Formula 1 World Championship 1998

Formula 1 World Championship 1998

World Champion
Driver:	Mika Hakkinen
Constructor:	McLaren-Mercedes
Season dates
Number of races:	16
<1997 season	1999 season>

Racing scene from the British GP 1998 (Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard)

The 1998 Formula 1 World Championship was the 49th season of the Formula 1 World Championship . It was held over 16 races between March 8th and November 1st.

Mika Häkkinen won the drivers' world championship for the first time. McLaren won the Constructors Championship for the 8th time.

Changes in 1998

Racetracks

This season, the European Grand Prix , which was last held at the Circuito de Jerez , was not on the racing calendar for the first time since 1992. This reduced the number of races to 16. Spain switched places with Monaco and the Austrian Grand Prix was moved four places up between the race weekends in Great Britain and Germany . The final took place in Japan this year .

Technical regulations

During the season, so-called X-Wings - the name is based on a spaceship in Star Wars - were used by various teams. The X-Wings were first used on the Tyrrell 025 and, next to the driver, were towering wings mounted on both sides. At the beginning of May these wings were declared illegal by the FIA ​​and all cars that will compete with them on race weekends in the future were excluded under Article 127 of the International Sports Act. There was a risk that the mechanics could get caught on the side wings during pit stops or that these wings could break off during the race and thus pose a risk to the cars behind them or the spectators. Also during that year, McLaren's second brake pedal was banned following a complaint from Ferrari .

Before the start of the season, the width of the car was reduced from two meters to 1.80 meters, the driver's cockpit was expanded and the previously used slicks were replaced by tires with grooves. There were three grooves on the front of the tires and four on the back. These changes were justified because the cars are slowing down. Furthermore, asymmetrical braking was banned and a single "fuel bladder" was prescribed as a tank.

Sporting regulations

During an official Formula 1 racing weekend, there must be a 100 meter straight route between the pit entrance and the first team garage space.

Engine suppliers

The reigning world champions Williams and Benetton had to look for an alternative due to Renault's withdrawal as an engine supplier. Mecachrome was then commissioned to modify Renault's engines from last year and thus keep them competitive. Benetton hired the Flavio Briatore -owned Supertec company to lease and further develop the Renault engines maintained by Mecachrome. The engine name was sold to Benetton's sub-brand, Playlife .

Alain Prost's goal of sending a purely French team to the start has become a bit more reality with the new deal with Peugeot . In the previous year, Mugen-Honda delivered engines to Prost , while Jordan purchased the engines from Peugeot. So it was swapped, and Jordan started with Mugen engines in 1998.

Arrows previously sourced the engines from Yamaha , but the previous season the engines were too prone to failure to consistently produce good results. Then the team owner Tom Walkinshaw bought the English engine manufacturer Hart Racing Engines and began to build their own engines. It was the first British Formula 1 team since BRM 1977 to produce the engine as well as the chassis.

In the previous year, Minardi and Tyrrell used the low-performance Ford ED4 / ED5 3.0-liter V8 naturally aspirated engines, which only delivered around 680 hp . For the 1998 season, both teams switched to the Ford Zetec R 3.0 liter V10 naturally aspirated engines, which developed around 30 hp more. These engines were used by Stewart the previous year .

Ferrari , McLaren , Sauber and Stewart stayed with their previous year's engines.

driver

Benetton competes this season with the former Jordan driver Giancarlo Fisichella and the previous test driver Alexander Wurz . Gerhard Berger ended his Formula 1 career at the end of the 1997 season and Jean Alesi switched to the Sauber team, where he started a new Formula 1 season alongside Johnny Herbert . The previous Sauber drivers Nicola Larini , Gianni Morbidelli and Norberto Fontana all ended their Formula 1 careers. At Jordan Damon Hill was brought in to replace Arrows , Ralf Schumacher kept the second driver's seat . Arrows in turn promoted Pedro Diniz to regular driver and recruited Mika Salo from Tyrrell . After differences of opinion between Ken Tyrrell and the new co-owner British American Tobacco over the vacant second driver's seat next to Toranosuke Takagi , Jos Verstappen's contract was not extended and the pay driver Ricardo Rosset was hired instead . Prost kept Olivier Panis and now hired Jarno Trulli as the second driver, having come to replace the injured Frenchman the previous season. Minardi brought two new drivers into the team with Shinji Nakano and Esteban Tuero , while Ukyo Katayama ended his career and Tarso Marques did not return to Minardi until 2001.

