There have been some extraordinary races in this 1999 season, but at the neue Nurburgring - not traditionally a track which lends itself to drama - the events on Sunday beggared belief. Try this: the man who won the European Grand Prix was running 13th at the end of the opening lap.
That man was Johnny Herbert, and his victory was the first for the Stewart-Ford team. Add in that Herbert's team-mate, Rubens Barrichello, was a close third, on the heels of Jarno Trulli's Prost-Peugeot, and you can see that this was an unusual podium. Yes, there was some luck involved, but there was also some brilliant driving, and the Stewart and Prost teams stage-managed their Sunday afternoons considerably better than McLaren-Mercedes or Ferrari, the heavyweights of the moment.
Although these latter two have scrapped over the championship from the first race on, you really begin to wonder if either truly wants it. A dispassionate observer couldn't help but see moments of high comedy on Sunday afternoon.