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The 1999 Teams Review |
| by Ewan Tytler, U.S.A. | |
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1999 was a difficult year for the Formula One teams. They had a shorter off-season to prepare; the technical regulations made things more difficult and more expensive; the four grooved front tyres resulted in more spin-offs; the cars were less reliable than the year before. All this accumulated to a fairly different Constructors Championship order than we have come accustomed to in previous years. Ewan Tytler has a say on who was hot and who was not.
6 wins, 3 Pole Positions, 9 Fastest Laps, 4 DNF
West McLaren-Mercedes 2nd, 124 Points
7 wins, 11 Pole Positions, 7 Fastest Laps, 12 DNF
B&H Jordan-Mugen Honda 3rd, 61 Points
2 wins, 1 Pole Position, 0 Fastest Laps, 13 DNF
Stewart-Ford 4th, 36 Points
1 win, 1 Pole Position, 0 Fastest Laps, 13 DNF
Winfield Williams-Supertec 5th, 35 Points
0 wins, 0 Pole Positions, 1 Fastest Lap, 15 DNF
Mild Seven Benetton-Playlife 6th, 16 Points
0 wins, 0 Pole Positions, 0 Fastest Laps, 14 DNF
Gauloises Prost-Peugeot 7th, 9 Points
0 wins, 0 Pole Positions, 0 Fastest Laps, 15 DNF
Red Bull Sauber-Petronas 8th, 5 Points
0 wins, 0 Pole Positions, 0 Fastest Laps, 21 DNF
T Minus Arrows-TWR 9th, 1 Point
0 wins, 0 Pole Positions, 0 Fastest Laps, 22 DNF
Fondmetal Minardi-Ford 10th, 1 Point
0 wins, 0 Pole Positions, 0 Fastest Laps, 16 DNF
British American Racing - Supertec 11th, 0 Points
0 wins, 0 Pole Positions, 0 Fastest Laps, 23 DNF
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Ferrari did their homework over the winter and the F399 was a capable, well-tested, reliable car that handled well in the dry. However, unlike the Goodyear-shod F300 of 1998, the F399 was not as competitive in the wet. Despite losing Michael Schumacher in mid-season, Ferrari went on to win convincingly at Austria and Germany. Ferrari brought the wrath of the Italian press on their heads by being uncompetitive at Monza and incompetent at the Nurburgring. They then flirted with disaster on Michael Schumacher's return at Sepang, getting disqualified after a one-two victory, followed by a week of legal wrangling which they ultimately won. Their pit-stop strategies were superior to McLaren's, especially at San Marino, Austria, Germany and Malaysia. For the season, Ferrari had only two DNFs due to mechanical failure and two DNFs due to crashes. Ferrari took their 9th manufacturers' title, matching Williams' all-time record. Ferrari still holds the all-time records for wins, points, pole positions and fastest laps.
The McLaren MP4/14 was designed to be a car for all conditions, coupled with the excellent Ilmor-Mercedes engine. The MP4/14 had a clear advantage on high-speed circuits and handled very well in the wet but seemed to quickly snap out-of-control when pushed to the limit in the dry. It is said that Formula One championships are won or lost early in the season and that was true for McLaren in 1999. McLaren were ill-prepared for the 1999 season, the MP4/14 was not fully tested and had 4 DNFs due to mechanical failure in the opening four races. The Achilles heel of the MP4/14 was the hydraulics system. For the whole season they had 7 DNFs due to mechanical failures and 5 DNFs due to crashes. McLaren's pit-stop strategies were, at times, ill thought-out, often looking like they had been caught napping. They had two major pit-stop disasters at Silverstone and Hockenheim but they excelled in Spain, Hungary and Belgium. The MP4/14 dominated the races, leading for more laps than its competitors.
Jordan had their most successful season ever despite being essentially a one-car team for most of the year. The switch from Goodyear to Bridgestone did not affect them and the Jordan 199 handled well and won under wet and dry conditions. The development of the Jordan 199 and the Mugen-Honda engine throughout the year was steady and incremental. Jordan was a reliable and consistent team; patience, steady progress and "people-smartness" were their greatest assets. Generally their race strategies were sound, they stumbled only at the Nurburgring.
Stewart-Ford came of age in 1999 by scoring their first victory but the Stewart-Ford team lacked consistency throughout the year. Despite a dreadful start to the season, Stewart ended the 1999 season well. The season started with a severe crash in testing at Catalunya, both of Stewart SF3s spontaneously combusting on the grid at Melbourne and both SF3s having suspension failures at Monaco. Although they had several car failures, these happened towards the end of races so they managed to put in a lot of race laps during the season which helped the development of the SF3. The season must have been exciting for the team, with continual development by Ford-Cosworth eventually paying off. The SF3 became a very competitive car that was well mannered in the wet and had superior traction out of corners. Getting involved in Ferrari's disqualification at Sepang was Stewart Ford's only tactical mistake in 1999, something they should have left well alone.
