1998 Austrian Grand Prix

1998 Austrian Grand Prix
1998 Austrian Grand Prix
Race 10 of 16 in the 1998 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	26 July 1998
Official name	XXVII Grosser Preis von Österreich
Location	A1-Ring, Spielberg, Styria, Austria
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.319 km (2.684 miles)
Distance	71 laps, 307.146 km (190.564 miles)
Weather	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Giancarlo Fisichella;
Time	1:29.598
Fastest lap
Driver	David Coulthard
Time	1:12.878 on lap 30
Podium
First	Mika Häkkinen;
Second	David Coulthard;
Third	Michael Schumacher;
	Lap leaders ;

The 1998 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the A1-Ring on 26 July 1998. It was the tenth round of the 1998 FIA Formula One World Championship. A wet-dry qualifying session resulted in a mixed-up grid order, with Giancarlo Fisichella taking the first pole position of his career. The 71-lap race was won by Mika Häkkinen for McLaren, with teammate David Coulthard recovering to finish second, having been involved in two collisions during the race, and Michael Schumacher finishing third for Ferrari.

Report

Qualifying

The qualifying session led to an unusual grid due to wet conditions which dried out towards the end, with Fisichella taking his first ever pole and Alesi alongside him in the Sauber.

Race

Mika Häkkinen started well to lead into the first corner, but several cars collided at the first corner behind them, with Takagi's car ending up stranded. Olivier Panis was left immobile on the line with clutch failure.

At the second corner there was another accident, with both Arrows drivers colliding, hitting David Coulthard in the process and knocking off his wing after he had qualified in 14th. Coulthard entered the pit lane for a new nose, but fortunately for him a safety car was deployed to allow the debris from the collisions to be cleaned up, and he was able to catch up to the back of the field.

At the restart Häkkinen led away again with Schumacher close behind him. Schumacher attempted to pass Häkkinen but ran wide, allowing Fisichella in the Benetton past him and almost Rubens Barrichello in the Stewart as well. Barrichello soon dropped out with brake problems, while Schumacher overtook Fisichella again.

Schumacher was already on a disadvantage with a two-stop strategy, and Häkkinen on just one, but his situation got worse when he ran very wide, bouncing violently through the gravel trap and ripping off his front wing. He was able to reach the pits and fit a new wing, but rejoined almost a lap behind. Around the same time Frentzen in the Williams experienced an engine failure which caught fire, but he was able to escape from the car unharmed.

21 laps in, Fisichella and Alesi clashed at the second corner, with both having to retire. Coulthard and Michael Schumacher were both quickly moving back up through the field, but Michael had a lot of trouble passing his brother Ralf Schumacher in the Jordan, finally succeeding after several laps.

Michael Schumacher then started to catch up to teammate Eddie Irvine, who was slowing; Irvine said after it was due to marginal brakes, but some suggested he was asked to move over for his team leader.

In the end, Häkkinen took an easy victory. His teammate Coulthard finished second after being last at the start, and Michael Schumacher took third aided by his teammate Eddie Irvine.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Lap	Gap
1	5	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton-Playlife	1:29.598	—
2	14	Jean Alesi	Sauber-Petronas	1:30.317	+0.719
3	8	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:30.517	+0.919
4	3	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:30.551	+0.953
5	18	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	1:31.005	+1.407
6	17	Mika Salo	Arrows	1:31.028	+1.430
7	2	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Mecachrome	1:31.515	+1.917
8	4	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	1:31.651	+2.053
9	10	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	1:31.917	+2.319
10	11	Olivier Panis	Prost-Peugeot	1:32.081	+2.483
11	1	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Mecachrome	1:32.083	+2.485
12	19	Jos Verstappen	Stewart-Ford	1:32.099	+2.501
13	16	Pedro Diniz	Arrows	1:32.206	+2.608
14	7	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:32.399	+2.801
15	9	Damon Hill	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	1:32.718	+3.120
16	12	Jarno Trulli	Prost-Peugeot	1:32.906	+3.308
17	6	Alexander Wurz	Benetton-Playlife	1:33.185	+3.587
18	15	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Petronas	1:33.205	+3.607
19	23	Esteban Tuero	Minardi-Ford	1:33.399	+3.801
20	21	Toranosuke Takagi	Tyrrell-Ford	1:34.090	+4.492
21	22	Shinji Nakano	Minardi-Ford	1:34.536	+4.938
22	20	Ricardo Rosset	Tyrrell-Ford	1:34.910	+5.312
107% time: 1:35.870
Source:[1]

This was the last pole position of Benetton in Formula One

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	8	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	71	1:30:44.086	3	10
2	7	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	71	+5.289	14	6
3	3	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	71	+39.092	4	4
4	4	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	71	+43.976	8	3
5	10	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	71	+50.654	9	2
6	1	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Mecachrome	71	+53.202	11	1
7	9	Damon Hill	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	71	+1:13.624	15
8	15	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Petronas	70	+1 lap	18
9	6	Alexander Wurz	Benetton-Playlife	70	+1 lap	17
10	12	Jarno Trulli	Prost-Peugeot	70	+1 lap	16
11	22	Shinji Nakano	Minardi-Ford	70	+1 lap	21
12	20	Ricardo Rosset	Tyrrell-Ford	69	+2 laps	22
Ret	19	Jos Verstappen	Stewart-Ford	51	Engine	12
Ret	23	Esteban Tuero	Minardi-Ford	30	Spun off	19
Ret	5	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton-Playlife	21	Collision	1
Ret	14	Jean Alesi	Sauber-Petronas	21	Collision	2
Ret	2	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Mecachrome	16	Engine	7
Ret	18	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	8	Brakes	5
Ret	16	Pedro Diniz	Arrows	3	Collision	13
Ret	17	Mika Salo	Arrows	1	Collision	6
Ret	11	Olivier Panis	Prost-Peugeot	0	Clutch	10
Ret	21	Toranosuke Takagi	Tyrrell-Ford	0	Collision	20
Source:[2]

Championship standings after the race

Bold text indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Mika Häkkinen	66
2	Michael Schumacher	58
3	David Coulthard	36
4	Eddie Irvine	32
5	Alexander Wurz	17
Source:[3]

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	McLaren-Mercedes	102
2	Ferrari	90
3	Benetton-Playlife	32
4	Williams-Mecachrome	20
5	Stewart-Ford	5
Source:[3]

Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

F1, STATS. "Austria 1998 - Qualifications • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
"1998 Austrian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
"Austria 1998 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 7 March 2019.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] F1, STATS. "Austria 1998 - Qualifications • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 19 October 2018.

[formula1.com-2] "1998 Austrian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2015.

[champ-3] "Austria 1998 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 7 March 2019.

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