1998 Italian Grand Prix
The 1998 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 13 September 1998. The race was won by Michael Schumacher. This was also the last win for tyre manufacturer Goodyear in Formula One.
| 1998 Italian Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 14 of 16 in the 1998 Formula One World Championship | |||
 Autodromo Nazionale di Monza (last modified in 1995) | |||
| Race details | |||
| Date | 13 September 1998 | ||
| Official name | LIX Gran Premio Campari d'Italia | ||
| Location | Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza, Italy | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 5.770 km (3.585 miles) | ||
| Distance | 53 laps, 305.810 km (190.022 miles) | ||
| Weather | Sunny | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Ferrari | ||
| Time | 1:25.298 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Mika Häkkinen | McLaren-Mercedes | |
| Time | 1:25.139 on lap 45 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Ferrari | ||
| Second | Ferrari | ||
| Third | Jordan-Mugen-Honda | ||
|
Lap leaders | |||
It was a dramatic race, Häkkinen got a blinding start pushing his way past Jacques Villenueve and Michael Schumacher on the front row, at same time it was a dreadful start for Schumacher who fell down to 5th, soon after he passed Villeneuve for 4th then Irvine for 3rd.
Häkkinen was struggling with a developing brake issue soon after and he waved his teammate Coulthard through, but soon after Coulthard's engine blew and seconds later Schumacher, who had caught Häkkinen, passed the Finn when Häkkinen had adjusted his brake bias forwards to cope with the brake problem and ran wide due to the smoke from Coulthard's engine.
Villeneuve running very low downforce soon spun out of the race, and Häkkinen started catching Schumacher again. Häkkinen was just three seconds behind with a handful of laps remaining, but then his rear brakes failed, sending him into a wild spin at the Roggia chicane. He was able to keep his engine running and kept going, but at the beginning of the next lap he went off again at the first Rettifilo chicane, and Irvine reeled him in and took 2nd off him. Soon after Ralf Schumacher caught and over took Häkkinen who was able to limp home in 4th.
It was a jubilant scene for the Italian crowd as Michael Schumacher came home first and his Ferrari teammate Eddie Irvine took second with Ralf Schumacher third, meaning the Jordan team had finished on all three podium places in two races. Johnny Herbert retired in unusual circumstances - prior to the start a Sauber mechanic accidentally left a spanner in the cockpit. During the race the spanner became jammed under the foot pedals, which caused Herbert to crash.[1]
Michael Schumacher was now level on points with Mika Häkkinen going into the Nürburgring, the penultimate round, though Häkkinen still led the championship on countback. Both drivers had six wins, but Häkkinen had two second places against Schumacher's one.
This race was Scuderia Ferrari's 600th start in a World Championship event as a team.[2]
Classification
Qualifying
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Race
Championship standings after the race
- Bold text indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
- Cameron-Dow, Chris. "Herbert's odd 1998 Monza retirement". chrisonf1.com. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
- Privateer Ferrari entry in 1950 French Grand Prix, which is often a source of incorrect count for their races as a team (as opposed to as a manufacturer) doesn't count towards the team's participations.
- "Italy 1998 - Qualifications". StatsF1. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- "1998 Italian Grand Prix". formula1.com. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- "Italy 1998 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
External links
