1999 Singapore Grand Prix

1999 Singapore Grand Prix
Background
Race No.	196
Date	8-10 October 1999
Location	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore
Laps	61
Race Details
Pole Position	Juan Pablo Montoya
Fastest Lap	Juan Pablo Montoya
Winning Driver	Jarno Trulli
Winning Team	MRD Racing-Ferrari
Navigation
Previous	1999 Italian Grand Prix
Next	1999 Malaysian Grand Prix

Overview

The 1999 Singapore Grand Prix was the fifteenth race of the 1999 FF1M Season.

Driver Changes

• Alex Yoong was replaced by Ricardo Zonta at Ajay Motorsports
• Olivier Panis was replaced by Justin Wilson at Ajay Motorsports

Report

Before the final three flyaway races, teams had one final opportunity to develop their cars and engines at a two-day test at the Jerez circuit in Spain. The first day was topped by Michael Schumacher, while the second day was topped by Jarno Trulli. Neither driver would qualify on pole position for the second running of the Singapore Grand Prix, as Juan Pablo Montoya broke MRD's pole run by three tenths of a second from Trulli. Alexander Wurz and Johnny Herbert qualified a season's best 3rd and 5th, but FJR struggled on the twisty streets as Mika Hakkinen and Heinz-Harald Frentzen were back on the seventh row.

Both Maestro drivers aced the start as Montoya kept the lead and David Coulthard vaulted up to 2nd from 4th on the grid. Things were less clean further back as Allan McNish was rear-ended by Mika Salo and became an instant retirement, with Ralf Schumacher being spun round in the aftermath. The other Mika was also a first lap casualty as clunking the kerbs at the Singapore Sling caused him to crash into the barriers.

Trulli tried to muscle his way past Coulthard for 2nd going into Memorial on lap 2, but ran wide at the exit and fell behind his teammate, while Wurz's great qualifying was wasted as his suspension broke one lap later. Further back, a frustrated Ralf bullied Jan Magnussen into the wall at the Singapore Sling on lap 4, but the Dane was able to rejoin and pit for a new front wing. Five laps later, Eddie Irvine and Ricardo Rosset's stubborn battle at the same corner ended inevitably with Rosset in the wall. An errant wheel very nearly wrecked Montoya's race, so his suspension decided to do that for him, handing the lead to Trulli.

Before the race meeting, Ajay Motorsports had replaced both their drivers with this season's FF2M frontrunners Ricardo Zonta and Justin Wilson. Zonta had in fact won the FF2M championship and on lap 28, he was chasing Heidfeld for 4th, but a wide moment at the final corner dirtied his tyres and and an off-track moment at Sheares dropped him to 8th behind Frentzen and both Dodgem drivers.

Heidfeld was in contention for a podium during the second round of stops, but upon rejoining, he effectively merged with Coulthard at Sheares, putting the Maestro into the wall and out of the race. Heidfeld's teammate meanwhile was on his way to yet another win and was becoming a more serious contender for the drivers championship. Michael came home 2nd in front of Frentzen, who'd put in a great recovery from 14th on the grid. Jacques Villeneuve was 4th ahead of series returnee Zonta, a brilliant result for the Brazilian. Completing the top eight were Rubens Barrichello, Johnny Herbert, and a disgruntled Ralf. Less disgruntled were Ferrari, who had successfully defended the Engine Trophy.

Qualifying

Conditions: Dry

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Tyre	Time	Gap
1	18	Juan Pablo Montoya	Maestro-Ferrari		1:39.408
2	20	Jarno Trulli	MRD Racing-Ferrari (W)		1:39.737	+0.329
3	17	Alexander Wurz	Dark Wolf-Peugeot (W)		1:39.939	+0.531
4	19	David Coulthard	Maestro-Ferrari		1:39.943	+0.535
5	10	Johnny Herbert	VTR-Supertec		1:40.155	+0.747
6	21	Nick Heidfeld	MRD Racing-Ferrari (W)		1:40.214	+0.806
7	23	Ricardo Zonta	Ajay Motorsports-Supertec		1:40.332	+0.924
8	1	Michael Schumacher	Gui Racing-Ford (W)		1:40.339	+0.931
9	3	Jacques Villeneuve	Dodgem-Ferrari		1:40.391	+0.983
10	22	Justin Wilson	Ajay Motorsports-Supertec		1:40.417	+1.009
11	2	Ralf Schumacher	Gui Racing-Ford (W)		1:40.458	+1.050
12	4	Rubens Barrichello	Dodgem-Ferrari		1:40.469	+1.061
13	8	Mika Hakkinen	FJR-Peugeot (W)		1:40.612	+1.204
14	7	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	FJR-Peugeot (W)		1:40.731	+1.323
15	16	Eddie Irvine	Dark Wolf-Peugeot (W)		1:40.779	+1.371
16	6	Mika Salo	Pedersen-Mercedes (W)		1:40.901	+1.493
17	11	Alessandro Zanardi	Willow Images-Mugen Honda		1:41.392	+1.984
18	9	Allan McNish	VTR-Supertec		1:41.432	+2.024
19	5	Jan Magnussen	Pedersen-Mercedes (W)		1:42.222	+2.814
20	14	Pedro Diniz	Talent Racing-Ilmor		1:42.857	+3.449
21	12	Jorg Muller	Willow Images-Mugen Honda		1:42.976	+3.568
22	15	Ricardo Rosset	Talent Racing-Ilmor		1:44.537	+5.129

