1999 Japanese GP Pre Race
The pre race from Round 16 of the 1999 F1 season at Suzuka.
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00:30Welcome to fox sports net coverage of FIA formula one world championship racing.
00:56We're outside yokichi, japan, at the famed suzuka circuit to decide it all.
01:01Who will be the world champion, eddie irvine or mika hakkinen?
01:05Ferrari or mclaren mercedes?
01:08We'll find out today in the grand prix of japan.
01:11Hello, everyone, and welcome to suzuka.
01:15I'm mike joy, alongside five-time winner of the 24 hour of le mans, derrick bell, and
01:20from the london sunday times and f1 racing magazine, peter windsor joins us from the
01:25pit lane.
01:26Well, those two questions, who will be the world champions, have had several answers
01:30over these last two weeks.
01:33Ferrari celebrated greatly with a stunning 1-2 victory in malaysia two weeks ago, michael
01:39schumacher handing the win to eddie irvine for maximum points with mika hakkinen third.
01:45But in technical inspection, jean todd and ross braun were called in as fia tech delegate
01:51walks away with what's that?
01:53A barge board.
01:54A turning vane.
01:55There it is outlined on the right side of your screen.
01:58It spoils the air coming over the front wing and past the front wheels.
02:03The fia made some measurements, and ferrari's fate hung in the balance.
02:08We'll take you step by step over what's happened over these past two weeks.
02:13First, derrick, let's talk about the great race that we had in malaysia two weeks ago.
02:18Well, who would have believed that it's the pang malaysia near kuala lumpur, this wonderful
02:23circuit that has just been built, first grand prix ever held in that part of asia, that
02:27there would be such dramas at the end.
02:29Beautiful circuit that it was, and michael schumacher returned on pole position by a
02:32full second over mika hakkinen, and of course eddie irvine beside him.
02:37eddie irvine on the left of your screen, and michael schumacher on the right.
02:40michael schumacher had nothing to gain and all to lose, really.
02:43He just went for it the whole way, and he streaked out to take the lead with eddie irvine
02:47right behind him.
02:48Obviously he was there.
02:49He didn't use permission to take, it is, to the victory he so badly needed, but poor
02:54old damon hill has a moment.
02:55He's out of his penultimate race of his career.
02:59Michael schumacher goes in the lead, but he backs off to let eddie irvine go through,
03:02so he can get a nice big break between him and david coulthard and hakkinen.
03:06David coulthard goes behind michael schumacher, so michael is then going to fend off and hold
03:11off mika hakkinen.
03:12But it's riccardo zonta in the kitty litter.
03:14He's out of the race.
03:15And then, well, it's ralph schumacher.
03:18He goes off as well.
03:20He's had such a good season this year, so he's out of it, very, very sadly.
03:24David coulthard, he was lying second.
03:26He's out of it with electrical problems.
03:29Meanwhile, great pit stop by ferrari.
03:32Eddie irvine storms out of the pits in the lead of the race.
03:36Stewart's having a great day, johnny herbert in particular.
03:39He was to have a great position right at the end of the race, going very well.
03:42Mika hakkinen has a second pit stop right towards the end of the race, and this in fact
03:47cost him the championship lead at this point.
03:50Michael schumacher backs out, let eddie irvine take the lead, and michael schumacher comes
03:54in second.
03:55Not an easy thing for him to do.
03:56That was the end of the race, so let's go down and hear from the winner of the malaysian
04:01grand prix, eddie irvine.
04:02It's fantastic.
04:03This guy's depressing.
04:04Not only is he the best number one, he's also the best number two.
04:08I just had to be very careful and make sure I didn't make any mistakes, and michael basically
04:12did the hard work for me.
04:14Well, as we look live at the reconnaissance laps on the suzuka course, that's how it was
04:21when we recorded the race live to tape two weeks ago.
04:24Subsequently, in technical inspection, it was found that those turning vanes or barge
04:29boards were as much as ten centimeters, some three-eighths of an inch, out of spec.
