On this day in 1999, Häkkinen won at Suzuka to clinch his second world title

The 1999 Japanese Grand Prix was held at the Suzuka circuit on 31 October 1999, twenty-seven years ago today. The season's 16th and final race saw McLaren's Mika Häkkinen win the 53-lap race from second on the grid, clinching the drivers' championship. Ferrari also won the constructors' title.

The championship maths

Going into the race, Ferrari's Eddie Irvine led the standings with 70 points, while Häkkinen was second on 66, four points behind. For Häkkinen to take the title, he needed to win, or finish second with Irvine fifth or lower, or finish third with Irvine outside the top six.

A win was enough in any case. Even if Irvine finished second, the two would have been level on 76 points, but Häkkinen would have had five wins to Irvine's four, giving the title to the Finn.

Qualifying

Michael Schumacher, Irvine's teammate, took pole. Häkkinen lined up alongside him on the front row. David Coulthard was third for McLaren, with Heinz-Harald Frentzen fourth for Jordan. Irvine struggled all weekend and crashed heavily at the Hairpin. He lined up fifth, more than 1.5 seconds slower than Schumacher and more than 1.1 seconds off Häkkinen. Olivier Panis, Jarno Trulli, Johnny Herbert, Ralf Schumacher and Jean Alesi completed the top ten.

The race

Häkkinen passed Michael Schumacher at the start. Panis moved up to third, with Irvine, Coulthard and Frentzen behind him. Alessandro Zanardi pitted on the first lap with an electrical problem on his Williams. Trulli retired on lap four with an engine failure, and Panis followed on lap 20 with an alternator failure. Damon Hill pitted on lap 21 during his final Grand Prix and retired, citing driver fatigue.

Häkkinen opened up a comfortable gap, and the Ferraris could not match his pace. Coulthard passed Irvine during the first round of pit stops to move into third. On lap 34 he made a mistake, hit the wall, lost his nose and rejoined a lap down, coming to a stop right in front of Schumacher. Coulthard was accused of deliberately holding up the German driver. A few laps later the Scot retired with a hydraulic failure. Schumacher later criticised the move.

Häkkinen crossed the line five seconds ahead of Schumacher to win the drivers' championship. Irvine finished third, 1.5 minutes behind Schumacher, which gave Ferrari its first constructors' title since 1983. Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher and Alesi took the remaining points.

The race was also the last Formula 1 appearance for Stewart Grand Prix, Toranosuke Takagi, Alessandro Zanardi and 1996 world champion Damon Hill.