The season of twists
Few seasons in the history of Formula 1 have been more balanced, spectacular and full of twists than the one in 1999 he saw Mika Hakkinen and Eddie Irvine arrive to compete for the title in the final race at Suzuka. The Finn, at the wheel of McLaren-Mercedes, was the reigning champion, while Irvine had become 'captain' of Ferrari after the dramatic injury suffered by Michael Schumacher in the British GP. The German Kaiser had to miss six GPs, once again postponing his dream of bringing the championship back to Maranello. He would pay back with interest in the years to come.
Hakkinen vs. Irvine
However, Hakkinen, thanks to some mistakes and some unlucky episodes, had not taken full advantage of his rival's absence, allowing Irvine, but also his teammate David Coulthard and Heinz-Harald Frentzen to remain dangerously in contention for the final success. In the penultimate GP of the year, in Malaysia, Schumacher's return had further galvanized Ferrari. The German had made himself available to Irvine, giving him victory in the first, historic race in Kuala Lumpur and allowing him to reach the final race with four points ahead of Hakkinen.
The challenge with Schumacher
In Japan, however, the Finn would still have been able to confirm the title won the year before if he had managed to win the race. In qualifying Schumacher achieved the best time, with Hakkinen second and Irvine only fifth. The challenge would therefore once again have been between the two great protagonists of those years, who had grown up challenging each other since the days of karting and minor formulas. “I knew that if Michael had held first position at the start the race would have been extremely difficult – the Finn told the site Unibetremembering that special day – Michael would have made my life difficult.”.
The departure of life
“All weekend I hadn't been sure what tactic to use – continued the home champion McLaren – then suddenly on Sunday morning I realized what I had to do“. In an era in which overtaking on the track was rare and difficult and in which race strategies made the difference, Hakkinen's plan was simple but at the same time anything but obvious to carry out: burning Schumacher at the start to be able to control the race as he pleased, also taking advantage of the fact that Irvine only started from the third row.
“All I had to do was focus on the red lights. As soon as they went out, I would have had the best start of my life. I was breathing normally at that time, my heart rate was normal – explained Hakkinen, recalling those crucial moments before the start – I was only focused on the lights. As soon as they went out they had to react at the speed of light, but in a controlled manner. I shouldn't have been in a hurry. Then they went off and I released the clutch slightly, starting to accelerate as I did so. Then I released the clutch completely, saw that I had good grip, and pushed as hard as I could. At that point I looked in the mirrors and the others were all quite far behind. It was the best start I've ever had“. A world champion start.
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