Date 13 June 1999 | Course length 4.421 km (2.747 mi) | |
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Official name XXXVII Grand Prix Air Canada Location Montreal, Quebec, Canada Course Temporary street circuit Distance 69 laps, 305.049 km (189.549 mi) | ||
The 1999 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 13 June 1999 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was the sixth race of the 1999 Formula One season. The race was notable for the four crashes that occurred in turn 13 and for the number of times the safety car was deployed. Turn 13, the final chicane, had four separate crashes in which a driver either went wide or spun into the wall. Three of the drivers who crashed there had previously won the Driver's Championship, leading to the wall becoming known as the "Wall of Champions". The safety car was deployed four times in the race, a record at the time, and was the first F1 race to finish behind the safety car following Heinz-Harald Frentzen's massive crash with four laps to go.
Contents
Race
The front runners got off the line cleanly, with Michael Schumacher maintaining first place after starting on pole for the first time in 1999. Jarno Trulli, starting ninth, went off the track trying to pass Heinz-Harald Frentzen up the inside into turn one. Trulli spun across turn one, collecting Jean Alesi and Rubens Barrichello. Trulli and Alesi retired, and the safety car was deployed. Alexander Wurz also retired with transmission problems.
Ricardo Zonta retired on lap 3 after spinning into the wall at turn 13. He stopped just off the track, missing his right rear wheel, which brought the safety car out again. Zonta was the first of four drivers to hit the “Wall of Champions” in this race. On lap 15, Damon Hill became the second driver to hit the turn 13 wall. Hill was able to pull off the track in a safe location, and the safety car was not deployed. Michael Schumacher hit the wall on lap 30, giving the lead to Mika Häkkinen. The fourth and final driver to hit to wall was Jacques Villeneuve on lap 35, bringing the safety car out for the third time. Hill, Schumacher, and Villeneuve were three of the four Formula 1 Driver’s Champions competing in the race.
On the lap 41 restart following Villeneuve’s crash, David Coulthard tried to go around the outside of Eddie Irvine into turn one, then the inside on turn two. They touched, and both spun off. Both were able to rejoin, though Coulthard had to pit for a new nose. The fourth and final safety car of race came out on lap 66 after Heinz-Harald Frentzen, running in second place, suffered a brake failure and had a massive crash. He was uninjured. The safety car pulled in at the end of the final lap, and Mika Häkkinen won the race. Eddie Irvine scored his first fastest lap and finished third behind Giancarlo Fisichella.