04:35And that was brought by joe bauer to the race director, who issued this statement and decided
04:40that based on the measurement and ross braun's admission that those parts may have been improperly
04:45manufactured, the prototype was correct, the parts on the car slightly out of kilter, both
04:51cars were disqualified.
04:54Now there's the barge board and the area, some three-eighths of an inch that was alleged
04:57to be missing.
04:58Now, ferrari is prohibited from arguing that no competitive advantage was gained.
05:04That is not an allowable offense.
05:06In their appeal, they said that provided the vane was properly attached to the car, that
05:13the barge boards were within the five millimeter or about three-sixteenths of an inch tolerance
05:18allowed.
05:19So let's turn to peter windsor.
05:21Peter, how is it that such a measuring error could have occurred in the technical inspection?
05:27Well, that's a very, very good question.
05:29Because when the teams found that the entry for the world championship had gone up from
05:34$100,000 previous year to $250,000 this year, $250,000 to enter the world championship,
05:41which translates, of course, across 11 teams to well over two and a half million dollars.
05:45When that increase was made, the teams asked where the money was being spent.
05:48They said it was being spent on new, updated and very sophisticated measuring equipment.
05:52And indeed it has been.
05:53This is a brilliant piece of kit.
05:55This is a template to measure a grand prix car in every dimension.
05:59These are the corner weights, of course.
06:01This is where the drivers actually stand after the race to check their weights.
06:04And this, of course, is exactly the piece of equipment that was used in Malaysia to
06:08check the Ferraris in that notorious barge board episode.
06:11Now, when you're here and you look at the very professional eight people that work here
06:14full time in this department of Formula One and you see this piece of equipment, it's
06:18difficult to imagine that any mistakes at all were made in Malaysia.
06:22Of course, we know what happened in Paris subsequently, but certainly here in this hallowed
06:26area, it is difficult to imagine that anything at all went wrong.
06:30Back to you.
06:31Right, Peter.
06:32But in front of the five-judge appeals court, Ferrari, McLaren and Stewart all made presentations
06:37and Ferrari's position was upheld and the win and the points reinstated.
06:42So here's how we stand in Japan.
06:44Eddie Irvine is four points up on Mika Hakkinen.
06:48Frentzen and Coul Thard will battle it out for third in the driver's championship.
06:52Ferrari is four points up on McLaren.
06:55Jordan solid in third with Stewart and Winfield-Williams to scrap for the fourth spot when it's all
07:01over.
07:02Well, among all this, there was some celebrating to go on as you look at Mika Hakkinen hoping
07:07to be a twice world champion.
07:10The 96th world champion, Damon Hill, runs his final grand prix today.
07:15And yesterday, owners and representatives of all the grand prix teams for which he's
07:20driven, won a world championship in 22 races gathered to salute him.
07:26Welcome back to our Toyota pre-race coverage of the grand prix of Japan.
07:29Michael Schumacher, pole sitter for today's race.
07:32Out on one of his reconnaissance laps, our Toyota pre-race continues.
07:36Well, after the events of Malaysia, a strange kind of hush has fallen over the paddock.
07:44Peter Winsor took our Fox Sportsnet camera and microphone, though, and went around trying
07:48to do a little digging.
07:49I have no opinion about it because it doesn't involve us.
07:50I think that's the thing between McLaren and Ferrari.
07:51There's no comment because it's too difficult to understand.
07:52I don't really think I want to make much comment about that.
08:05What is the subject about which they don't want to comment?
08:07Well, of course, it was the result of that FIA Court of Appeal in Paris.
08:11Now, when that result came out, the barren owner, Ron Dennis, said that he thought the
08:14result was predictable, understandable.
08:18Max Moseley, the president of the FIA, obviously took that as a bit of an insult, Ron implying
08:22perhaps that there was some sort of fix going on, and Max Moseley is quoted in this week's
08:27edition of Autosport magazine in England saying, Ron, stop your whinging and whining and get
08:32on with the business of winning the world championship.
08:34As a result of that, nobody in the Formula One pit lane now wants to talk about the issue
08:38at all.
