Race day screenshots

The 1999 Australian Grand Prix
Melbourne, 5th-7th March

Sunday - race

Race day pictures and video

A new feature of the Johnny Herbert Website's GP coverage for 1999 - race day screenshots - the best pictures of Johnny captured from the TV coverage.

Team comments

Johnny Herbert, Car No.17 (SF3-03):

"It's very frustrating that both cars should be struck down on the starting grid. For me, it's a bad way to end a very promising weekend. However, this race tells us that we have a very competitive car and we have cause for optimism for the rest of the season."

Rubens Barrichello, Car No.16 (SF3-04):

"Obviously I'm happy to score two points but I'm also a little upset because I felt like I could have won the race. The 10 second penalty was tough because I had nowhere to go when I overtook Michael Schumacher under the yellow flags. Something happened ahead of the pack, Michael slowed and I went to the right of him to avoid him. The car handled fantastically. I feel like it's going to be a good year."

Paul Stewart, SGP Deputy Chairman:

"It seems a little odd to say this but there are mixed emotions in the garage because or the 'what if' scenario. Had Rubens started from his original grid position (fourth) there is every chance that he would have won the race. Nonetheless, I'm extremely proud of the team's efforts this weekend. Its a credit to everyone in the Stewart-Ford learn that Rubens was able to drive the race of the day. It was bad luck for Johnny after his excellent performances throughout the weekend."

Gary Anderson, SGP Technical Director:

"Rubens put the drama on the grid behind him to drive the race of his life in the spare car. He had to endure a fuel-rig malfunction on his first stop, he had a 10 second penalty which was probably a bit harsh. He re-stopped and refuelled and still brought home two points for the team."

Nick Hayes, F1 Programme Director, Cosworth Racing

"What an amazing roller coaster of high and lows and what a drive from Rubens. We still don't know exactly why there was an oil leak which caused the fires in both cars on the starting grid. We have to get back to base and take a closer look."

Neil Ressler, Vice President, Research & Vehicle Technology, Ford:

"The race illustrated that the form shown throughout the weekend was no mistake. After the problems on the grid, Rubens had to start in the spare car and it was the beginning of a tremendous fight back for him to finish fifth. Today's efforts show the competitiveness of the new car and the Ford Cosworth V10 CR-1 engine and it bodes well for the rest of the season for the whole Stewart-Ford team."

Eyewitness report from Peter Blake in Melbourne

Race day was brilliant (except for Stewarts wiring loom fires!!). The warm up in the morning the Stewarts were doing well, Ferrari seemed to be going ok, it was nearly a wet warm up!!

I had quite a good position near the chicane at turn 11&12, where I could see a big TV screen to keep in touch with what was happening else where. The start was a real anticlimax because I was not going to see Johnny in race action, though I am glad I saw him in practice and qualifying. Rubens performance gave us some idea how Johnny may have done, though his 10 second penalty made him finish lower down the order than he would have done.

I was also disappointed to see Damon Hill fall off the track, if Ralf Schumacher is a bench mark then Jordans will be strong this year. I am really pleased for Eddie Irvine that he now has a win, a couple of years ago he would not have deserved it but with his performance last year it was just reward.

Johnny's race by David Cunliffe

After all the promise of Friday and Saturday, the Stewart-Ford team endured a nightmare start to the race. As the cars slotted into their positions on the grid after the parade lap, a plume of smoke appeared at the rear of Johnny's car. As the wisps of smoke turned into a white pall, Johnny exited his car and the marshals turned their extinguishers on the SF-3. Almost simultaneously, team-mate Barrichello's car also went up in smoke.

The race start was aborted as Johnny and Rubens headed back to the pit garage. Rubens ran, knowing the spare car was his for the weekend; Johnny ambled back more slowly, knowing that his race weekend was over. Shortly after, Johnny told ITV's Louise Goodman what happened:

"As we came round to the grid, it seems that we both had a similar problem. I could smell a lot of burning from the bodywork at the back and then, from what we can gather, it burned the wiring loom, because my throttle stopped working. It's a bit of a shame because we started so well. But hopefully, Rubens can get out and still get a good result."

Rubens did indeed get out in time, started from the pitlane in the spare car, and proceeded to put in the drive of the race, finishing fifth - if it hadn't been for the 10s stop/go penalty, he would have finished fourth. The team now has five weeks until the next race to try and sort out the reliability problems so that Johnny and Rubens can build on a very promising start to the season.

For a full review of the race, see DC's GP Reports.

Race results from F1Today

Martin Brundle collars Jackie Stewart on the grid 10 minutes before the race:

MB: Could this be one of the greatest days for your team?

JYS: Well, it would be a great day if we could just finish the race, Martin - we've never done a race distance yet with the car or the engine. We'd just love that to happen. If we can just finish the race, I think we'll be in reasonable shape.

MB: Can you win it?

