1999 European Grand Prix
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Coulthard effectively ends his title tilt after throwing his car off the road
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This has been a manic race indeed. Ralf Schumacher leads from Fisichella. Herbert has third place from Barrichello and Trulli, as Villeneuve has dragged his BAR into P6. Who'd have thought it?
Schumacher is now building a big break on Fisichella - the Italian is almost 20s in arrears now.
The rain seems to be getting even worse, with big rooster-tails of spray pouring off the back of the cars. Meanwhile, Ferrari seems to be ready to bring Irvine in.
Pit stop
Indeed, it's Irvine - he's putting wets on and heading back out - he drops from seventh to eighth, such are the gaps.
Sun's out, wheelguns out? It's very wet in places, but it's also pretty dry at certain corners - as Zonta passes Hakkinen.
Crash
Fisichella has another off, but it looks as though he's managed to avoid the barriers. Well held, Giancarlo.
Fisi also hangs onto second but Herbert is reeling in the Benetton having, you know, not gone off the road.
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Schumacher pits from the lead, then - that should be his final stop of the day! He relinquishes the lead to Fisichella, also falling behind Herbert in the process.
Crash
Takagi's in the wall! The Arrows driver goes onto the white line, slides onto the wet grass - and at that point, he's just a passenger.
There's double-waved yellows for Takagi, as Schumacher is right on Herbert's tail. Herbert's still on wets, Schumacher's on slicks, and the Brit hangs onto second.
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Salo, meanwhile, is being rolled back into the pits - his race is Finn-ished.
Fisichella puts a lap on Gene, and he's about to shuffle Villeneuve down a lap too.
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Herbert pits from second, opting for the slicks to presumably go to the end. He drops to P3 behind Schumacher.
A second downpour shook up the order - here's Trulli bearing wet tyres.
Fisichella now laps Irvine, who makes that much more difficult than it perhaps needed to be, to give himself some clear track.
Crash
And Fisichella's out! The Benetton driver spins it, and loses his shot at a win. That's another heartbreaking moment for a race leader here.
Crash
Ralf Schumacher goes off from the lead! As soon as the Williams driver collects the lead, he gets a puncture! What a shame for him...
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And Johnny Herbert leads! The Stewart driver now takes the lead, as Trulli now moves up to second - who expected that?!
Ralf Schumacher loses his chance of victory with an ill-timed puncture
Schumacher rejoins in fifth, ahead of Villeneuve and Gene - but look at that, Badoer is up to fourth place!
Hakkinen attempts to unlap himself from race leader Herbert, but Herbert doesn't want to yield. He doesn't really need to, either.
As we say that, Herbert lets Hakkinen go. He's still got some chance at a result here, and could theoretically even extend his championship lead.
Trulli has Panis all over him, but Panis is a lap down and Prost will have to carefully manage that - especially with Barrichello closing in on the Italian driver.
Schumacher has clear track, and he's pushing for all his worth to try and get back into the top three.
No! That's Badoer, out of the race from fourth place...he throws the steering wheel out of the car, and that's a possible three points out of Minardi's grasp. Another heartbreak.
Badoer, having lost fourth place, lets out an anguished cry. An absolute shame.
Badoer's loss is Gene's gain, and the Spanish rookie is up to sixth place - behind Villeneuve in fifth.
Meanwhile, Hakkinen is closing in on seventh-placed Irvine - his main title rival - as he smells possible points.
Helpfully for Trulli, he has Panis to play tail-gunner to protect second from Barrichello. The Brazilian won't be im-prost with that.
Hakkinen has a stab at Irvine, but that wasn't really on - Irvine held the line into the chicane and Hakkinen ran wide.
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Top six - an improbable top six - is: Herbert, Trulli, Barrichello, Schumacher, Villeneuve, Gene.
Crash
Zonta, meanwhile, had a spin at the chicane - but he's so far ahead of Panis that he keeps ninth place.
Trulli is now very under fire from Barrichello, as Panis has disappeared from the picture. Will it be a Stewart 1-2?
Hakkinen is still attempting to throw a move on Irvine - but he just can't make it happen!
Barrichello, meanwhile, decides to have a look at Trulli - but Trulli holds form into the chicane.
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And that's Villeneuve out! The BAR team won't score today, and Gene shuffles up to fifth!
Barrichello is still over Trulli like a rash, but the Italian absorbs every ounce of pressure.
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Hakkinen passes Irvine for sixth! Irvine goes off at the chicane, locking up to let Hakkinen through.
Herbert, meanwhile, is streets ahead of everyone else. He's about to begin the penultimate lap, as Barrichello still can't clear Trulli!
By: Jake Boxall-Legge
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