1999 Driver Profiles by Julie Gates

Team: McLaren

by Julie Gates

The Team: Improved reliability for the second half of the season saw their car regularly completing race distances, albeit with less outright speed than they originally possessed. Clearly the class of the field at Austria, the drivers clashed, bringing talk of team orders into the equation. However, fair play to the team who decided to let their drivers' race until Coulthard no longer had a chance at the title; which was from the penultimate round of the championship at Sepang.

McLaren lost some valuable points at races such as Germany and Monza, but dominated Hungary and Belgium from start to finish. They out-smarted Ferrari at both Hungary and Japan in the tactical game, seeing their car win half of the final eight Grand Prix. Team morale nose-dived during the weekends of Austria and Belgium thanks to driver disagreements, but they stuck together to make ensure at least one championship was theirs. The Silver Arrows also dominated qualifying, with the two Ferraris only out-qualifying them once. Fighting hard, yet fair, all the way, it was the drivers' mistakes rather than the car's capabilities that cost them most.

Driver - Mika Hakkinen: Even though many thought he was losing the plot, Mika came through to win his second successive title, becoming the seventh man in history to take back to back Championships. With some storming performances in the second half of the year, notable are Austria, Hungary and the title clinching Japanese Grand Prix. Nonetheless, even though he has demonstrated obvious speed and skill, it's become evident that pressure can pose a challenge for the Finn. At Belgium he settled for second when victory could have been his, in Monza, he crashed out while leading comfortably and at Luxembourg his performance was frankly amateur. He also expected the team and Coulthard to bend over backwards for him, despite losing valuable points through mistakes of his own. However, the meteoric drive at Japan proved that the Finn is worthy of his title. Perfect from start to finish, he won the race with style to claim the championship. Work could be done on mental strength for the up-and-coming season, but he is clearly one of the paddock's finest. Very quick, generally reliable… maybe prone to lack of concentration.

Driver - David Coulthard: A much better performance throughout the second half of the year. Demonstrated aggression racing for position and showed determination to succeed when the going got tough. Clashed with his team-mate in Austria, although the team accepted this as a simple racing incident. Performed brilliantly in Hungary to snatch second position from Irvine and drove the race of his life at Belgium, leading from start to finish. Failed to perform at Monza due to poor car handling and crashed at Luxembourg while in line for a brilliant victory in the wet. Fought equally hard at Malaysia, pulling a blinding move on Schumacher, then retired with fuel pressure irregularity. Played the team role well at Japan, but a spin into the barrier forced him into retirement. Overall, a positive performance. He showed speed and the aggression he usually lacks. Could be in for good things next year if luck doesn't desert him again.

Conclusion: Improved reliability enhanced their performances, but pit stop blunders at Hockenheim, driver errors and mechanical failures all cost them valuable points. Still having the car the one deemed to beat, they won the Drivers' Championship in style. Failed to win the Constructors' Cup, but worked hard throughout the months to increase their stakes. Still, full marks cannot be rewarded due to the number of errors, both from driver and team.

Grade: A-