1998 Spanish Grand Prix

The 1998 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 10 May 1998 at the Circuit de Catalunya. It was the fifth race of the 1998 Formula One season. The 65-lap race was won by McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen after he started from pole position. His teammate David Coulthard finished second and Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher took third.

1998 Spanish Grand Prix
Race 5 of 16 in the 1998 Formula One World Championship
Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona
Race details
Date 10 May 1998
Official name XL Gran Premio Marlboro de España
Location Circuit de Catalunya
Barcelona, Spain
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.728 km (2.938 mi)
Distance 65 laps, 307.196 km (190.883 mi)
Weather Sunny and warm
Attendance 70,000
Pole position
Driver McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:20.262
Fastest lap
Driver Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:24.275 on lap 25
Podium
First McLaren-Mercedes
Second McLaren-Mercedes
Third Ferrari

Race summary

Mika Häkkinen qualified in pole position, 0.7 seconds ahead of his McLaren teammate David Coulthard in second place, with Ferrari's Michael Schumacher a further 0.8 seconds behind in third. The race proved to be a formality for Häkkinen, winning the race ahead of Coulthard in second, and Schumacher in third.

Arrows driver Pedro Diniz started from the pit lane due to stalling on the warm up lap. At the start the McLarens got away well, but Schumacher made a poor start and fell back to fifth behind his teammate Eddie Irvine and Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella. They ran in these positions until the first round of pit stops, when Irvine delayed Fisichella sufficiently for his teammate Schumacher to emerge ahead of them both and regain third. Fisichella and Irvine continued to battle until lap 28, when Fisichella attempted a passing manoeuvre around the outside of Irvine, resulting in a collision spearing them both off into the gravel trap. This led to Fisichella's Benetton teammate, Alexander Wurz, inheriting fourth place which he held until the finish. Mika Häkkinen was consistently faster than his teammate David Coulthard throughout the race weekend, unable to match his pace, even though they were in the same car. Respected ex driver and pundit Martin Brundle made the comment that Häkkinen was "in a class of his own".

During the race, Michael Schumacher and Minardi's Esteban Tuero were given 10 second stop-go penalties for pit lane speeding.[1]

The Stewart of Rubens Barrichello earned two points by finishing in fifth place, which were team's first of the season, this was made possible by the new engine and chassis the team used (however teammate Jan Magnussen ran with the old chassis).[1] Reigning World Champion Jacques Villeneuve finished in sixth place, after Williams had their worst qualifying result since the 1989 United States Grand Prix.

On the final lap, Williams driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen passed Prost's Jarno Trulli for eight place when Trulli was incorrectly shown the blue flags as the marshalls had mistaken the Williams for a Ferrari.[1]

"I am truly angry because I had to give up a great battle, and it isn't fair to lose a position because they are blind and can't recognise one car from another. Of course it doesn't matter much to finish eighth or ninth, but for a racer it matters. In a case of a blue flag I didn't have an alternative". Jarno Trulli[1]

Post race, Fisichella was given a $7,500USD fine for the collision with Irvine.[1]

Classification

Toranosuke Takagi on his way to qualifying 21st and last on the grid, as his teammate Ricardo Rosset failed to qualify for the Grand Prix, missing the benchmark 107% of the polesitters time by 0.065 secs.

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorLap TimeGap
1 8 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:20.262
2 7 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:20.996 +0.734
3 3 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:21.785 +1.523
4 5 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 1:21.894 +1.632
5 6 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 1:21.965 +1.703
6 4 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:22.350 +2.088
7 15 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 1:22.794 +2.532
8 9 Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:22.835 +2.573
9 18 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1:22.860 +2.598
10 1 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Mecachrome 1:22.885 +2.623
11 10 Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:22.927 +2.665
12 11 Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 1:22.963 +2.701
13 2 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Mecachrome 1:23.197 +2.935
14 14 Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 1:23.327 +3.065
15 16 Pedro Diniz Arrows 1:23.704 +3.442
16 12 Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 1:23.748 +3.486
17 17 Mika Salo Arrows 1:23.887 +3.625
18 19 Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 1:24.112 +3.850
19 23 Esteban Tuero Minardi-Ford 1:24.265 +4.003
20 22 Shinji Nakano Minardi-Ford 1:24.538 +4.276
21 21 Toranosuke Takagi Tyrrell-Ford 1:24.722 +4.460
107% time: 1:25.880
DNQ 20 Ricardo Rosset Tyrrell-Ford 1:25.946 +5.684
Source:[2]

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 8 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 65 1:33:37.621 1 10
2 7 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 65 +9.439 2 6
3 3 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 65 +47.095 3 4
4 6 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 65 +1:02.538 5 3
5 18 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 64 +1 Lap 9 2
6 1 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Mecachrome 64 +1 Lap 10 1
7 15 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 64 +1 Lap 7  
8 2 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Mecachrome 63 +2 Laps 13  
9 12 Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 63 +2 Laps 16  
10 14 Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 63 +2 Laps 14  
11 10 Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Mugen-Honda 63 +2 Laps 11  
12 19 Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 63 +2 Laps 18  
13 21 Toranosuke Takagi Tyrrell-Ford 63 +2 Laps 21  
14 22 Shinji Nakano Minardi-Ford 63 +2 Laps 20  
15 23 Esteban Tuero Minardi-Ford 63 +2 Laps 19  
16 11 Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 60 Engine 12  
Ret 9 Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 46 Engine 8  
Ret 4 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 28 Collision 6  
Ret 5 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 28 Collision 4  
Ret 17 Mika Salo Arrows 21 Engine 17  
Ret 16 Pedro Diniz Arrows 20 Engine 15  
DNQ 20 Ricardo Rosset Tyrrell-Ford 107% Rule  
Source:[3]

Championship standings after the race

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

Notes

  • This was the first race of the 1998 season in which a driver failed to qualify due to not completing a time inside 107% of the pole position time. The unfortunate driver was Ricardo Rosset, who failed to qualify by 7/100ths of a second.
    • This was also the slimmest-ever margin for which a driver failed to qualify due to the rule. Damon Hill missed out by only 0.003 seconds at the 1999 French Grand Prix but was permitted to race due to "exceptional circumstances".

References

  1. AtlasF1 (10 May 1998). "Hakkinen increases Championship lead (Spanish GP)". Retrieved 17 November 2011. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. "Gran Premio Marlboro de España 1998 – Qualifying". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Ltd. 9 May 1998. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  3. "Gran Premio Marlboro de España 1998 – Race Result". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Ltd. 10 May 1998. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  4. "Spain 1998 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
Previous race:
1998 San Marino Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1998 season
Next race:
1998 Monaco Grand Prix
Previous race:
1997 Spanish Grand Prix
Spanish Grand Prix Next race:
1999 Spanish Grand Prix

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