1999 European Grand Prix
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Thanks for joining us once again in the Autosport Live time machine! We'll shortly be turning the clock back to the grand old year of 1999, and heading off to the Eifel mountains to watch the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.
Qualifying was a real test of setting a lap at the right time - Heinz-Harald Frentzen admitted he got into a bit of a tizz with his engineers, telling them it wouldn't rain again. He was absolutely right, and he has pole to show for it.
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Here's the starting grid, then:
1. Frentzen, 2. Coulthard, 3. Hakkinen, 4. R Schumacher, 5. Panis, 6. Fisichella, 7. Hill, 8. Villeneuve, 9. Irvine, 10. Trulli, 11. Wurz, 12. Salo, 13. Diniz, 14. Herbert, 15. Barrichello, 16. Alesi, 17. Zonta, 18. Zanardi, 19. Badoer, 20. Gene, 21. Takagi, 22. de la Rosa
1. Frentzen, 2. Coulthard, 3. Hakkinen, 4. R Schumacher, 5. Panis, 6. Fisichella, 7. Hill, 8. Villeneuve, 9. Irvine, 10. Trulli, 11. Wurz, 12. Salo, 13. Diniz, 14. Herbert, 15. Barrichello, 16. Alesi, 17. Zonta, 18. Zanardi, 19. Badoer, 20. Gene, 21. Takagi, 22. de la Rosa
An excellent pair of performances from Panis and Villeneuve, who both qualified well within the top 10. The Ferraris struggled, however, as Irvine was ninth and Salo a sa-lowly 12th.
Both Stewarts seemed to be out of sorts too - Herbert and Barrichello were well down the order.
There's plenty of sun, wind and cloud at the Nurburgring right now - so the weather could still play a part in this race.
Minardi's Luca Badoer looks pensive in his Minardi - he starts from 19th.
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Currently, Hakkinen and Irvine are tied on 60 points in the championship - with Frentzen on 50 and Coulthard on 48.
Green flag
We're away for the formation lap - Frentzen leads the field away.
Just a couple of minutes, and then this race is ready to party like it's 1999. Because...well, it IS.
Is it me, or has it got cloudier? There's some big, puffy grey clouds looming over the circuit...
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Frentzen's in his grid slot, then. We're almost ready to go.
Lights green
It's a jump start! The lights never went out and both Frentzen and Hakkinen jumped the start - that's an aborted start.
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So we'll have a restart shortly after that bizarre moment - was that a problem with the lights? The front few drivers are wheeled back into place.
That looked like an Arrows in the wrong grid slot - it seems Gene's lined up in the wrong place.
Green flag
So Gene will be effectively placed at the back, as we have another formation lap - Frentzen leads away.
Frentzen rounds the final corner once more - hopefully, everybody will line up correctly.
Lights green
And we're away! Frentzen leads away from Hakkinen, as Coulthard attempts to clear his team-mate.
Crash
That's an upside down Sauber! That's Diniz, but the rollhoop has absolutely disintegrated!
Wurz is out of the car, and Diniz is being rolled over - thankfully, you could see him moving around in the cockpit.
Safety car
That's a safety car, then, as Diniz is being extricated from the car. Hill was also caught up in that fracas.
So the Benetton of Wurz hit Hill, and Diniz was flipped, turned upside down.
There's Diniz out of the car, he seems well - but that rollhoop has absolutely disappeared. He's a lucky lad, that Pedro.
Zanardi in the Williams took to the grass, but managed to avoid the colliding duo of Wurz and Diniz.
Diniz flips over on the opening lap after contact with Wurz at turn 2
The current order, then, is as follows:
1. Frentzen, 2. Hakkinen, 3. Coulthard, 4. Ralf Schumacher, 5. Fisichella, 6. Panis, 7. Irvine, 8. Villeneuve, 9. Salo, 10. Alesi, 11. Barrichello, 12. Trulli, 13. Herbert, 14. de la Rosa, 15. Takagi, 16. Zonta, 17. Badoer, 18. Gene, 19. Zanardi
1. Frentzen, 2. Hakkinen, 3. Coulthard, 4. Ralf Schumacher, 5. Fisichella, 6. Panis, 7. Irvine, 8. Villeneuve, 9. Salo, 10. Alesi, 11. Barrichello, 12. Trulli, 13. Herbert, 14. de la Rosa, 15. Takagi, 16. Zonta, 17. Badoer, 18. Gene, 19. Zanardi
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And the safety car will come in at the end of the lap.
And the safety car's in, as Frentzen keeps his lead.
Panis has a really good look at Fisichella at the restart, as Coulthard is hustling Hakkinen as they both fight for crucial ground in the title race.
Irvine is now on the back of Panis, having pulled out a good gap over the BAR of Villeneuve.
And, indeed, Irvine dispatches Panis at the chicane to collect sixth place.
Schumacher doesn't quite have the pace to match the McLarens, but he's keeping tabs on them.
Hakkinen has a small glance down the inside of Frentzen, having whittled the Jordan driver's lead down to half a second.
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The front four are all very close to each other - all within 1.5s.
Fisichella is really under threat from Irvine here, and the Ferrari driver has a go at passing the Benetton ace at the hairpin - but Fisi holds on.
Fisichella hangs on in the chicane too, wise to Irvine's tricks a few laps before.
Panis now has Villeneuve and Salo for company behind this enthralling battle between Fisichella and Irvine.
Crash
That's Zanardi! He and de la Rosa were caught in a spin at the final corner - but it looks like the '98 CART champ is stuck.
It was Takagi rather than de la Rosa, and Zonta was also involved in that crash. Zanardi's car is out of the firing line, and he's out of the race.
By: Jake Boxall-Legge
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