Qualifying was as fraught as ever in Silverstone. The hour that the drivers have to set their quickest time in seems to pass much more quickly while sitting at the side of the track! Bridge was a perfect spot to observe the battle for pole position. Early on in the session Damon Hill snatched the coveted position, but even the cheering fans knew that it was only provisional. Coulthard appeared to be particularly quick into Priory, but ultimately he could not quite compete with his team-mate, nor Schumacher in the Ferrari. Michael was beaten by Hakkinen by 0.4 seconds, which is a lifetime in qualifying. However, it appeared that Schumacher was going to beat Mika on his last flying lap - he made one tiny mistake however and abandoned the lap. Hakkinen was overjoyed.

Irvine and Coulthard complained about their car set-ups. Irvine in particular had not enough testing/setting up time at Silverstone. He did manage 4th on the grid though - not bad considering he spun off in the morning free practice and had to wait it out behind the barriers at Bridge until the session was over.

The Jordans stamped their authority over the rest of the field however, easily staying ahead of the Stewarts and Williams. Hill finally seemed to recover his lost form. Presumably the huge support he receives at Silverstone spurred him on. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was slightly quicker though, continuing the German's brilliant 1999 form. Jacques Villeneuve managed to wrestle his BAR onto 9th place, while Alesi made up the top ten. Status Quo at the front then....

As the pack lined up for the start in the scorching summer sun Olivier Panis' Prost developed a problem and he had to start from the pit lane in the spare car. The lights went out and Hakkinen got into the first corner safely in the lead. He was followed by Coulthard and then Irvine - Schumacher had gotten a terrible start. As we have seen a few times already this year, two cars were left on the grid - the BAR of Villeneuve and Zanardi's Williams.

A red flag was issued and the race was stopped. However, the leading drivers were not aware of this. Michael had regained his composure from the start and set himself up to overtake Irvine going into Stowe. Eddie dutifully moved out of the way and was shocked to see Michael lock up his front tyres and go straight on at the bend into the crash barrier.It has come to light that the rear brakes failed. See this week's news for the latest report on the incident. Michael failed to remove himself from the wreckage and the crowd, previously cheering at the loss of Michael from the race fell into silence.

Sitting at Abbey, the quiet was reminiscent of that surrounding Senna's fatal accident. The marshals worked Michael free from his car and an ambulance collected him. He waved an arm at the crowd to show that he was ok. It has been announced since that he suffered two breaks in his right leg and he will not race for about three months, effectively ending his hopes of the 1999 drivers' championship. Ironically, if it were not for the safety changes brought about after Senna's death, Michael may not have been so lucky.

The race was re-started 40 minutes later. Zanardi, Villeneuve and Panis were all re-admitted to the starting grid. Hakkinen succeeded in retaining his lead into the first corner, but Irvine shot ahead of Coulthard to take second place. Frentzen took 4th, but Hill was beaten to 5th by Ralf Schumacher. Another car was left on the grid. This time it was the Arrows of Pedro de la Rosa, which suffered gearbox failure. The safety car came out while the stricken arrows was removed. At the end of lap 2 the race continued. By lap 8 the race already looked over as Mika built up a lead of 5 seconds over Irvine and Coulthard.

The pit stops changed everything however. Hill was first, then Coulthard, Frentzen, Ralf, Pedro Diniz. Irvine had the lead briefly when Hakkinen pitted on lap 25. Mika had a problem though as soon as he returned to the track and he had to go back to the pits. He was given the thumbs up to continue. Unfortunately, the problem regarding the left rear wheel was not solved. On lap 29 the wheel fell off completely and Mika struggled around to the pits for a third time. Somehow the mechanics were able to repair the McLaren, but it was only temporary. Hakkinen was called back into the pits and told he must retire due to the fault.

This should have handed Eddie Irvine the lead. However, he had wasted valuable seconds in his pit stop by overshooting. This means that the mechanics must move everything - wasting time. This enabled Coulthard to take the lead, with Irvine hot on his tail. Ralf had a brilliant stop and managed to come out in front of Frentzen, with Hill behind him in 5th, Barrichello in 6th.

The safety car was required once more as Villeneuve's BAR gave up the ghost on the main straight. Herbert overtook Alesi before crossing the start line and was given a 10 second stop-go penalty. The next batch of pit stops were the only remaining excitement. Both Jordans had their chance to lead the race. The crowd went wild as Hill lead for a lap before having to pit. For the rest of the race the order at the front remained static, but not unexciting! Frentzen appeared to be quicker than Ralf Schumacher but could not pass the German. Hill seemed to be content with 5th behind his team mate, with Diniz holding off Fisichella for the final point of the day.

Coulthard had this to say after the race:
"That was fantastic. I feel fantastic. I realised that when my team got me out in front of Eddie after both pitstops, that, so long as I kept out of trouble, I could win this one. It was the most nerve wracking time of my career but to win the British Grand Prix is the best feeling ever. My best wishes go to Michael Schumacher whom I hope makes a speedy recovery."

The next race is in Austria. Qualifying results will be online next Saturday (24 July) with the full race report the following week - July 31.
S.O'

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