1999 was Williams' worst year in Formula One since 1990. Handicapped by the Supertec engine, Williams knew that the FW21 would not be very competitive this season. The BMW GT project also siphoned a lot of their resources and energy but rewarded them with a victory at Le Mans. Despite this and the fact that they were a one-car team for the year, we saw at Monza the first signs that Patrick Head was close to designing a car that was capable of winning, without the assistance of Adrian Newey. Williams were the most successful team using the ageing Supertec-badged, Mecachrome-manufactured, Renault-designed engine.
The 1998 season ended with Benetton in disarray. Team principal Dave Richards resigned and Rocco Benetton took over the reins. Held back by the Playlife (Mecachrome) engine, Benetton managed to keep their head above water. The B199 was supposed to be bold and aggressive in design but this did not translate into performance on the track. Their radical front torque transfer (FTT) braking system was quietly dropped mid-way through the season. Equipped with one of the best wind-tunnels available, Benetton diligently developed the B199, but they had difficulty getting the correct balance in the cars and could not find consistency. Despite a promising start to the season and a chance to win at the Nurburgring, Benetton scored no points in the last seven races. The Benetton team was quite reliable but their retirements came early in the races. All that translated to a fall in the championship ladder - from 5th last year to 6th in 1999 and nowhere near their primary comeptitors of '98 - Jordan and Williams.
The Prost-Peugeot AP02 set very competitive times in pre-season testing at Catalunya, but it was a different story under racing trim. The Peugeot A18 engine was obviously very fast, but was overweight compared to the Mercedes, Ferrari and Ford engines. This seems to have caused problems in properly balancing the car, especially on slow circuits. Although Jarno Trulli and Olivier Panis didn't publicly complain, it was clear that the Prost AP02 was a handful to drive and was unstable under braking. On high-speed circuits like Hockenheim and Monza, the Prosts were fast but tended to be mobile chicanes. Under wet conditions at Magny-Cours and the Nurburgring, the AP02 handled quite well. Tension built between Prost and Peugeot during the season but this appears to have resolved itself with an increased commitment from Peugeot.
Sauber-Petronas had a poor year with the unreliable C-18. Sauber never quite seemed to get their act together, despite having two capable drivers. Frustration levels were high, which ended up with Jean Alesi publicly haranguing the company and leaving for Prost at the end of the season. They even stumbled at Malaysia, the home Grand Prix of their main sponsor, Petronas. Fortunately they ended the season with a points finish at Suzuka.
Tom Walkinshaw did what he had to do to keep Arrows afloat for another season: flirt with Zakspeed, attempt to sue Pedro Diniz, and release Mika Salo. The A19 was a version of the John Barnard-designed A18 of 1998 modified to meet the 1999 regulations. The TWR engine was not competitive and the team had two inexperienced drivers in Tora Takagi and Pedro de la Rosa. Arrows surprised everyone by scoring a point at Melbourne, but from then on things went downhill. Despite initial high hopes, the financial partnership with Prince Malik foundered, which was a great shame as Formula One would be enriched by more racial diversity. When development of the A19 stopped, Arrows had the indignity of occupying the back row of the grid. Their reliability went downhill and the Arrows cars covered the fewest miles under race conditions in 1999. Having said all that, Arrows had worst years in the past.
Minardi introduced a completely new car for 1999. To mark the reorganisation of the company, the new car was numbered the Minardi 01. This was a successful year for Minardi, after a mediocre start to the season, the Minardi 01 was qualifying ahead of Arrows and sometimes Prost and BAR. Minardi ended a three year points drought, scoring a vital point just days after Giancarlo Minardi publicly pondered on calling it quits. They would have scored more points this year apart from some bad luck, and they even finished ahead of Williams at Malaysia!
Craig Pollock set ambitious goals for his fledgling team. After a remarkable winter and some promising times during pre-season testing, BAR made the fatal error of challenging the FIA over their paintwork. The valuable time and energy wasted on this legal wrangle would have been better spent on solving technical problems. As the DNFs due to mechanical failure mounted up, BAR was soon the subject of pitlane jokes. By mid-season they were looking for scapegoats and there was a hasty reorganisation. At Spa, Villeneuve and Zonta both survived terrifying accidents at Eau Rouge, confirming the safe design of the Reynard monocoque. The BAR 01 was actually quite fast, running third at Catalunya. By seasons end, BAR had solved most of the reliability problems and were making respectable mid-field performances. That said, they are still the team with most DNFs and least Championship points - nothing to boast about, considering their huge BAT budget and pre-season vanity.
| Ewan Tytler | © 1999 Kaizar.Com, Incorporated. |
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