The Canadian leg is long gone for Formula 1, but today is a special anniversary for the Montreal event. Everyone knows the fame of the wall of champions, but few know that the name given to the wall located at the exit of the last chicane before the straight was given in a specific race. This race was held 25 years ago, exactly on 13 June 1999. In fact, it was the sixth race of the year, in the season in which the world champion single-seaters of McLaren were competing for the title against those of Ferrari who had yet to enter the golden era of the early 2000s. Let’s rewind the tape then and go back to that Sunday 25 years ago.
How did that race in Montreal come about?
The 1999 season is one of the most controversial in history, so much so that it left behind so many stories. One of these is precisely what we are about to tell. The year saw the duel, as mentioned, between the British and Italian manufacturers and their two top drivers. World champion Mika Hakkinen and challenger Michael Schumacher. The season after the first five outings saw Ferrari and its German driver in the lead, so much so that both were leaders of their respective constructors’ and drivers’ championships. The arrival in Montreal, however, was not very easy for the Maranello reds, who suffered a sound defeat in Barcelona.
Spain had smiled on the two McLarens with the Finn winning ahead of teammate David Coulthard. Canada, therefore, saw the Teutonic driver and his car coming from the Bel Paese on the verge of redemption. There was redemption in qualifying, with Schumacher taking the Pole Position. Michael had managed to beat Mika by just 27 cents. The supremacy of the two teams was so marked, so much so that behind the two champions were Eddie Ervine with the other red and Coulthard. Qualifying highlights the progress of the season and the race also seems to be heading along these lines.
The Canadian race that will remain in the history of Formula 1
On Sunday when the traffic lights went out it was already chaos, due to Jarno Trulli going off track. The Italian returning from an off-track with his Prost-Peugeot takes full advantage of Jean Alesi and Rubens Barrichello. The Safety Car thus enters immediately with the top positions remaining intact at the start. The race seems to follow a calm script, until the end of the 14th round. In that passage the 1996 Formula 1 world champion Damon Hill crashes into the wall after the chicane with his Jordan. He will be the first of three world champions to see his race end like this. In fact, on the thirtieth lap it was Schumacher’s turn who, while he was in the lead, arrived too fast at the last chicane and on exiting hit the wall. The impact is so strong that the German is forced to withdraw his car from the race and the safety car enters again. Hakkinen now takes the lead and sees his afternoon in Montreal becoming truly beautiful like the sun shining on the Canadian island.
The last chicane still has one victim in the mix and so after Schumacher, Formula 1 champion in ’94 and ’95, it’s Jacques Villenueve’s turn. The 1997 world champion crashes into the wall at the exit of the last corner with his Bar-Honda, during the thirty-fourth lap and for him it is the same fate as Michael and Damon, he has to retire the car. The home team’s exit leads to the third Safety Car, on the restart comes disaster for Coulthard who, while trying to overtake Irvine, touches him and the two go into a spin. The Irishman only loses one position to Giancarlo Fisichella, while the Scot fares worse but remains in the race. The race saw the victory of the only world champion who remained on the track, that is, Hakkinen. The Finn won in his McLaren ahead of Fisichella in the Benetton and Irvine in the Ferrari.
This is how this Formula 1 legend was born
Three Formula 1 world champions saw their races end in the same way in the 1999 Canadian GP. A striking fact that gave life to the myth of the wall of champions. This is why that piece of wall is still called that today. The following season Canada changed significantly with Hakkinen taking the lead in the world championship and with Silverstone two races later marking the end of Schumacher’s dreams of glory due to the bad accident that occurred in the race. 1999 is also the year of the tire that disappeared in the Ferrari pits in Ervine during the stop in the European GP, but that is another story that we will tell later.
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