08:39We did find a couple of people with opinions to express.
08:42In Malaysia, the meeting said the Ferrari is out of the regulations and they know how
08:47to measure, but honestly, as I said, I don't know the facts, so I can't really judge it.
08:53What I find difficult to fully understand is that if we are paying for measuring equipment
08:59and a lot of expensive equipment to come to races to evaluate, well, then at all times
09:05this equipment should be up to the highest specification.
09:08It should not be necessarily called into question at a later stage.
09:13So there you have it.
09:14The bottom line is nobody wants to see this happen again.
09:17Back to you.
09:18I think at the end of the world, if nobody wants to see the race decided in a courtroom,
09:21they want to see it out on the racetrack where it should be.
09:24And McLaren Mercedes admitted, as we look at Heinz-Herald Frentzen, that Ron Dennis
09:28told the stewards about a possible irregularity with the Ferrari barge boards.
09:32It kind of sounds like the Billy Martin, pine tar, George Brett, bat home run incident.
09:38Gosh.
09:40So here's how we are.
09:41Here's Ralph Schumacher preparing for today's race.
09:44Mika Haakonen is a twice world champion if he wins the race or if he finished second
09:50with Irvine fifth or worse or third with Irvine seventh or worse.
09:54Eddie Irvine is world champion if he wins the race or finishes anywhere ahead of Mika
09:59Haakonen or if he finishes sixth or better and Haakonen is third or worse or if Haakonen
10:05is just fourth or worse.
10:07Right now the odds favor Irvine by four points.
10:11Ten for the win, six for second, four for third, three, two, and one point for sixth
10:17for the driver's championship.
10:19That's what's at stake here.
10:21Well, the events of Malaysia aside, there is other news of the week.
10:27Let's join Peter Windsor as he makes his grid walk and catches us up to date.
10:32Peter?
10:34Olivier Panis in the news, looks like he's going to sign a test deal with the McLaren
10:37team next year.
10:38This is, of course, what Mika Haakonen did several years ago and it worked for Mika so
10:42Olivier hopes it's going to work for him.
10:43He's rejected an offer from the Arrows team, so a bit of a gamble there and a bit of unrest
10:47in the Prost team as well because Olivier has revealed that at the Belgian Grand Prix
10:51when Prost announced Gianna Lazi as Panis' replacement, only ten minutes before that
10:56announcement, Panis had been told by Prost that he was keeping the drive in the year
10:592000.
11:00So a bit of unrest there.
11:02This year the calendar over 17 races, the latest version has the British Grand Prix
11:06in snowy, rainy April, the Monaco Grand Prix in very hot June and of course we have the
11:12last three races on the schedule, the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis, the Japanese Grand Prix
11:16here at Suzuka and then the Malaysian Grand Prix for the season's finale.
11:19An interesting line-up, don't get too excited about it yet because changes could take place
11:24but that at the moment is what the FIA have released.
11:27This of course is the last race for Damon Hill, lots of celebration, lots of photo calls,
11:30he's giving it 100%.
11:31A bit of a carnival atmosphere here at the Japanese Grand Prix.
11:34Let's hope it's a great race.
11:35Back to you.
11:37Michael Schumacher has just climbed out after a recon lap.
11:39Eddie Irvine is on course in the car in which he completed qualifying.
11:43More on those details a bit later as we have a look at the pole sitter, Michael Schumacher.
11:49One of my great boyhood heroes is Brett Maverick or Jim Rockford, you may know, as Pete Aaron,
11:55one world champion in John Frankenheimer's great epic Grand Prix.
12:00James Garner is in Suzuka and who does he think will win the world championship?
12:05You know, I kind of hate to say it but I guess you got to pick somebody.
12:14I'm going to say Huckabee.
12:19Welcome back live to our Toyota pre-race coverage of the Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka.
12:25Filling the grid after reconnaissance laps and getting set as we close in on the start.
12:29It's only 66 degrees in Suzuka.
12:32Track temperature 78.
