The Formula One Story 1998
1998 started with a few changes. Some changes were in the rules and other were in the teams.The first and major change was the tyres. The F1 ruling body had decided to do away with the slick tyres and made the use of groved tyres compulsory.This they said was to reduce the top speed of the cars to enusre the safety of the drivers, but some pole times of this season infact showed that the cars were going faster than before!!.
Another change was that Goodyear (which is leaving F1 after this season) finally got to face some competition,Bridgestone came into the F1 scene and many teams decided to go with the new tyre provider. The F1 governing body also changed
their specifications about the cars, and so this years cars were much narrower than last years.
Even as Bridgestone were coming in, one of the major players in F1 was pulling out. The Renault people decided to call it a day, and that left last years champions - Williams and other Renault users like Benneton without an engine! They finally got a MechaChrome engine, which actually proved quiet good given that they were racing in F1 for the first time.
While all this was happening two teams were really testing hard for the 1998 season and they proved to be the only title contenders this year - Mclaren with a very reliable Mercedes engine and Bridgestone tyres and Ferrari with a much powerful and reliable engine than before on Goodyears. Although at the start of the season it seemed like the Mclarens had no competition at all, Ferrari slowly came real good and have really given Mclaren a run for their money.
Here is what Mika and Michael did in the 1998 season...
Race 1
Venue: Australia, Melbourne, March 9The McLAren Mercedes started the season with a bang. They had their two cars first and second.
Although it looked like Coulthard was going to win the race, he slowed down and allowed Mika Hakkinen to go take the lead, with two laps to go.
As far as Shumacher Michael was concerned, he retired with engine failure very early in the race.
Points: Hakkinen 10, Schumacher 0
Race 2
Venue: Brazil, Sao Paulo, March 29This was now becoming a familiar story with the two Mclarens leading the field. But Ferrari managed to put their act together and Michael Shumacher finished third, behind Hakkinen and Coulthard
Points: Hakkinen 20, Schumacher 4
Race 3
Venue: Argentina, Buenos Aires, April 12This was the race which raised the hopes for Ferrari. Although on lap 6 Michael Schumacher collided with David Coulthard, he still went on to win the race. Hakkinen got second place
Points: Hakkinen 26, Schumacher 14
Race 4
Venue: San Marino, Imola, April 26The first signs that the Mclaren was not perfect were seen in this race.
Hakkinen went out on lap 17 with gearbox problem, but this only allowed Coulthard to win. Michael Schumacher finished second.
Points: Hakkinen 26, Schumacher 20
Race 5
Venue: Spain, Barcelona, May 10Again the familiar site of the two Mercedes powered Mclarens leading the field. Hakkinen took victory and Coulthard was second which left Michael Schumacher third in an uneventful race.
Points: Hakkinen 36, Schumacher 24
Race 6
Venue: Monaco, Monte Carlo, May 24Michael shumacher damaged the rear suspension of his Ferrari after banging
wheels with Austrian Alexander Wurz in the Benneton while second on lap 38. As a result he managed to finish only 10th which meant no points. Hakkinen led from start to finish.
Points: Hakkinen 46, Schumacher 24
Race 7
Venue: Canada, Montreal, June 7This race was full of crashes. Hakkinen retired on first lap of the restarted race with mechanical problems.
Michael Schumacher won the crash-hit race after taking lead on lap 42 from Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella.
Points: Hakkinen 46, Schumacher 34
Race 8
Venue: France, Magny Cours, June 28Micael Shumacher was leading the race and Mika was fighting for second place with
Eddie Ervine. Then Hakkinen spun into a gravel trap on lap 20 which gave the Ulsterman an easy second place.
Schumacher won the race making it a first Ferrari one-two since 1990.
Points: Hakkinen 50, Schumacher 44
Race 9
Venue: Britain, Silverstone, July 12Hakkinen led this race for 50 laps and only managed to finish second!
Michael Shumacher was given a 10 second penalty for overtaking while yellow flags were out. Schumacher was leading and came in for his penalty at the end of the last lap !
