1998 German Grand Prix
The 1998 German Grand Prix was held at the Hockenheimring on August 2, 1998. Mika Häkkinen won the race.
Race Summary
Mika Häkkinen took pole position ahead of team-mate David Coulthard. However, the red car in third on the grid was not Schumacher's Ferrari but Jacques Villeneuve's Williams, now more competitive in long-wheelbase format. And the Schumacher occupying fourth place was not Michael but Ralf. In fact, Michael Schumacher started ninth after a series of disasters. Firstly, he tried Ferrari's new long-wheelbase chassis on the Friday. Rejecting this car, he started afresh in the untimed sessions on the Saturday, only to spin off on his first lap. The he has engine failure early in the second session, taking away valuable track time. There were also various mutterings that the Ferrari's were off the pace as McLaren had threatened to protest about the Italian team's new braking system, and some were sure it had been removed to the team's obvious detriment. Come the race, the McLaren's were dominant, running first and second throughout and only took single pit stops. Ralf Schumacher looked to be the only driver capable of troubling them in the first part of the race, but although he could stay with them he could not pass them. One of the reasons being that he gambled on a two-stop strategy, and was running with a light fuel load. Villeneuve took over in third place when the Jordan made the first of its stops, and this was where he stayed to the finish, even catching the McLarens until his differential started playing up. The reason he was able to catch up with the McLaren's was that Häkkinen's car had not taken on enough fuel at its stop, and the Finn had to ease his fuel consumption, with Coultharrd dutifully doing likewise. Damon Hill, who also one stopped came through to takehis first points of the year, finishing fourth in front of the two Schumacher's with Michael ahead of Ralf.
Qualification
Ricardo Rosset was withdrawn for qualification by his team, due to a crash in a free practice session.
Classification
Standings After Grand Prix
Drivers
- 1 Mika Häkkinen - McLaren-Mercedes - 76
- 2 Michael Schumacher - Ferrari - 60
- 3 David Coulthard - McLaren-Mercedes - 42
- 4 Eddie Irvine - Ferrari - 32
- 5 Alex Wurz - Benetton-Playlife - 17
- 6 Jacques Villeneuve - Williams-Mecachrome - 16
- 7 Giancarlo Fisichella - Benetton-Playlife - 15
- 8 Heinz-Harold Frentzen - Williams-Mecachrome - 8
- 9 Rubens Barrichello - Stewart-Ford - 4
- 9= Ralf Schumacher - Jordan-Honda - 4
- 11= Jean Alesi - Sauber-Petronas - 3
- 11= Mika Salo - Arrows - 3
- 11= Damon Hill - Jordan-Mugen-Honda - 3
- 14= Johnny Herbert - Sauber-Petronas - 1
- 14= Pedro Diniz - Arrows - 1
- 14= Jan Magnussen -Stewart-Ford - 1
Constructers
- 1 McLaren-Mercedes - 118
- 2 Ferrari - 92
- 3 Benetton-Playlife - 32
- 4 Williams-Mecachrome - 24
- 5 Jordan-Honda - 7
- 6 Stewart-Ford - 5
- 7= Sauber-Petronas - 4
- 7= Arrows - 4
Notes
- Fastest Lap: David Coulthard 1m 46.116s