If you're a fan of the FIFA/EA FC games as much as you like your F1 games, you're probably familiar with the concept of Career Mode Stories. A writer is posting in a website / article format, that put together form a story for others to read, as if you're following someone's fantasy sports career world. Instead of football, I'd also like to give it a try in an F1 format for once.So, I asked myself the question: what if I'd start as young as Max Verstappen (youngest ever rookie) and keep racing in F1 as long as Fernando Alonso (a quarter century, or 25 years). Well, that's not entirely a coincidence, because like Verstappen I was born in September and like Alonso I'm from the year 1981 (hence the for numbers in my username).That means we'll go back to the start of the 1999 season. And that was quite an important season, because in that time Ferrari, McLaren and Williams were virtually tied in terms of constructor's world titles and race wins. Michael Schumacher is only a double world champion at this moment, while Mika Häkkinen is the defending world champion. Other former champions are Damon Hill (entering his final season) and Jacques Villeneuve, who was booted by Williams and decided to step into a brand new team called BAR or British American Racing.So, here we go. Like Max Verstappen, I'm entering the world of Formula 1 as a rookie of 17.5 years. I'm using the F1 2014 game for the first number of seasons, but from 2010 (if we get that far) I'll be using the official Codemasters/EA titles of that year. The races are all 50%. Will I be able to rewrite the history books? Will it all unfold in the 21st century as it has done in real life? Let's Go!

David Coulthard has converted his pole position into a race win! The opening race of the 1999 season is therefore prey to McLaren, which is there 117th race win; only two wins shy of the all-time record by Ferrari.The rest of the podium sees Eddie Irvine (Ferrari) and Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Jordan). Surprisingly absent are title favourites Michael Schumacher and Mika Häkkinen. Schumacher already pitted just before the safety car neutralization and found himself in eighth after the last round of pit stops. However, the double world champion overtook his brother Ralf, his former rival Damon Hill, as well as Pedro Diniz and Johnny Herbert in the final 16 laps of the race, ending in 4th.Mika Häkkinen was even more unlucky. Like Schumacher, the defending champion fell back during the safety car, due to an early pit stop. Then, the Finn caught debris and had damage due to the crash of Giancarlo Fisichella and Jarno Trulli. Häkkinen had to make a third long pit stop, which is why points or a podium disappeared out of sight.The first race of 1999 also saw four rookies: only Mark Gené did not manage to finish his maiden race. Pedro de la Rosa (12th), Daniel Marzec (13th) and Ricardo Zonta (14th) all brought their cars home. Because we're back in 1999, only the top 6 drivers are rewarded with points (10 points for 1st, 6 pts for 2nd, 4 pts for 3rd, 3 pts for 4th, 2 pts for 5th and a single point for the one coming home in 6th. All other results are done on countback of the highest finishing position outside of the point. Example: because Daniel Marzec brought his Minardi home in 13th, the team is in front of BAR (one car finished in 14th) and Prost (one car finished in 16th). This principle also applies to the drivers. Even though Schumacher and Häkkinen did not get a result that resembled their speed, it is clear already after one round that the 1999 championship will be between winners McLaren and runners-up Ferrari. The next race is on Autodromo José Carlos Pace in Interlagos, São Paolo, Brazil where rain could become a key factor.

Practice sessions are usually a good indication for race pace and Ferrari seem ready to hit back at McLaren: Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine were comfortably faster than the rest of the field and even Fentzen remained in front of the Constructors World Champions in his Jordan - Mugen Honda.Further down the grid, we saw a notable effort by Daniel Marzec: the Polish rookie pushed his Minardi far above where we expect the car in 12th, with more than a second (!!) difference with his (other rookie) team mate, Marc Gené.For the home crowd there wasn't much to cheer about, with Brazilian drivers Pedro Diniz (13th), Rubens Barrichello (15th) and Ricardo Zonta (18th) playing anonymous roles in the margin.

McLaren hits back! David Coulthard claimed pole position again, staying .081s ahead of Michael Schumacher. While the double world champion of 1994 and 1995 could battle with his McLaren rivals, Eddie Irvine suffered technical issues - The driver from Northern Ireland will have to start from the back of the grid.Happy face all around for Brazilian race fans, as Interlagos home hero Rubens Barrichello qualified his Stewart-Ford in 5th! Alex Zanardi of Williams and Giancarlo Fisichella of Benetton will probably be less happy: both could not get into the top 10.From the smaller teams, Toranosuke Takagi and his Arrows produced a surprisingly good result in 15th. Marzec kept part of his advantage over his Minardi team mate, although the margin slid back from over a second to just one third of a second. Marzec claimed he could've been quicker if he wasn't hindered by Damon Hill: "After that, the rain strated coming down and nobody could improve on their time. I think realistically I could have eaked out another .3s and be where Olivier Panis and Takagi are in terms of raw pace."