Race

Conditions: Dry

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Tyre	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts.
1	20	Jarno Trulli	MRD Racing-Ferrari (W)		1:44:44.165	2	12
2	1	Michael Schumacher	Gui Racing-Ford (W)		+32.450	8	8
3	7	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	FJR-Peugeot (W)		+51.397	14	6
4	3	Jacques Villeneuve	Dodgem-Ferrari		+53.673	9	5
5	23	Ricardo Zonta	Ajay Motorsports-Supertec		+57.411	7	4
6	4	Rubens Barrichello	Dodgem-Ferrari		+1:08.077	12	3
7	10	Johnny Herbert	VTR-Supertec		+1:09.944	5	2
8	2	Ralf Schumacher	Gui Racing-Ford (W)		+1:11.142	11	1
9	21	Nick Heidfeld	MRD Racing-Ferrari (W)		+1:11.645	6
10	11	Alessandro Zanardi	Willow Images-Mugen Honda		+1 Lap	17
11	6	Mika Salo	Pedersen-Mercedes (W)		+1 Lap	16
12	12	Jorg Muller	Willow Images-Mugen Honda		+2 Laps	21
13	16	Eddie Irvine	Dark Wolf-Peugeot (W)		+5 Laps	15
14	15	Ricardo Rosset	Talent Racing-Ilmor		+7 Laps	22
Ret	19	David Coulthard	Maestro-Ferrari		Collision	4
Ret	5	Jan Magnussen	Pedersen-Mercedes (W)		Accident	19
Ret	18	Juan Pablo Montoya	Maestro-Ferrari		Suspension	1
Ret	14	Pedro Diniz	Talent Racing-Ilmor		Collision	20
Ret	17	Alexander Wurz	Dark Wolf-Peugeot (W)		Suspension	3
Ret	8	Mika Hakkinen	FJR-Peugeot (W)		Accident	13
Ret	22	Justin Wilson	Ajay Motorsports-Supertec		Accident	10
Ret	9	Allan McNish	VTR-Supertec		Collision	18

Driver of the Day: Heinz-Harald Frentzen

Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Tyre	Time	Gap
1	18	Juan Pablo Montoya	Maestro-Ferrari		1:40.731
2	20	Jarno Trulli	MRD Racing-Ferrari (W)		1:41.007	+0.276
3	2	Ralf Schumacher	Gui Racing-Ford (W)		1:41.101	+0.470
4	7	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	FJR-Peugeot (W)		1:41.356	+0.625
5	23	Ricardo Zonta	Ajay Motorsports-Supertec		1:41.463	+0.732
6	1	Michael Schumacher	Gui Racing-Ford (W)		1:41.483	+0.752
7	3	Jacques Villeneuve	Dodgem-Ferrari		1:41.502	+0.771
8	21	Nick Heidfeld	MRD Racing-Ferrari (W)		1:41.653	+0.922
9	19	David Coulthard	Maestro-Ferrari		1:41.657	+0.926
10	10	Johnny Herbert	VTR-Supertec		1:41.696	+0.965
11	4	Rubens Barrichello	Dodgem-Ferrari		1:41.849	+1.118
12	16	Eddie Irvine	Dark Wolf-Peugeot (W)		1:41.912	+1.181
13	11	Alessandro Zanardi	Willow Images-Mugen Honda		1:42.588	+1.857
14	6	Mika Salo	Pedersen-Mercedes (W)		1:42.707	+1.976
15	12	Jorg Muller	Willow Images-Mugen Honda		1:44.039	+3.308
16	5	Jan Magnussen	Pedersen-Mercedes (W)		1:44.303	+3.572
17	17	Alexander Wurz	Dark Wolf-Peugeot (W)		1:44.700	+3.969
18	14	Pedro Diniz	Talent Racing-Ilmor		1:45.024	+4.293
19	15	Ricardo Rosset	Talent Racing-Ilmor		1:45.997	+5.266
20	22	Justin Wilson	Ajay Motorsports-Supertec		N/A	N/A
21	8	Mika Hakkinen	FJR-Peugeot (W)		N/A	N/A
22	9	Allan McNish	VTR-Supertec		N/A	N/A

Championship Standings

Drivers Championship					Teams Championship					Engine Trophy
Pos.	Driver	Pts.	Wins	-/+	Pos.	Team	Pts.	Wins	-/+	Pos.	Engine	Pts.	Wins	-/+
1	Ralf Schumacher	76	1	=	1	Gui Racing-Ford (W)	142	3	=	1	Ferrari	212	7	=
2	Juan Pablo Montoya	72	2	=	2	FJR-Peugeot (W)	124	5	=	2	Ford	142	3	1
3	Jarno Trulli	71	4	1	3	Maestro-Ferrari	108	2	=	3	Peugeot	141	5	1
4	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	66	3	1	4	MRD Racing-Ferrari (W)	105	5	=	4	Supertec	44		=
5	Michael Schumacher	66	2	=	5	Dodgem-Ferrari	52		=	5	Mugen Honda	15		=
6	Mika Hakkinen	58	2	=	6	VTR-Supertec	33		=	6	Mercedes	5		=