12:34Humidity is rather high but only a 10% chance of rain and just a very light hint of a breeze.
12:41We'd like to hear from you.
12:43We'll answer questions of a general nature on our telecast beginning next March with
12:47Grand Prix 2000, formula 1 at foxsports.net is our e-mail address.
12:52And of course formula 1 returns to the United States in September 2000.
12:58There's the number to call for ticket information or e-mail them, tickets at brickyard.com is
13:04the e-mail address.
13:06Really, pre-race entertainment is interesting here at Suzuka.
13:14Let's have a look, Derek, at the circuit on which we will decide this world championship
13:18today.
13:20Well, it's the most liked circuit by the drivers, 3.6 miles, very hard circuit.
13:24One of two circuits.
13:25The only one that's actually raced on which has a figure of 8 configuration.
13:29Let's ride now with Hattoro Tokagi going by the pits, in fact, and the very fastest straight
13:36past the pits there is really, 195 miles now, down to fifth gear, then down to third gear
13:41for the second part of the first curve, works his way up the hill and we start to go through
13:45some S's.
13:47Not all the time you use all the road as you go through it.
13:49Sometimes, too, you do, but you don't let it use all the road on the next bit because
13:52it works out for a very, very fast section uphill now, riding on those curves.
13:58The guys don't use the curves too much here if they can help it.
14:00Now we come up to the famous Dania curve, 180 miles an hour as you come through this
14:04section here.
14:05And it's a little bit bumpy as you go through there as well.
14:08Works his way down now as he comes down in through turn 8, then into turn 9.
14:13You can see the camber on the road as he flicks through turn 9 and then under the main straight
14:16going back on the figure of 8 circuit.
14:19Works his way down towards what they call the hairpin.
14:22This is a first gear hairpin from 160 miles an hour.
14:24You've got to get the car in tight with all that 800 horsepower.
14:27It wants to spin the wheels as it comes out and you need all the traction.
14:30Very difficult to set the car up.
14:32Medium high downforce circuit, but a circuit that you need to have sympathy with the front
14:36suspension of the car and let it tuck into the corners.
14:38Here we are as we come down to the Spoon curve, a vital corner, the most vital.
14:43Watch the way the circuit drops away here.
14:45There's an adverse camber, imperative you get out of there cleanly because it leads
14:48onto this massive long back straightaway crossing over the other part of the circuit, 195 miles
14:54an hour.
14:55And he goes through what they call a 130 R. The corner actually goes left, a very, very
15:00dodgy nearly flat out corner with very little runoff area.
15:03On the right, the entrance to the pits and then this rather futile right and left which
15:08is the Casio Triangle.
15:10Really a frustration that stops all the sort of the complete rhythm of the circuit.
15:14Out onto the track.
15:15It was a lap with Toro Takagi in the arrows.
15:20Well a daunting circuit as we look at the defending world champion, Mika Hakkinen.
15:25And certainly a circuit where in these final races of the season we have seen some just
15:30incredible episodes.
15:32Well qualifying was one of them, Derek.
15:34Let's look at yesterday's qualifying.
15:36Well qualifying certainly was dramatic as one could expect when you get Michael Schumacher
15:40back there with Mika Hakkinen, there seems to be lots of fireworks.
15:43They all love this circuit but Michael Schumacher goes out, gets quickest time, 138.032.
15:49Good time for him.
15:50Mika Hakkinen goes up.
15:51What does he get?
15:52138.032.
15:53But of course he did it second so he's on second.
15:57Eddie Irvine, well he's trying exceptionally hard, doesn't seem to get it together this
16:01time but works very, very hard indeed but locks up a rear wheel we believe, pulls him
16:06onto the dirt as he goes into the hairpin and knocks off his front wheels and that really
16:10is the end of Eddie's qualifying.
16:11But at that point he was fourth, he's waving to the crowd but I don't know why.
16:15David Coulthard, well he was struggling hard, he wasn't quick in the first part of the session.
16:20However, he did finish up third place on the grid.