My race was done in the first lap. I had a good start and made up some positions, when halfway down the lap Jarno Trulli ran into me from behind. He was out while I spun off the track. I had damage and a flat rear tyre. I managed to get back to the pit lane and to save the wheel, but I was already too far behind. In the end I finished last 30 seconds behind Toranosuke Takagi, two laps down on the race winner.I had another hairy moment, coming out of the pit lane. Heinz-Harald Frentzen overtook me on the racing line, while Mika Häkkinen tried to take the inside line. All three of us suffered damage, even more than I had before.A positive was the race pace towards the end, where I came back to lap times which at that time was good enough to keep up with guys in the Top 10. We will take that, when we move to our team's home race which is on Imola.

Michael Schumacher took the lead in the first corner and never looked back. The German took his 34th race win in his career, a 120th for Scuderia Ferrari. McLaren finshed 2nd and 3rd with David Coulthard and Mika Häkkinen and also score 10 points and keep the lead in the 1999 Constructors Championship.Six cars did not survive the opening lap, most notably Eddie Irvine (Ferrari) who already had a dismal weekend, starting from the back of the grid. Later in the race Olivier Panis and Damon Hill were also sent into retirement.There were cheers for Interlagos home hero Rubens Barrichello, who managed to take his Stewart - Ford from 5th place on the starting grid to the same finishing position, thereby scoring 2 points (which doubles the tally of his team).After two races in the 1999 season, David Coulthard leads Michael Schumacher 16 to 13 when we are heading towards Imola, which could be seen as the home circuit for both Italian teams, Ferrari and Minardi. McLaren holds one point over Ferrari in the Constructors Championship (20 - 19).

