Qualifying Michael Schumacher started on pole for the first time in 1999, ahead of
Mika Häkkinen and
Eddie Irvine.
Race for
McLaren. The front runners got off the line cleanly, with Michael Schumacher maintaining first place, Häkkinen second, and Irvine third. Behind them
Giancarlo Fisichella passed
David Coulthard to take fifth place.
Jarno Trulli, starting ninth, went off the track trying to pass Heinz-Harald Frentzen up the inside into turn one. Trulli spun across turn one, collecting
Jean Alesi and
Rubens Barrichello in the process. Trulli and Alesi retired, and the safety car was deployed.
Alexander Wurz also retired during the first lap with transmission problems. Barrichello limped back to the pits where repairs were made to his car. He was able to resume the race, albeit two laps down on the leader, but ultimately had to retire because of the collision damage after having completed 14 laps. posted his only career fastest lap in this race. The safety car returned to the pits at the end of the second lap, having been deployed for only one lap, allowing normal racing to resume with the top six being Michael Schumacher, Häkkinen, Irvine, Fisichella, Coulthard and Frentzen. During the third lap Coulthard passed Fisichella going into turn 13 to retake fourth place. Later that same lap,
Ricardo Zonta retired after spinning into the wall at that same turn 13. He stopped just off the track, missing his right rear wheel. This brought the safety car out again. Zonta was the first of four drivers to hit the "Wall of Champions" in this race. At the end of lap 7 the safety car left the track again, allowing the race to resume normally again. The order remained stable until on lap 15,
Damon Hill became the second driver to hit the turn 13 wall. He was able to pull off the track in a safe location, and the safety car was not deployed. During lap 24,
Pedro de la Rosa came in to the pits for a scheduled stop, but when trying to leave his gearbox failed. This forced him to retire. One lap later
Stewart's
Johnny Herbert, from seventh position, was the first driver running in the top ten to make a scheduled pit stop. He returned to the track in tenth place. Michael Schumacher hit the wall at turn 13 on lap 30, giving the lead to
Mika Häkkinen. Five laps later,
Jacques Villeneuve became the fourth and final driver on the day to hit the wall at that turn, bringing the safety car out for the third time. Hill, Schumacher, and Villeneuve were three of the four Formula 1 Drivers' Champions competing in the race who hit the wall. The third safety car period, occurring around the halfway point of the race, was used by many drivers to make a scheduled pitstop. Fisichella, Frentzen,
Pedro Diniz,
Ralf Schumacher, Herbert, Häkkinen, and Irvine all came into the pits shortly before or after the safety car having been deployed to the circuit. Near the end of lap 38, David Coulthard passed the safety car before entering the pit lane for his scheduled stop. Shortly afterwards
Alessandro Zanardi did the same after coming out of the pit lane following his stop trying to prevent being lapped. Both Coulthard and Zanardi also ignored a red light at the end of the pit lane when exiting following their pit stop. and finished third behind
Giancarlo Fisichella. == Classification ==