JYS: It depends on what happens up front, it depends on the first corner because that can decide the race on this course, as you know. It [also] depends on reliability. I don't think we can win with our performance on the track but I think we could do quite well.

Johnny's pre-race comments to ITV:

"To be honest, there have been a lot of mistakes over the last two days, but it's generally been good for the team because we've had a good showing, Rubens qualifying fourth was another good showing, so we're going in the right direction."

Morning Warm up times from F1Today

Saturday - qualifying

Team comments

Johnny Herbert, Car No.17 (SF3-03):

"It's a shame that we lost so much time after this morning's strong performance, particularly given that 90 percent of the field were quicker in qualifying. We'll have to study the data to find out where we could have gone quicker. It's good for the team that Rubens has qualified so well and it shows that we are in good shape."

Rubens Barrichello, Car No.16 (SF3-04):

"This is a fantastic start to the season. It goes some way towards proving that our times over the winter were legitimately quick. Fourth is a good position to start this race from. We have a very good chance of finishing in the points if we run reliably tomorrow."

Jackie Stewart, SGP Chairman:

"I'm extremely pleased for Rubens and the whole team. Johnny dropped off from this morning's fine practice performance perhaps by attempting to trim the car a little too much. As a result, he lost the balance of the car. Overall we're delighted to have been consistently competitive over the past two days."

Gary Anderson, SGP Technical Director:

"It was bad luck for Johnny because he has been quick over the last two days. It appears we had a problem with the left front damper on his car. I'm delighted for Rubens but it would have been nice to have had both drivers up there in the top six. The early indications suggested that they would be. The car has been good on fuel and has looked after the tyres so if we stay out of trouble we should have a good race."

Neil Ressler, Vice President, Research & Vehicle Technology, Ford:

"The brand new Ford Cosworth V10 CR-1 has so far performed faultlessly this weekend. Obviously the real test will be tomorrow's race but so far things are looking very promising. The team's performance at the Australian Grand Prix has been superb and it has validated the competitive times we achieved In pre-season testing."

ITV interview with Gary Anderson, SGP Technical Director

ITV: A day of mixed fortunes today for Stewart GP?

GA: Yeah - obviously we're very happy to qualify 4th with Rubens but we think Johnny had a problem with the left front shock absorber. We noticed it on his first run but we really couldn't do much about it during the time.

ITV: Were you surprised at the speed of your cars here?

GA: No, not really. We knew we were looking pretty good in testing. We knew we could do it but we never showed it - we had a few reliability problems but all that seems to have come together. We'll keep on fighting!

ITV: Reliability could be a big issue for you tomorrow though?

GA: We don't have anything at the moment that's jumping out at us so, hopefully, we can finish in a similar place tomorrow - maybe a little bit better. That's the plan.

Eyewitness report from Peter Blake in Melbourne

Just got to an internet place after watching qualifying.

In practice yesterday both Stewarts were very strong and both Jordans showed they were getting better, but McLaren dominated. Ferrari had a bad day, MS broke down in the pit exit and did not run the rest of that session.

The two practice sessions this morning were similar to yesterday but Ferrari were showing their presence. Johnny was first out for qualifying though not till 10 minutes in to the session, his pole stood for the next 10 minutes, but at the end could only mange 13th place. Rubens did much better, 4th.

I really enjoyed the day, loads of people and a great atmosphere. The forecast for tomorrow is for rain, but I hope it doesn't cause I'll get wet!!

Qualifying times from F1Today

Morning free practice time from F1Today

Friday - practice

Team comments

Johnny Herbert, Car No.17 (SF3-03):

"I'm reasonably happy with the way things went but the good thing is there is a lot more time left in the car. After all it's the first time it's ever run at a Grand Prix meeting. We'll get to work tonight to try and achieve a better balance in the qualifying trim for tomorrow. At this stage it looks promising."

Rubens Barrichello, Car No.16 (SF3-04):

"This is a good boost for the team. The target I set myself for this race was to be between one or two seconds quicker than last year's qualifying time and the way the car feels at the moment, that is very achievable. There are improvements to come as this car is very sensitive to change - which is a big step on from last year. We're in good shape to attack again tomorrow."

Paul Stewart, SGP Deputy Chairman:

"We are very pleased that both cars ran reliably and competitively throughout both sessions. Obviously it's early days yet, but it's the first time we have run against all the other teams since the restructuring of the company, and it's good to be at the right end of the time sheets."

Martin Whittaker, Director, Ford Racing, Europe

"Today saw the Grand Prix debut of the brand new Ford-Cosworth V10 CR-1. The engines in both cars performed faultlessly, and obviously third and fifth places in this session is most encouraging. After the problems we experienced in the first of the two Barcelona tests, today's showing was very heartening. Tomorrow's qualifying will be the first real test of the new engine, but after today there is a real feeling of optimism in the whole Stewart-Ford team."