16:23Heinz Haur, friends with me while in the Mugen Honda with the new Super Suzuka Special.
16:27He goes out and he gets fourth quickest time.
16:30Rubens Barrichello had a lurid weekend, not going at all well.
16:34Just misses the fence there but it was nonetheless at the end of the day it was Michael Schumacher,
16:40pole sitter.
16:41He goes out, what a breathtaking lap, four tenths of a lap quicker than anybody else.
16:45Meanwhile, of course, out goes, there he goes again, Mick Hacken trying to get a clear lap
16:50but he gets taken up by Jean Alesi.
16:52Let's go down and hear what Michael Schumacher has said about his plans for the race.
16:56The best thing that can happen for us is if I can win the race, I do the most help for
17:00Eddie and for the team and that's going to be the strategy.
17:03Well, Peter Windsor, he's talking with Eddie Jordan, let's hear what he has to say.
17:07Another great last minute performance from Jordan, a bit like Nürburgring, got that
17:10time in there right at the end, Eddie, for Heinz-Arnold Frenzel.
17:13Not quite the pole position, which is a shame, but we're on the second row.
17:17I always thought that we could be part of the shake-up for the championship this year.
17:21I suppose Eddie Irvine will be hoping and praying that we can fight with Hacken up there
17:27because that's his best hope at the moment.
17:29But we would like to try and have a crack at a championship.
17:31Michael looked awesome, or at a championship race I should say,
17:34and who knows, anything can happen with Frenzel, but he's been driving amazingly well all season
17:39and we want him on the podium if possible.
17:41Well, a lot of people think that Heinz-Arnold Frenzel is in fact the driver that deserves
17:45the title most this year.
17:46He'll certainly be playing a major role in the race.
17:48Back to you.
17:49I expect he will.
17:50Well, a bit of race strategy being spoken about by Michael Schumacher looking very fit,
17:55not limping at all, set to go from pole, Derek.
17:58Yes, he certainly is.
17:59Of course, all he can do is go out and try and win the race, no pressure.
18:02Tyre wear.
18:03The circuit is very abrasive and they do have tyre wear problems.
18:06They're wearing the actual softer of the harder tyres out there,
18:10but they will not last the distance.
18:11I think it'll be two pit stops.
18:13Team tactics of all things.
18:15This man, Ross Braun on the right of your picture,
18:17he will be the man that could win this race for Eddie Irvine.
18:19And then of course we have the thing, pit stops.
18:21How many stops will it be?
18:22Well, there's talk of Schumacher making three.
18:24The reason for that, I believe, is because he'll run a light fuel load
18:27so that he can get away quickly at the start.
18:29And driver fatigue, that's what it's all about.
18:31They could be very tired.
18:33Well, Ferrari, either on purpose or accidentally,
18:36came up with a wonderful bit of strategy in Malaysia
18:39with that Schumacher one-stop race.
18:41Peter has more.
18:43Nice new set of Bridgestone dry weather tyres here
18:45with their four grooves as per the regulations.
18:48But of course, that was not the tyre
18:50that Michael Schumacher effectively had on his Ferrari
18:52at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
18:54Just before his pit stop, for new tyres and for fuel,
18:57Schumacher strung together a brilliant series of laps,
19:01four of which would have put him on the pole.
19:03That is unheard of in Formula 1 at the moment.
19:05Why did that happen?
19:06Well, on the super soft compound
19:08that Bridgestone took to that Malaysian circuit,
19:10Ferrari and a couple of other teams discovered
19:13that if they ran those tyres long enough,
19:15got through a 20-lap cycle,
19:17suddenly they became slicks with all the properties of slicks.
19:20Now, what do the regulations say?
19:21They say that so long as you start the race
19:23with these four grooves at exactly the depth they should be,
19:26it does not matter what state the tyres are in
19:29at the end of the race.
19:30That is a new rule that came in at the start of this season
19:33because of the Bridgestone monopoly.
19:35And nobody really thought that a tyre,
19:37minus its grooves, would become a slick.
19:39And indeed, in any other compound form,
19:41that does not happen.
