The Ferrari F399 was the car with which the

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

team competed in the

1999 Formula One World Championship The 1999 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 53rd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1999 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1999 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were conteste ...

. The chassis was designed by

Rory Byrne Rory Byrne (born 10 January 1944) is a South African semi-retired engineer and car designer, most famous for being the chief designer at the Benetton and Scuderia Ferrari teams of Formula One. Byrne-designed cars have won ninety-nine Grands P ...

Giorgio Ascanelli Giorgio Ascanelli (born 23 February 1959) is an Italian automotive engineer who has worked for several years in Formula 1. He is currently the technical head of Brembo, a supplier of Formula 1 brakes. Career Ascanelli began his sporting career ...

Aldo Costa Aldo Costa (born 5 June 1961) is an Italian engineer and the Chief Technical Officer at Dallara. With 14 constructors' championships and 12 drivers' titles working for Ferrari and Mercedes, Costa is one of the most successful engineers and desig ...

, Marco Fainello,

Willem Toet Willem Hendrik Toet (born 29 March 1952) is a Dutch-born Australian–British Formula One aerodynamicist. He is currently the Senior Sales Manager and Aerodynamics consultant for Sauber Aerodynamics and Alfa Romeo Racing. He was previously the h ...

, and

Nikolas Tombazis Nikolas Tombazis (; born 22 April 1968 in) is a racing car designer who has worked in Formula One since 1992 for the Benetton Formula, Benetton, McLaren, and Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari teams. Career Born in Athens, Greece, Tombazis graduated w ...

, with

Ross Brawn Ross James Brawn (born 23 November 1954) is a British Formula One managing director, motor sports and technical director. He is a former motorsport engineer and Formula One team principal, and has worked for a number of Formula One teams. Teams ...

playing a vital role in leading the production of the car as the team's technical director and Paolo Martinelli assisted by Giles Simon leading the engine design and operations. The F399 was almost identical to the previous season's F300, with small detail changes like a new front wing, wheel tethers, waisted sidepods, and an improved exhaust system and the use of

Bridgestone is a Japanese multinational manufacturing company founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (18891976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of (), meaning ...

tyres with four grooves instead of three. It was initially driven by

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Schumacher won a record-setting seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, tied by Lewis Hamilton in ...

and

Eddie Irvine Edmund "Eddie" Irvine Jr. (; born 10 November 1965) is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland, who competed Formula One drivers from the United Kingdom, under the British flag in Formula One from to . Irvine was runner-up in the Formula ...

, with

Mika Salo Mika Juhani Salo (born 30 November 1966) is a Finnish former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999, when he stood in for the injured Michael Schumach ...

substituting for Schumacher when he broke his leg at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

. Although the team's quest to win their first drivers' title since was halted by Schumacher's injury and the faster speed of the McLaren MP4/14, they managed to clinch their first constructors' title since .

Technical specifications

The

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of a manufactured object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

of the Ferrari F399 was almost identical to its predecessor, the F300. It had a reinforced

carbon-fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

and honeycomb

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

structure that could protect the driver from most accidents. The engine was an MR(Mid-engine, Rear wheel drive) layout. Changes from the F300 were that the front wing was slightly modified, the sidepods were waisted, and the exhaust was improved in order so that

could push harder in their fight with

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

. The

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Car suspension * Cell suspension or suspension culture, in biology * Guarded suspension, a software design pattern in concurrent programming suspending a method call and the calling ...

for the front and rear areas of the car were the pushrod/double wishbone suspension systems that still exist today in Formula 1. The car also has wheel tethers on each wheel to prevent the tires from hitting the driver's head, a regulation that is still used by Formula One to this day. The

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

is an 790 BHP (552 KW), 80-degree 3.0 litre

V10 A V10 engine is a ten-cylinder piston engine where two banks of five cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V10 engines are much less common than V8 and V12 engines. Several V10 diesel engines have been prod ...

engine manufactured by

called the Tipo048/B/C. It also bears a 7-shift

transmission Transmission or transmit may refer to: Science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Transmission (mechanical device), technology that allows controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual tra ...

that was in almost all Formula One car until the teams started using 8-shift transmission gearboxes since the 2014 season began The car also used

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

fuel to power its engine while the

tyres A tire (North American English) or tyre (Commonwealth English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over w ...