This was a really bizzare incident as it meant that Michael finished the race in the pits, and even while he was doing this 10 second stop, the computers actually listed him as having finished the race!!
The marshals later admitted that they had failed to inform the race coordinator within the stipulated time, and so the penalty could not be considered valid.
Points: Hakkinen 56, Schumacher 54.
Race 10
Venue: Austria, Spielberg, July 26Sanity was restored again when Hakkinen finished first, and Coulthard second. Eddie Ervine was running in third place, but he slowed down due to some problems in the end laps, which also allowed Michael Shumacher to take third place.
Points: Hakkinen 66, Schumacher 58
Race 11
Venue: Germany, Hockenheim, August 2
Hakkinen led home another flawless McLaren one-two.
Points: Hakkinen 76, Schumacher 60
Race 12
Venue: Hungary, Hungaroring, August 16Mika Hakkinen won pole and led for 47 laps. but a brilliant three stop strategy by the Ferrari left Mclaren in the wilderness and Michael Shumacher in the lead. The Finn was then beset by mechanical problems and struggled home in sixth place. Ferrari made three stops,the Mclaren made two.
Points: Hakkinen 77, Schumacher 70
Race 13
Venue: Belgium, Spa-Francorchamps, August 30This was a very wet race and it took its toll....
The first lap of this race saw a major crash just after turn One. 13 cars were damaged
and the race had to be restarted. At the restart, Hakkinen spun coming out of turn one and while he was facing the wrong way Johny Herbert hit him and damaged his suspension. Mika retired on the first lap.
The second Mclaren of David Coulthard was also struggling, but Michael Shumacher was driving towards a certain victory. Then he caught up with David Coulthard and tried to lap him, but Coulthard did not give way. Then suddenly on a straight way , while still on the racing line, Coulthard slowed down to allow Shumacher to pass, but due to the immense spray of water, Michael just couldn't see David's car and while David had slowed down Michael was just following at top speed and crashed straight into the back of David's car. This damaged the Ferrari beyond repair and he had to retire while comfortably leading the race.
All the crashes proved good for the Jordans! Damon Hill brought the Jordan home in
First position. The first victory for the Jordans in their long association with Formula One. You should have seen Eddie Jordan jumping for joy.
Points: Hakkinen 77, Schumacher 70
Race 14
Venue: Italy, Monza, Sept 13Another brilliant race by Ferrari -- on their home ground. For a change we had Ferrari
one & two the first one-two on home ground for 10 years. Hakkinen led for the first seven laps but then struggled with brake problems and finished fourth.
The younger Schumacher, Ralph, finished third in the Jordan making it one of the best finishes that Micahel could ever have dreamed about
Points: Hakkinen 80, Schumacher 80
Race 15
Venue: Luxembourg, Nurenburg, Sept 27
Against all odds Michael Shumacher took pole position, but in the race both the Ferraris struggeled with the tyres, Hakinen won, with Shumacher finishing second. This meant that even if Michael won at Suzuka and if Mika Hakkinen finished second they would both be on equal points, but given Mika's better performance record this year, Mika would still win the championship.
Points: Hakkinen 90, Schumacher 86
Race 16
Venue: Japan, Suzuka, November 1After 5 weeks of testing their hearts out, the Ferrari team must have really been happy when Michael took Pole at Suzuka with Eddie on the second row.
But then it happened - A stalled engine and a blown tyre and that was the end of Michaels 1998 season.
After the warm up lap, when all cars had got into position on the grid Michael stalled
his car - which meant that he would have to start the race not from pole but from the last position on the grid. He did that and did it good - very soon he was upto 3rd place and with Eddie going second, Michaels chances of winning the race still looked good, but then he ran on some debri and blew the right rear tyre of his Ferrari. That as they say in the business was that. End of season for Shui.
Hakinnen drivers champion, Shumacher second. Mclaren Constructors champion with Ferrari second.
You should have seen the Ferrari mechanics when they found out that Michael had to retire.
One good thing was that besides all the drama Eddie Ervine finished in a fine second place ahead of Coulthard. Damon Hill on the last lap somehow managed to pass the williams to finish fourth.