19:42On the super soft, however,
19:44a compound Bridgestone did not have here in Japan,
19:46it is a slick.
19:47Back to you.
19:50Thanks, Peter.
19:51You see the grid filling up as we get set to go
19:53with the final round of the World Championship.
19:55Who will be champion?
20:00The Grand Prix of Japan on Fox Sportsnet
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20:08Every day belongs to you.
20:10Make it count.
20:11Toyota.
20:12Every day.
20:15Well, all of the kart fans
20:17certainly expected great things
20:19from Alessandro Zanardi this year
20:21on the Formula 1 circuit.
20:22It's not come to pass,
20:23but he sits down with Peter for a one-on-one.
20:26It's been a difficult first year in Formula 1
20:28for Alex Zanardi
20:29and on top of that,
20:30this weekend he's got a streaming cold.
20:32Despite that,
20:33he wanted to talk about the year,
20:34about the highs and the lows
20:35and about whether it's been him
20:37or the team
20:38or a bit of both.
20:41It was a very hard season
20:43in which I encountered
20:45more problems than I thought.
20:47The first part of the season
20:49I didn't get much help from my team
20:51because I had a lot of problems.
20:53The second part of the team
20:55was more other reasons,
20:57more connected to
21:00things that I didn't do right
21:02probably and
21:04other things.
21:06But, you know,
21:07I don't like to talk about it
21:08because he always sounds like
21:09the guy that is finally accused.
21:12Do you think that you should have
21:13started left foot braking
21:14from the start of the year?
21:17Yeah, that's one of the things
21:18but it's not really
21:19the edge of the pyramid.
21:22It's one of the things, yes.
21:24That was one of my mistakes
21:25because I can candidly admit it
21:27I thought I could actually
21:29get an advantage
21:30compared to other people
21:31by right foot braking
21:33because that was
21:35one of my strongest points
21:36in America.
21:37I was able to do things
21:38with that car
21:40that other people were not.
21:43Unfortunately,
21:44those things
21:45cannot be done
21:46with a Formula One car
21:47at all.
21:48It's not a question of
21:49right or left foot braking
21:51simply because
21:52the cornering speed
21:55is strongly dictated
21:57especially for what it concerns
21:58the slow corners
21:59by the unnatural limit
22:02of the groove tyres
22:04and especially
22:05even more the narrow tracks.
22:07And racing at Indy
22:08looking forward to that?
22:09Yeah, certainly.
22:10Certainly.
22:11As a matter of fact
22:12when it was announced
22:14the first thing I did
22:15I called all my friends
22:16in the state
22:17and I was teasing them
22:18a little bit because
22:19let's face it
22:20everybody would have loved
22:21to go back to Indy.
22:22A lot of the drivers
22:23I think
22:24involved in the car series
22:26were missing that race
22:27a lot
22:28so I was just
22:29giving them some
22:30hard time
22:31saying, hey guys
22:32I have to go back to Formula One
22:33to go to Indy.
22:34Ok, last question.
22:36If you had to rate
22:37your performance this year
22:38out of ten
22:39how many points
22:40would you give yourself?
22:42I would say myself
22:43in the corner
22:44with non-classified
22:46NC
22:47how do you say it in English?
22:50No, come on
22:51you're better than that.
22:52I don't like to judge
22:53my opponents
22:54therefore
22:55I will not judge myself
22:56but I think
22:57it's pretty clear
22:58the job was very poor
23:00I hope I'll do a better one
23:01next year.
23:04So there you are
23:05you get the sense
23:06when you talk to Alex
23:07that there's still
23:08a lot of unfinished
23:09business in Formula One
23:10and personally
23:11I give him ten out of ten
23:12for honesty
23:13and for his passion
23:14for the sport.
23:15Back to you.
23:16I do too Peter
23:17we wish him well today
23:18and as we look forward
23:19to next season.
23:20Coming up
23:21the starting grid
23:22and the start
23:23of the Grand Prix of Japan
23:24on Fox Sports Net.