, which were designed by

, now had 4 grooves on all 4 tyres instead of 3 grooves on the front tyres. The new tyres with four grooves were a new rule change for the 1999 season and onward in the V10 era of the sport.

1999 season

Early in the season the car showed huge performance with Irvine winning the opening round in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

while Schumacher collected podiums along with wins at

Imola Imola (; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical region Romagna ...

and

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, thereby making Ferrari a serious threat to the

duo of

Mika Häkkinen Mika Pauli Häkkinen (; born 28 September 1968) is a Finnish former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Flying Finn", Häkkinen won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with M ...

and

David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard (born 27 March 1971) is a British former racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster from Scotland who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "DC", Coulthard was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' ...

throughout much of the 1999 season. While Irvine would also go on to win back-to-back victories at

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

along with the inaugural

Malaysian Grand Prix The Malaysian Grand Prix (, officially the Malaysia Grand Prix from 1963–1965 and 2011–2017 and Malayan Grand Prix in 1962) was an annual auto race held in Malaysia. It was part of the Formula One World Championship from 1999 to 2017 and ...

, Häkkinen and McLaren had shown great consistency over the season despite 4 retirements over the course of the season. Ferrari's championship aspirations also took a beating after Schumacher had broken his leg at

, resulting in Ferrari briefly replacing him with Mika Salo during the midway point of the season. Salo performed well, handing victory to Irvine in Germany and finishing third at Monza. The team were briefly excluded from Malaysia after the stewards found out that their

bargeboards A bargeboard or rake fascia is a board fastened to each projecting gable of a roof to give it strength and protection, and to conceal the otherwise exposed end grain of the horizontal timbers or purlins of the roof. The word ''bargeboard'' is pro ...

were illegal, meaning that Häkkinen and McLaren were effectively handed their respective championships by default. However, Ferrari managed to appeal against the FIA's decision in court and both of their drivers were subsequently reinstated. Mika Salo 1999 Monza

After the season had ended, Häkkinen had claimed the driver's title by two points from Irvine while Ferrari claimed the constructor's title by four points from McLaren.

Livery

Ferrari used '

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (PMI, now separate from Altria) in most global territories outside the ...

' logos, except at the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and Belgian (which was replaced with "Ferrari Formula One Team" and "F1" logo rather than barcode or chevron) Grands Prix.

Complete Formula One results

( key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

*'' AUTOCOURSE 1999–2000'', Henry, Alan (ed.), Hazleton Publishing Ltd. (1999)
"Malaysian GP 1999. Full Race – Irvine Wins at Schumi's Comeback."
''MAXF1net'', 19 Sept. 2017
"The Farce of the 1999 Title Decider."
'' Motor Sport Magazine'', 27 Apr. 2016 *Murphy, Luke
"Gallery: Ferrari Launch 'Michael 50' Exhibition."
''FormulaSpy.com'', 3 Jan. 2019. *S, Alexander
"Ferrari F399 - A Car That Ended the Drought for the Italian Team."
''SnapLap'', 3 Apr. 2019. *“Ferrari F1-2000.” ''Ferrari F1-2000 - F1technical.Net''
www.f1technical.net/f1db/cars/832/ferrari-f1-2000
*Grandprix.com - First & fastest: The original online F1 news service. “Testing Intensifies as New Cars Appear.” ''Latest Formula 1 Breaking News - Grandprix.com''

External links

{{F1 cars 1999 F399 1999 Formula One season cars Formula One championship–winning cars Formula One controversies