The F1 Career Story [1999-2024] | EA Forums

17 Replies

Danimal5981
Seasoned Ace
2 months ago
Italian teams showed their best side in the practice session for the 1999 San Marino Grand Prix. Scuderia Ferrari took the top two positions, while rookie Daniel Marzec did a power run putting his Minardi in sixth place!
Even though Marzec did his run for sponsorship and home advantage reasons, the fact that the rookie is able to put his inferior car among the best ten is a noteworthy performance. Marzec already got a lot of credit for saving his vehicle despite a flat tyre and rear damage during the opening lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix. He finished in last place, but the people in the know praised the rookie for finishing at all.
Now, the youngster (if only in a practice session) is able to mix it up with the top teams. If the standings are anything to go by, it will be a battle between McLaren and Ferrari with Jordan in a solid third place. Marzec did manage to pip the Jordan belonging to Damon Hill.
Stewart found its cars a bit low in the rankings, while 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve did not manage to put in a time at all due to technical problems on his BAR-Supertec.
Danimal5981
Seasoned Ace
2 months ago
Michael Schumacher leaves at the start of the 1999 San Marino Gp from pole position in his Ferrari's (closest to) home race. The German double world champion was slightly quicker than championship leader David Coulthard and defending champion Mika Häkkinen. More good news from Italy as Alessandro Zanardi noted his best ever qualifying: he starts the race for Williams from sixth place.
Marzec slightly disappointed
Marzec found Hill in his path again
The track evolution was significant on Imola. And the main victim of that turned out to be Daniel Marzec. While in 12th halfway down Q1, everybody was beginning to imrpove on their times, dropping the rookie outside of the best sixteen (and thus, advance to Q2). Marzec gambled on a last ditch effort and was faster than his previous run, when in Acqua Minerali he was held up by Damon Hill.
Again!, Marzec cried out. According to the rookie, Damon Hill also thwarted his second attempt during qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix. He might be a former world champion, but that doesn't mean you can constantly interrupt qualifying attempts done by rookies, the Minardi driver said in an ironic matter.
Danimal5981
Seasoned Ace
2 months ago
This was a race more like it! After the first two opening laps I ended up in 9th place. Thanks to a well executed strategy I managed to remain in 9th.
I was a bit fortunate. In the opening lap Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Rubens Barrichello touched each other and had to pit with damage. Due to that collision and the debris, Giancarlo Fisichella had a puncture. Later in the race, Johnny Herbert also suffered a failure. But, sometimes it turns against you, like it did for me at Interlagos.
But, sometimes it works in your favour, as it did here. The ninth place I had at the end of lap two, could've been P10 at the end. But that still would've been a personal best for me and that on the home track of my team is very gratifying. I think that later in the season, some other old-school tracks might work in our favour: I'm thinking Hungaroring and Nürburgring here. We need luck, we can't do it on merit yet, but I feel that if we keep improvement, a point might be on the cards later in the season. On to Monaco!
Danimal5981
Seasoned Ace
2 months ago
MIKA HÄKKINEN WINS TITANIC BATTLE WITH MICHAEL SCHUMACHER
He ended up narrowly in front after the second series of pit stops and he didn't let the pole sitter get back passed after that. Mika Häkkinen claimed his first victory after an epic battle against Michael Schumacher, who finished less than half a second behind the defending world champion at the end, after 60 laps.
Rubens Barrichello drove into the back of Heinz-Harald Frentzen and dropped back, as did Giancarlo Fisichella who picked up a puncture due to the incident between the aforementioned two drivers.
Quite quickly two Ferraris and two McLarens separated themselves from the rest of the back. Behind them Ralf Schumacher, Alex Zanardi, Alex Wurz and Johnny Herbert were fighting for the remaining points. Surprisingly in 9th was Daniel Marzec in a Minardi. And just when Damon Hill was overtaking him after a bad start, Herbert had to park his Stewart-Ford with technical malaise.
Marzec could stay in 9th therefore, but was far away from points. Damon Hill only managed to get Alex Wurz via a good pit stop strategy, while Zanardi had a successful undercut on his team mate Ralf Schumacher. With both Williams ending 5th and 6th, the first 3 points of the season were finally on the board: the team has the ambition to at least retain their third place in the constructor's championship in the run-up to the partnership next year with BMW.
But the real fireworks was the battle up front between Michael Schumacher and two McLarens. First, it looked as if pole sitter Schumacher had the edge over his competitors. However, Coulthard (as initially the leading McLaren) was instructed to follow Schumacher in strategy, while Häkkinen would go alternative.
The lead two, like most drivers, were on a three stop strategy. But where Schumacher and Coulthard followed a soft-hard-soft-hard pattern, only two drivers followed a soft-soft-hard-hard strategy. Those were Häkkinen and Marzec; the two that finished a little higher than expected. Häkkinen managed to jump over Schumacher and Coulthard by the time the third round of pit stops were completed and did not give up his P1 anymore.
With his win, Mika Häkkinen is now well back in the fight, despite a DNF in Melbourne. David Coulthard is still championship leader, having finished evey race on the podium, albeit every subsequent race a step lower on the podium. The next race, round 4 of the 1999 Formula One Championship is in Monaco.
Danimal5981
Seasoned Ace
2 months ago
The 1999 San Marino Grand Prix was:
21st pole position for Michael Schumacher
10th race win for Mika Häkkinen
7th fastest lap for Heinz-Harald Frentzen
100th Grand Prix for Rubens Barrichello
100th Grand Prix for Sauber
125th pole for Ferrari
After this race, there's only 9 points between Ferrari (2256.5) and McLaren (2247.5) in number of all time points scored.
Danimal5981
Seasoned Ace
2 months ago
Practice usually gives us a good impression about race pace. If that is the case as well in Monaco, we can easily expect a McLaren victory! The silver-black arrows were well ahead of the rest, with only a hundredth of a second between the two team drivers.
The skill and brilliance of Michael Schumacher kept him at "only" 0.35s which was still half a second faster than compatriot Heinz-Harald Frentzen and team mate Eddie Irvine. All others were well behind, at over a second from the McLaren duo.
Notable performance was there by Alex Zanardi, who outpaced team mate Ralf Schumacher by half a second. Giancarlo Fisichella who's still waiting on his first points of the season, had 0.7s on team mate Alex Wurz.
Between the two rookies at Minardi there was even a bigger gap, with Daniel Marzec (12th) going one second faster than team mate Marc Gené (17th). But the largest gap between team mates was at Prost with Olivier Panis going 1.2 seconds faster than Jarno Trulli.
Danimal5981
Seasoned Ace
2 months ago
Championship leader David Coulthard starts from pole for the Monaco Grand Prix. His main rival in the championship Michael Schumacher (one single point down on Coulthard after three races) starts from 4th. A notable performance came from Sauber's Pedro Diniz: yesterday the Brazilian was only 16th, now he qualified in 7th!

Coulthard had a degree of luck making it to pole position. While in an out lap, the McLaren driver was caught by Toranosuke Takagi around the swimming pool. The Japanese driver misjudged his braking point, hit the barrier while Coulthard hit the Arrows. Takagi's vehicle then hit another barrier, losing a front wheel. Coulthard had lost his front wing, but was able to go back to the pit lane, participate further in qualifying and seizing the front spot. Takagi however, starts at the back.

The narrow and twisty track is a guarantee for broken car parts and it also cost Daniel Marzec his first outing in Q2. The Minardi driver was 0.4s faster than his previous lap which would've brought him to a safe 15th place, but 10 seconds ahead of him Alex Zanardi crashed in the final corner, blocking a clear way through onto the main start/finish straight.
Marzec was not amused: It's becoming a pattern, it seems. In Brazil and Imola, Damon Hill held me up to have a clear second qualifying run. Here it was Alex Zanardi. I know he didn't do it on purpose, but what do I gain with it?
Monaco is known as a survival race. It's nearly impossible to make a pass on track, which is why tyre and fuel strategies are crucial. On top, a single error could be fatal and cause a safety car or neutralization. The best chance for a result is to stay on the track and out of trouble.