If fans thought the 1999 season up to this point had been intense, they were in for another dramatic weekend amid changeable conditions at the Nurburgring. While title rivals Mika Hakkinen and particularly Eddie Irvine faced problems (more on that later), the Stewart Grand Prix cars of Johnny Herbert and Rubens Barrichello charged their way through the field from mid-grid starting positions to contend for an unlikely win, making the most of a scary first-lap crash, several spins and technical-related retirements elsewhere.
At the end of it all, Herbert was the man who came out on top, having timed his move to wet tyres perfectly, while Barrichello – who lost some time sticking with slicks – backed him up in third position, just behind Jarno Trulli’s Prost. It marked a memorable and emotional moment for Herbert, who had overcome severe foot injuries sustained in his junior single-seater days to record a third and final F1 victory, as well as for the team led by former world champion Jackie Stewart and his son Paul, as they achieved a landmark triumph in what proved to be their third and final F1 season before selling up to Ford and Jaguar.
Johnny Herbert, Stewart Grand Prix driver: “The first thing [I noticed] was the wind when we got on the grid. I was 14th and Rubens was 15th, and all I remember is the wind was blowing directly up the straight. When you go down towards Turn 1, keep going for about 40 kilometres and you’re at Spa, and we know what happens at Spa with the weather. The race started, we got going, then I noticed this cloud in the distance, a bit wider than the track – it looked like a rain drop shape. Then it just got closer and closer. It kept coming dead straight over the middle of the circuit, never went left, never went right. I went, ‘When it comes, it’s going to throw it down’.
“Luckily, when I was about to come in [for a pit stop]… I was doing my in-lap, so I got called in, got to the far end of the circuit, and it just started to spit with rain. As I got back to the pits and stopped, I’d been on the radio and said, ‘Put wets on’. Rubens came in the next lap and put on slicks, so it was something that catapulted me to be in the mix. It [the rain] lasted longer than I thought and I was going 12 seconds faster than anyone else.
“It was very special [to win] because the Nordschleife itself, it was one of Sir Jackie’s last wins there, so there was a connection with my win, their [Stewart Grand Prix’s] first win and Jackie and his racing career at the same time. I was pleased for myself, but I think I was probably more pleased for my crew, who had put in a lot of hard work and stuck by me. It’s always pleasing to see the smiles on their faces when you get back to the garage, and it’s because of them that I was able to achieve my last win.”
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