629 | 1 lap |
| 5 | 9 | G.Fisichella | Benetton/Playlife | 61 | 1:34:27.002 | 1 lap |
| 6 | 11 | Jean Alesi | Sauber/Petronas | 61 | 1:34:33.056 | 1 lap |
| 7 | 23 | Mika Salo | BAR/Supertec | 59 | 1:32:08.096 | 3 laps |
| 8 | 20 | Luca Badoer | Minardi/Ford | 59 | 1:33:53.344 | 3 laps |
| 9 | 21 | Marc Gené | Minardi/Ford | 59 | 1:34:16.112 | 3 laps |
| 10 | 17 | Johnny Herbert | Stewart/Ford | 58 | 1:29:37.619 | Engine |
| 11 | 5 | A.Zanardi | Williams/Supertec | 58 | 1:29:45.043 | Spun off |
| (12) | 12 | Pedro Diniz | Sauber/Petronas | 49 | 1:19:53.188 | Spun off |
| (10) | 18 | Olivier Panis | Prost/Peugeot | 48 | 1:15:55.648 | Throttle |
| (3) | 4 | Eddie Irvine | Ferrari | 46 | 1:09:57.831 | Engine |
| (4) | 8 | H-H.Frentzen | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 46 | 1:10:27.090 | Spun off |
| (15) | 15 | T.Takagi | Arrows | 29 | 46:16.071 | Fuel pressure |
| (4) | 6 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams/Supertec | 28 | 42:52.208 | Throttle |
| (1) | 1 | Mika Häkkinen | McLaren/Mercedes | 17 | 25:25.912 | Spun off |
| (17) | 14 | Pedro de la Rosa | Arrows | 5 | 8:00.812 | Spun off |
| (18) | 10 | Alexander Wurz | Benetton/Playlife | 5 | 8:01.536 | Spun off |
| 22 | J.Villeneuve | BAR/Supertec | 0 | – | Gearbox | |
| 19 | Jarno Trulli | Prost/Peugeot | 0 | – | Spun off | |
Fastest lap: Michael Schumacher – 1:28.547 (lap 45)
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 3/16 RACES
| 1 | Michael Schumacher | 16 | – | 6 | 10 |
| 2 | Eddie Irvine | 12 | 10 | 2 | – |
| 3 | Mika Häkkinen | 10 | – | 10 | – |
| 4 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | 10 | 6 | 4 | – |
| 5 | Ralf Schumacher | 7 | 4 | 3 | – |
| 6 | David Coulthard | 6 | – | – | 6 |
| 7 | Rubens Barrichello | 6 | 2 | – | 4 |
| 8 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 5 | 3 | – | 2 |
| 9 | Damon Hill | 3 | – | – | 3 |
| 10 | Pedro de la Rosa | 1 | 1 | – | – |
| 11 | Olivier Panis | 1 | – | 1 | – |
| 12 | Jean Alesi | 1 | – | – | 1 |
CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
| 1 | Ferrari | 28 | 10 | 8 | 10 |
| 2 | McLaren/Mercedes | 16 | 10 | 6 | |
| 3 | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| 4 | Williams/Supertec | 7 | 4 | 3 | – |
| 5 | Stewart/Ford | 6 | 2 | – | 4 |
| 6 | Benetton/Playlife | 5 | 3 | – | 2 |
| 7 | Arrows | 1 | 1 | – | – |
| 7 | Prost/Peugeot | 1 | 1 | – | |
| 7 | Sauber/Petronas | 1 | 1 |
