No Formula One race has fallen on 11 April this millennium so we rewind back to 1999, which saw the last race to date fall on this very day as the Brazilian Grand Prix was held at Interlagos 22 years ago.
This race marked the second round of the 1999 season as reigning champion, Mika Hakkinen looked to ignite his title defence, following a disappointing season-opener in Melbourne, Australia as a throttle issue forced him to retire.
Minardi handed Prost’s Test Driver, Stephane Sarrizan his F1 bow as the French driver replaced Luca Badoer who had injured his hand in an testing accident ahead of this race.
Practice
McLaren dominated both practice sessions as Hakkinen topped FP1 with 1m 18.881 ahead of David Coulthard by 0.471 seconds, with Ferrari’s Mick Schumacher and Eddie Irvine sat third and fourth ahead of Benneton’s Giancarlo Fisichella and Stewart Grand Prix’s Rubens Barrichello who rounded out the top six.
Coulthard however topped FP2 with a 1m 17.035 from Hakkinen by 0.211s as Heinz-Harald Frentzen surprisingly was third quickest ahead of Barrichello as Michael Schumacher rounded out the top five.
Qualifying
With drivers limited to just 12 laps throughout Qualifying, Hakkinen and Coulthard locked out the front row for McLaren as Hakkinen posted a 1m 16.568 to claim pole by just 0.147s from Coulthard.
Barrichello qualified a shock third ahead of Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher and Irvine who were fourth and sixth respectively with Benneton’s Giancarlo Fisichella sandwiching the duo.
Damon Hill outqualified Jordan teammate – Heinz Harald-Frentzen to claim seventh on the grid, as Alexander Wurz and Johnny Herbert rounded out the top ten for the race grid.
Williams’ Alessandro Zanardi posted the least qualifying laps out of the entire field with just 10 laps, yet qualified 17th ahead of F1 debutant – Sarrazin who was 18th quickest.
Ricardo Zonta failed to qualify after injuring his left foot during a crash on the Saturday.
Race
Hakkinen made a clean getaway from pole position to lead the race as McLaren teammate, Coulthard stalled and had to be wheeled back to the pits, rejoining three laps down on the pack.
A transmission malfunction however caused Hakkinen to lose gears on lap four which gifted home favourite, Barrichello the lead ahead of Michael Schumacher and Hakkinen as the Brazilian’s exploits meant that a Stewart GP car led a F1 race for the very first time.
Barrichello proceeded to hold the lead until he pitted on lap 27 whilst further back, Wurz and Hill collided on lap 10 with Hill’s race consequently ended with severe damage to his Jordan.
Herbert retired five laps later with a hydraulics issue before Coulthard, Jarno Trulli and Jean Alesi were all forced to retire with gearbox issues between laps 21-27, when Michael Schumacher took the lead for ten laps until he pitted to hand Hakkinen the lead.
Sarrazin’s F1 debut came to an end on lap 31 after a throttle issue caused him to crash his Minardi, in what eventually proved to be his only race amongst the pinnacle of single-seater racing.
Fisichella’s race was ended by a clutch issue on lap 38 before Sauber’s Pedro Diniz spun out four laps later, on the same lap that Barrichello suffered an engine failure with Zanardi then suffering a gearbox failure on the next lap.
Jacques Villeneuve and Pedro de la Rosa were the last two casualties as the pair retired on laps 49 and 52 respectively with hydraulics problems in their BAR and Arrows cars.
Up front, Hakkinen had quickly built a gap to Michael Schumacher ahead of his final stop on lap 42, which helped him retain the lead to the flag through quick pit work from McLaren.
Frentzen finished third despite running out of fuel on the final lap as Ralf Schumacher, Irvine and Olivier Panis rounded out the top six points paying positions – albeit a lap down.
Irvine however retained the lead of the drivers’ championship as Hakkinen rose to second ahead of Frentzen before going on to eventually defend his title, with Ralf and Michael Schumacher rounding out the top five as six points separated those five drivers after just two rounds.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Mika Hakkinen | McLaren | 72 | 1h 36m 03.785 |
| 2 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | 72 | +4.925 |
| 3 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Jordan | 71 | Out of Fuel |
| 4 | Ralf Schumacher | Williams | 71 | + 1 Lap |
| 5 | Eddie Irvine | Ferrari | 71 | + 1 Lap |
| 6 | Olivier Panis | Prost | 71 | + 1 Lap |
| 7 | Alexander Wurz | Benneton | 70 | + 2 Laps |
| 8 | Toranosuke Takagi | Arrows | 69 | + 3 Laps |
| 9 | Marc Gene | Minardi | 69 | + 3 Laps |
| NC | Pedro de la Rosa | Arrows | 52 | Hydraulics |
| NC | Jacques Villeneuve | BAR | 49 | Hydraulics |
| NC | Alessandro Zanardi | Williams | 43 | Gearbox |
| NC | Rubens Barrichello | Stewart GP | 42 | Engine |
| NC | Pedro Diniz | Sauber | 42 | Spin |
| NC | Giancarlo Fisichella | Benneton | 38 | Clutch |
| NC | Stephane Sarrazin | Minardi | 31 | Throttle/Accident |
| NC | Jean Alesi | Sauber | 27 | Gearbox |
| NC | David Coulthard | McLaren | 22 | Gearbox |
| NC | Jarno Trulli | Prost | 21 | Gearbox |
| NC | Johnny Herbert | Stewart GP | 15 | Hydraulics |
| NC | Damon Hill | Jordan | 10 | Collision Damage |
| DNQ | Ricardo Zonta | BAR | Leg Injury |
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