Story
31.10.1999
Japan
Suzuka
Mika Hakkinen is crowned world champion in Japan for the second successive year after a dominant victory in the season finale.
Title rival Eddie Irvine leads the driver standings by just four points when the teams arrive at Suzuka, meaning that a win will give Hakkinen the title. However, if Hakkinen finishes second, Irvine only needs fourth to take the title.
The Irishman’s Ferrari team-mate Michael Schumacher starts on pole but is slow away from the line, allowing Hakkinen a lead he never relinquishes.
The Finnish driver keeps his composure to secure a perfectly-timed victory, becoming only the seventh man in history to win back-to-back titles. McLaren Mercedes narrowly miss out on the constructors’ championship when David Coulthard spins into a wall and later retires with hydraulic failure.
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