The 1999 French Grand Prix (formally the Mobil 1 Grand Prix de France 1999) was a Formula One motor race held on 27 June 1999 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours near Magny-Cours, France. It was the seventh race of the 1999 Formula One season. The 72-lap race was won by Heinz-Harald Frentzen driving a Jordan car after starting from fifth position. Mika Häkkinen finished second driving for McLaren, with Rubens Barrichello finishing third for the Stewart team. The remaining points-scoring positions were filled by Ralf Schumacher (Williams), Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), Eddie Irvine (Ferrari).
As a consequence of the race, Häkkinen extended his lead in the World Drivers' Championship to eight points over Schumacher, with Irvine a further 14 behind. In the World Constructors' Championship, McLaren reduced the lead over Ferrari to six points with Williams passing Benetton for fourth position, 43 points behind Ferrari.
Report
Background
Heading into the seventh round of the season, McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen was leading the World Drivers' Championship with 34 points; Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher was second on 30 points, 4 points behind Häkkinen. Behind Häkkinen and Schumacher in the Drivers' Championship, Eddie Irvine was third on 25 points in the other Ferrari, with Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Giancarlo Fisichella both on 13 points. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari were leading on 55 points and McLaren were second on 46 points, with Jordan third on 16 points.
Following the Canadian Grand Prix on 13 June, the teams conducted testing sessions at the Magny-Cours circuit from 16 to 18 June. David Coulthard (McLaren) set the fastest time on the first day, while Eddie Irvine was fastest on the second and final day of testing. Williams made modifications to the suspension of their cars, resulting in several spins. Among the other teams, Minardi elected to perform aerodynamic mapping work at the Automotive Safety Center using their test driver Gastón Mazzacane. Arrows performed shakedown runs at the Santa Pod Raceway.
On 16 June, Jordan driver and 1996 World Drivers' Champion Damon Hill announced that he would retire from Formula One racing at the end of the season. Hill later said a factor in his decision was the amount of testing undertaken by the teams and his own personal performance during the season, although he considered retiring with immediate effect.
Practice and qualifying
Two practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—one on Friday from 11:00 to 14:00 local time, and a second on Saturday morning between 09:00 to 11:00. The first practice session took place in dry conditions. The ambient temperature was .
The second practice session was held in overcast and wet weather conditions, with a drop in the track temperature to and the ambient temperature to . Coulthard took fourth despite going into the gravel and spinning off late in the session. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was fifth, with Michael Schumacher completing the top six.
Due to the wet conditions, a then-record five drivers - Damon Hill, Marc Gené, Luca Badoer, Pedro de la Rosa, and Toranosuke Takagi - all failed to meet the 107% time. Hill missed out by just three milliseconds, the slimmest-ever margin. Due to the wet conditions, and the drivers' competitiveness in practice, all five drivers were permitted to race due to "exceptional circumstances".
The race took place in the afternoon from 14:00 local time, and started on a dry track, with an ambient temperature of and a track temperature of . Jean Alesi, starting second, was slower than Barrichello and held up drivers after the start. David Coulthard was able to pass Alesi on lap two. Mika Häkkinen stormed up through the field from his starting position of fourteenth to ninth place by lap two. During Frentzen's one and only pit stop to change onto wet tyres, the Jordan team had fortuitously filled his car with enough fuel to finish the race.
Post-race
The top three finishers appeared on the podium and in the subsequent press conference. Damon Hill hinted after the race that this one could have been his last, or if he did compete at Silverstone in the next race he might leave Formula One afterwards. Toranosuke Takagi was disqualified for using tyres which had been marked for his team-mate, Pedro de la Rosa.
As a consequence of the race, Häkkinen extended his lead in the World Drivers' Championship to eight points over Schumacher, with Irvine a further 14 behind. In the World Constructors' Championship, McLaren reduced the lead over Ferrari to six points with Williams passing Benetton for fourth position, 43 points behind Ferrari.
