Sunday October 17th, 1999

McLaren is the Constructors Champion and Mika Hakkinen has been crowned the 1999 World Champion, after both Eddie Irvine and Michael Schumacher were disqualified from the Malaysian Grand Prix as their cars failed to meet the FIA's techincal regulations (see previous story).

The director of the race held a hearing, after which the following announcement was released: "Having heard the explanation of the competitors' representative and the team's technical director and having heard the explanations of the FIA technical delegate and the team's acceptance that the bodywork did not conform, the stewards decide that neither car complies with Article 3.12.1 of the 1999 FIA FI technical regulations and therefore exclude both cars from the event. The competitor's representative is reminded of his right to appeal."

Ferrari's spokesman, Claudio Berro, said the team will appeal the decision and are expected to release a statement later today.

The amended results of the Malaysian Grand Prix are therefore as follows:

Pos  Driver        Team              
 1.  Hakkinen      McLaren Mercedes  
 2.  Herbert       Stewart Ford      
 3.  Barrichello   Stewart Ford      
 4.  Frentzen      Jordan Mugen-Honda
 5.  Alesi         Sauber Petronas   
 6.  Wurz          Benetton Supertec 
 7.  Gene          Minardi Ford      
 8.  Zanardi       Williams Supertec 
 9.  Fisichella    Benetton Supertec 

Amended Drivers Points Standings after 15 rounds:

 1. Hakkinen      72        2. Irvine        60
 3. Frentzen      53        4. Coulthard     48
 5. R.Schumacher  33        6. M.Schumacher  32
 7. Barrichello   23        8. Herbert       18
 9. Fisichella    13       10. Salo          10
11. Hill           7        =  Trulli         7
13. Wurz           4       14. Diniz          3
 =  Alesi          3       16. Panis          2
 =  de la Rosa     1        =  Gene           1

Ammended Constructors' Points Championship:

1. McLaren-Mercedes          120
2. Scuderia Ferrari          102
3. Jordan-Mugen Honda         60
4. Stewart-Ford               41
5. Williams-Supertec          33
6. Benetton-Playlife          17
7. Prost Peugeot               9
8. Sauber-Petronas             4
9. Arrows                      1
=  Minardi                     1