The Race
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EARLY ACCESS: BBV10s S12 E3 - Irvine's shock title charge comes alive at Germany 1999
🕑 Added 2025-07-10 10:45:00 +0000 UTCThe 1999 German Grand Prix marked the first time Eddie Irvine got to be the beneficiary of team orders at Ferrari, as Michael Schumacher stand-in Mika Salo was ordered aside to boost Irvine's unlikely title charge against Mika Hakkinen and McLaren at Hockenheim.
Glenn Freeman, Edd Straw and Matt Beer look back on how Irvine and Ferrari were adapting to him being the team leader, and they explore how McLaren's scrappy 1999 season opened the door for this most unexpected of challenges.
We also explore where Irvine fit into the driver market as he looked to move on from Ferrari, what the dynamic was between Hakkinen and team-mate David Coulthard after their collision at the previous race in Austria, how Ford was behaving around Stewart GP having just bought the team, and why Damon Hill parked a seemingly healthy car as his miserable 1999 campaign was dragged out against his will.
Comments
Davinho
As a McLaren fan, my first thought of the race (especially after the Mika crash) was oh no, Hakkinen's injured too! Fortunately it wasn't the case.
Simon Pope
I always thought with Hill in 1999. Let him finish after the British GP but then if Eddie needs him. Have him with the Sponsors at the Grand Prix's. There were so many better ways Jordan could have benefited from Damon rather than make him race when it was clear he wanted to stop.