Classification
Qualifying
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 85%;"
|-
! Pos !! No !! Driver !! Constructor !! Lap !! Gap !! Grid
|-
! 1
| 16
| Rubens Barrichello
| Stewart-Ford
| 1:38.441
|
| 1
|-
! 2
| 11
| Jean Alesi
| Sauber-Petronas
| 1:38.881
| +0.440
| 2
|-
! 3
| 18
| Olivier Panis
| Prost-Peugeot
| 1:40.400
| +1.959
| 3
|-
! 4
| 2
| David Coulthard
| McLaren-Mercedes
| 1:40.403
| +1.962
| 4
|-
! 5
| 8
| Heinz-Harald Frentzen
| Jordan-Mugen-Honda
| 1:40.690
| +2.249
| 5
|-
! 6
| 3
| Michael Schumacher
| Ferrari
| 1:41.127
| +2.686
| 6
|-
! 7
| 9
| Giancarlo Fisichella
| Benetton-Playlife
| 1:41.825
| +3.384
| 7
|-
! 8
| 19
| Jarno Trulli
| Prost-Peugeot
| 1:42.096
| +3.655
| 8
|-
! 9
| 17
| Johnny Herbert
| Stewart-Ford
| 1:42.199
| +3.758
| 9
|-
! 10
| 23
| Ricardo Zonta
| BAR-Supertec
| 1:42.228
| +3.787
| 10
|-
! 11
| 12
| Pedro Diniz
| Sauber-Petronas
| 1:42.942
| +4.501
| 11
|-
! 12
| 22
| Jacques Villeneuve
| BAR-Supertec
| 1:43.748
| +5.307
| 12
|-
! 13
| 10
| Alexander Wurz
| Benetton-Playlife
| 1:44.319
| +5.878
| 13
|-
! 14
| 1
| Mika Häkkinen
| McLaren-Mercedes
| 1:44.368
| +5.927
| 14
|-
! 15
| 5
| Alessandro Zanardi
| Williams-Supertec
| 1:44.912
| +6.471
| 15
|-
! 16
| 6
| Ralf Schumacher
| Williams-Supertec
| 1:45.189
| +6.748
| 16
|-
! 17
| 4
| Eddie Irvine
| Ferrari
| 1:45.218
| +6.777
| 17
|-
! colspan="7" |107% time: 1:45.332
|-
! 18
| 7
| Damon Hill
| Jordan-Mugen-Honda
| 1:45.334
| +6.893
| 18
|-
! 19
| 21
| Marc Gené
| Minardi-Ford
| 1:46.324
| +7.883
| 22
|-
! 20
| 20
| Luca Badoer
| Minardi-Ford
| 1:46.784
| +8.343
| 21
|-
! 21
| 14
| Pedro de la Rosa
| Arrows
| 1:48.215
| +9.774
| 19
|-
! 22
| 15
| Toranosuke Takagi
| Arrows
| 1:48.322
| +9.881
| 20
|-
! colspan=7 | Source:
|-
|}
;Notes
- – Damon Hill, Marc Gené, Luca Badoer, Pedro de la Rosa and Toranosuke Takagi all failed to set a lap time within the 107% limit, but were allowed to race due to poor weather conditions during qualifying. They were ordered in grid by free practice times, therefore Hill started 18th, de la Rosa 19th, Takagi 20th, Badoer 21st and Gené 22nd.
Race
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%;"
! Pos !! No !! Driver !! Constructor !! Laps !! Time/Retired !! Grid !! Points
|-
! 1
| 8
| Heinz-Harald Frentzen
| Jordan-Mugen-Honda
| 72
| 1:58:24.343
| 5
| 10
|-
! 2
| 1
| Mika Häkkinen
| McLaren-Mercedes
| 72
| +11.092
| 14
| 6
|-
! 3
| 16
| Rubens Barrichello
| Stewart-Ford
| 72
| +43.432
| 1
| 4
|-
! 4
| 6
| Ralf Schumacher
| Williams-Supertec
| 72
| +45.475
| 16
| 3
|-
! 5
| 3
| Michael Schumacher
| Ferrari
| 72
| +47.881
| 6
| 2
|-
! 6
| 4
| Eddie Irvine
| Ferrari
| 72
| +48.901
| 17
| 1
|-
! 7
| 19
| Jarno Trulli
| Prost-Peugeot
| 72
| +57.771
| 8
|
|-
! 8
| 18
| Olivier Panis
| Prost-Peugeot
| 72
| +58.531
| 3
|
|-
! 9
| 23
| Ricardo Zonta
| BAR-Supertec
| 72
| +1:28.764
| 10
|
|-
! 10
| 20
| Luca Badoer
| Minardi-Ford
| 71
| +1 lap
| 21
|
|-
! 11
| 14
| Pedro de la Rosa
| Arrows
| 71
| +1 lap
| 19
|
|-
!
| 9
| Giancarlo Fisichella
| Benetton-Playlife
| 42
| Spun off
| 7
|
|-
!
| 7
| Damon Hill
| Jordan-Mugen-Honda
| 31
| Electrical
| 18
|
|-
!
| 5
| Alessandro Zanardi
| Williams-Supertec
| 26
| Engine
| 15
|
|-
!
| 22
| Jacques Villeneuve
| BAR-Supertec
| 25
| Spun off
| 12
|
|-
!
| 10
| Alexander Wurz
| Benetton-Playlife
| 25
| Spun off
| 13
|
|-
!
| 21
| Marc Gené
| Minardi-Ford
| 25
| Spun off
| 22
|
|-
!
| 11
| Jean Alesi
| Sauber-Petronas
| 24
| Spun off
| 2
|
|-
!
| 2
| David Coulthard
| McLaren-Mercedes
| 9
| Electrical
| 4
|
|-
!
| 12
| Pedro Diniz
| Sauber-Petronas
| 6
| Transmission
| 11
|
|-
!
| 17
| Johnny Herbert
| Stewart-Ford
| 4
| Gearbox
| 9
|
|-
!
| 15
| Toranosuke Takagi
| Arrows
| 71
| Wrong tyres
| 20
|
|-
! colspan=8 | Sources:
|-
|}
;Notes
- – Toranosuke Takagi finished 11th but was disqualified for using tyres which had been marked for his team-mate, Pedro de la Rosa.
Championship standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%;"
|-
! +/–
! Pos
! Driver
! Points
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| 1
| Mika Häkkinen
| 40
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| 2
| Michael Schumacher
| 32
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| 3
| Eddie Irvine
| 26
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| 4
| Heinz-Harald Frentzen
| 23
|-
|align="left"| 10px 2
| 5
| Ralf Schumacher
| 15
|-
!colspan=4|Source:
|}
;Constructors' Championship standings
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:85%;"
|-
! +/–
! Pos
! Constructor
! Points
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| 1
| Ferrari
| 58
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| 2
| McLaren-Mercedes
| 52
|-
|align="left"| 10px
| 3
| Jordan-Mugen-Honda
| 26
|-
|align="left"| 10px 1
| 4
| Williams-Supertec
| 15
|-
|align="left"| 10px 1
| 5
| Benetton-Playlife
| 14
|-
!colspan=4|Source: