Lap-by-lap coverage of the Japanese GP

Michael Schumacher makes a poor start and Mika Hakkinen shoots ahead of him into the lead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

Prost driver Olivier Panis takes third position.

Eddie Irvine has got ahead of David Coulthard and lies in fourth position.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen is in sixth.

Schumacher is already 0.936 seconds behind Hakkinen.

Lap two: Irvine is 4.2 seconds behind championship rival Hakkinen.

Lap three: Hakkinen still pulling away, and posts fastest lap with a 1.41.952.

In his last Formula One race Damon Hill is down to 14th position.

Lap four: Race order remains the same: Hakkinen, Michael Schumacher, Panis, Irvine, Coulthard and Frentzen.

Williams driver Ralf Schumacher is seventh, followed by Jean Alesi, Johnny Herbert and Jacques Villeneuve.

Jarno Trulli retires.

Lap five: Hakkinen extends his lead over Michael Schumacher. The gap between the two drivers is now 3.384 seconds.

Lap seven: Coulthard is closing up behind Irvine. The gap is just 0.7 seconds.

Schumacher is still losing time to Hakkinen. The Finn is now 4.9 seconds ahead of the German.

Lap eight: Alex Zanardi is out of the race with an electrical problem. Team-mate Ralf Schumacher now needs to get on the podium to take fourth place in the constructors' championship away from the Stewart-Ford team.

Lap 10: Hakkinen extends his lead over Schumacher to 5.9 seconds.

Irvine is now 2.7 seconds behind the third-placed Prost of Panis.

Lap 11: Frentzen is running 1.9 seconds behind Coulthard.

Fisichella down to 19th position after spinning at Turn 8 and Turn 13.

Lap 12: Michael Schumacher is now 6.672 seconds behind Hakkinen.

The top six remain as: Hakkinen, Michael Schumacher, Panis, Irvine, Coulthard, Frentzen.

Lap 13: Irvine is now 28.3 seconds behind championship rival Hakkinen.

Lap 14: The Benetton team is preparing for a pit stop.

Lap 15: Damon Hill goes off at the Spoon. He rejoins the track. He was in 13th, and rejoins his final race in 19th.

Hill pits and returns to the track.

Lap 17: Third-placed Panis pits, and does a 6.8-second stop.

Irvine, Coulthard, Frentzen and Ralf Schumacher all go through. Panis rejoins in 10th position.

Lap 18: Michael Schumacher has lost more time to Hakkinen. He is now 8.2 seconds behind the Finn.

Lap 19: Hakkinen pits, and does an 8.8-second stop.

Michael Schumacher takes the lead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

Panis returns to the pits to retire from the race.

Takagi pits.

Lap 20: Race order is now: Michael Schumacher, Hakkinen, Irvine, Coulthard, Frentzen and Barrichello.

Only Hakkinen has pitted.

Lap 21: Hakkinen is 9.5 seconds behind Michael Schumacher.

The Ferrari team is getting ready to receive someone.

Michael Schumacher pits as the McLaren team comes out.

Lap 22: Schumacher's stop was two seconds quicker than Hakkinen's.

Coulthard pits with a 7.1, and moves back ahead of Frentzen into fourth.

Hill has retired from his final grand prix.

The Ferrari team is getting ready for Irvine.

Lap 23: Irvine does an identical stop to Coulthard.

Irvine exits the pits as Coulthard comes past. The Scot just manages to get ahead.

Lap 24: Race order is now: Hakkinen, Michael Schumacher, Coulthard, Irvine and Frentzen.

Ralf Schumacher lies sixth, followed by Herbert, Alesi, Villeneuve, Barrichello and Wurz.

Lap 25: Hakkinen is now 7.2 seconds ahead of German Michael Schumacher.

Lap 26: Michael Schumacher has narrowed the gap between himself and Hakkinen to 6.654 seconds.

Lap 27: Michael Schumacher continues to close on Hakkinen, and pulls another two-tenths away from the Finn.

Coulthard is some 43.3 seconds behind team-mate Hakkinen, with Irvine 0.8 seconds behind.

Lap 25: Coulthard is lapping some three seconds slower than his team-mate, which is holding up Hakkinen's championship rival Irvine.

Lap 29: Irvine is now just one second ahead of Frentzen and 1.6 seconds ahead of Ralf Schumacher.

Lap 30: Coulthard continues to slow. He is now putting in 1.45-second laps, allowing Frentzen and Ralf Schumacher to close up even more.

Lap 31: Michael Schumacher continues to chase Hakkinen, and does the fastest lap of the race so far with a 1.41.319.

Lap 32: Frentzen pits.

Ralf Schumacher continues to close up behind Irvine.

Irvine and Ralf Schumacher pit.

Irvine does a 6.1-second stop. He rejoins the race in fifth position behind Hakkinen, Michael Schumacher, Coulthard and Herbert.

Lap 33: Michael Schumacher continues to chase Hakkinen. The gap between them is now down to 5.5 seconds.

Coulthard is a minute behind team-mate Hakkinen, and has not yet stopped for his second pitstop.

Lap 34: Coulthard spins off and hits the wall. He loses his nose cone and must return to the pits.

Lap 35: Herbert moves up to third place with Irvine in fourth.

Lap 36: Coulthard rejoins track ahead of Michael Schumacher and holds him up by 3.6 seconds. The gap between Hakkinen and Schumacher is now up to 9.9 seconds.

Michael Schumacher pits, and gets away in 7.5 seconds.

Lap 37: Hakkinen is yet to stop, but leads Michael Schumacher by 10.9 seconds.

McLaren is getting ready for Hakkinen.

Hakkinen pits.

The Finn does a 7.4-second stop, gets away cleanly and remains ahead of Michael Schumacher.

Lap 38: Hakkinen is now 11.47 seconds ahead of the German.

Lap 40: Race order is: Hakkinen, Michael Schumacher, Irvine, Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher and Alesi.

Coulthard retires from the race.

Lap 41: Michael Schumacher closes the gap between himself and Hakkinen to 9.6 seconds.

Lap 42: With just 11 laps to go, if Hakkinen stays in first position, and Irvine in third, the Finn will take his second consecutive world championship.

However, Ferrari will secure the constructors' title.

Lap 43: Irvine is now over 79 seconds behind rival Hakkinen, and seven seconds ahead of Frentzen.

Lap 44: Race order remains the same: Hakkinen, Michael Schumacher, Irvine, Frentzen, Schumacher and Alesi.

The top six are followed by the Stewarts of Herbert and Rubens Barrichello, and BAR driver Jacques Villeneuve.

Lap 45: Ralf Schumacher is now just 0.8 seconds behind Frentzen.

Lap 46: Luca Badoer goes out of the race.

Lap 47: Hakkinen is now lapping 1.4 seconds faster than Michael Schumacher.

Lap 49: Driver order remains the same. Hakkinen is heading towards his fifth victory of the season and his second consecutive world championship.

Fisichella is out of the race with a blown engine.

Lap 50: Just three laps to go before Hakkinen will be crowned 1999 Formula One world champion.

Lap 52: With one lap to go, Michael Schumacher is now seven seconds behind.

Lap 53: Hakkinen wins the 1999 Japanese Grand Prix and takes the drivers' title.