Press report on practice

March 5 (Reuters): Last season's struggles were forgotten on the opening day of the Australian Grand Prix as both Stewart Ford team drivers took top five places in practice.

After a winter of rebuilding and reorganising, including the arrival of Briton Johnny Herbert to partner Brazil's Rubens Barrichello, the performances were confirmation that the team's optimism about the new season was well-grounded. Barrichello was third fastest behind the two McLaren drivers and Herbert was fifth on his debut for the team on Friday.

“That was pretty good and I am happy enough, but the best thing is that I feel there is a more to come from this car and the team," said Herbert. “I really think it is a promising start and a race victory this year is a possibility."

Last year Stewart admitted they were totally unprepared for the opening race of the season and the team never really recovered, finishing with five points for the season. Herbert recently escaped unhurt after a massive high-speed accident in testing at Barcelona, but he said he felt no ill effects and had enjoyed his return to a competitive action. Winter rebuilding saw changes made to the management structure and the way the team operates and all of this came together on Friday, said Herbert. Barrichello said:

“The whole package is better. It is a lot of fun for me to work with Johnny and I feel the engine and the chassis are both big improvements this year."

Ford introduced their new Cosworth V10 CR-1 engine and it performed faultlessly, to the delight of Ford Racing Europe director Martin Whitaker.

“This was really heartening for us and for all the team. It shows we are going in the right direction. We all feel new optimism in the whole Stewart team now."

Practice times from BBC Ceefax

1 Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes - 1:31.971
2 Hakkinen, McLaren-Mercedes - 1:31.985
3 Barrichello, Stewart-Ford - 1:32.947
4 Frentzen, Jordan-Honda - 1:33.029
5 Herbert, Stewart-Ford - 1:33.166
6 Hill, Jordan-Honda - 1:33.420
7 M Schumacher, Ferrari - 1:33.576
8 Trulli, Prost-Peugeot - 1:33.870
9 Zanardi, Williams-Supertec - 1:33.951
10 R Schumacher - , Williams-Supertec - 1:33.957

Race preview

Melbourne, Monday 4th March, 1999: The day before practice was due to begin for the Formula One season opener in Australia, Jackie Stewart said:

"This is an important race for us. It's the beginning of our third season and we feel we can be competitive."

Having finished ninth in the Constructor Championship in its first year in F1 and eight in the second, Stewart says the objective this season is to finish in the top six. The 16-race season gets underway with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. It will be the first time that all 11 teams have been together on the track since the season finale last year. For the first time the teams will really see the results of all their hard work over the winter.

"No team really knows what their cars will do," Jackie said. "It's going to take this weekend and three more races before we can really see what is going to happen this season."

As he has said before, Jackie believes he has never been better prepared - as a driver or a team owner - for a new season.

"It was 30 years ago (1969) that I won my first championship," Jackie recalls. "We started that year with a 1968 Matra because the new car wasn't ready. In 1999, by the end of January, we had four new car cars built. We are now fully integrated into our new factory. It's 85,000 square feet and we are now expanding it with a new R&D area and other modifications. Gary Anderson has already made a huge difference. We spent a lot of money with a consulting firm to improve the liaison between the design office and the construction of the car."

A year ago the Stewart team came to Australia after countless days of hard work and almost no sleep. This year, deputy director Paul Stewart says he had trouble sleeping not because the team was scrambling to get ready but from anticipation and excitement.

"On the flight down here I slept very little because of the excitement and thinking through all the things we have done," Paul said. "I find myself thinking about positive things. I think 'we can do that better' rather than thinking 'that is a mess, how are we hopefully going to avoid getting into even a bigger mess.'"

"Every other team will have improved," Paul says. "Every team feels good about their improvements, and we have had a year of stability with the new regulations now. So there is the anticipation and the tension because you don't know whether you've been unrealistic or if you have misjudged the situation. It's going to take two or three races to find out...hopefully it will only take us one race to find out what we are really capable of doing."

Driver Johnny Herbert sees Stewart-Ford leading the intensely competitive battle of "group two." Most F1 expert agree that McLaren-Mercedes and Ferrari will again be at the forefront, but the next group will consist of about six teams.

"I'd be disappointed if we qualified as far back as 10th," Herbert said. "It's going to be very tough...from fourth to 10th will be very competitive and I'd rather be at the front end of that group than at the back. I'd say it's Ferrari and McLaren and then a big group. It's gone very well in testing and the car seems to have been competitive with a light fuel load and a heavy fuel load. The engine is more powerful than they had last year. It has to develop during the year, but it's encouraging that it's a good engine out of the box."

Johnny arrives in Melbourne

Here's some photos of Johnny in Melbourne - sent by Dave & Brayden Schembri:

Every effort is made to ensure factual accuracy but
no responsibility is accepted for this information
A big thanks to Dave Schembri for the photos
Last updated 7th March 1999