Williams , Ferrari , McLaren and Stewart entered the new championship with an unchanged driver pairing , during the season the Dane Jan Magnussen was replaced by Jos Verstappen at Stewart after the race in Canada .

Teams

With the exception of the Mastercard Lola team, all teams from the previous year competed again. At Tyrrell, Craig Pollock took over the leadership of the team after team founder Ken Tyrrell withdrew after disagreements.

Teams and drivers

photo	team	chassis	engine	tires	No.	Regular driver	run	Test / substitute driver
	Winfield Williams	Williams FW20	Mecachrome 3.0 V10	G	1	Jacques Villeneuve	1-16	Juan Pablo Montoya Max Wilson
					2	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	1-16
	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari F300	Ferrari 3.0 V10	G	3	Michael sSchumacher	1-16	Luca Badoer
					4th	Eddie Irvine	1-16
	Mild Seven Benetton Playlife	Benetton B198	Playlife 3.0 V10	B.	5	Giancarlo Fisichella	1-16	n / A
					6th	Alexander Wurz	1-16
	West McLaren Mercedes	McLaren MP4 / 13	Mercedes-Benz 3.0 V10	B.	7th	David Coulthard	1-16	Nick Heidfeld Ricardo Zonta
					8th	Mika Hakkinen	1-16
	Benson & Hedges Jordan	Jordan 198	Mugen-Honda 3.0 V10	G	9	Damon Hill	1-16	Pedro de la Rosa
					10	Ralf Schumacher	1-16
	Gauloises cheers Peugeot	Cheers AP01	Peugeot 3.0 V10	B.	11	Olivier Panis	1-16	Stéphane Sarrazin
					12	Jarno Trulli	1-16
	Red Bull Sauber Petronas	Clean C17	Petronas 3.0 V10	G	14th	Jean Alesi	1-16	Jörg Müller
					15th	Johnny Herbert	1-16
	Danka Zepter Arrows	Arrows A19	Arrows 3.0 V10	B.	16	Pedro Diniz	1-16	Emmanuel Collard Stephen Watson
					17th	Mika Salo	1-16
	Stewart Ford	Stewart SF2	Ford Zetec-R 3.0 V10	B.	18th	Rubens Barrichello	1-16	Jos Verstappen
					19th	Jan Magnussen	1-7
						Jos Verstappen	8-16
	Tyrrell	Tyrrell 026	Ford Zetec-R / 97 3.0 V10	G	20th	Ricardo Rosset	1-16	n / A
					21st	Toranosuke Takagi	1-16
	Fondmetal Minardi team	Minardi M198	Ford Zetec-R / 97 3.0 V10	B.	22nd	Shinji Nakano	1-16	Laurent Redon
					23	Esteban Tuero	1-16

Racing calendar

No.	date	Grand Prix	route	Distance (km)	Pole position	Fastest race lap	winner	Overall leading driver	Overall leading designer
01	8th of March	Australia	Albert Park Circuit	307,574	Mika Hakkinen	Mika Hakkinen	Mika Hakkinen	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren-Mercedes
02	March 29	Brazil	Autódromo José Carlos Pace	309.024	Mika Hakkinen	Mika Hakkinen	Mika Hakkinen
03	12. April	Argentina	Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez	306,482	David Coulthard	Alexander Wurz	Michael sSchumacher
04th	26th of April	San Marino	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari	305.660	David Coulthard	Michael sSchumacher	David Coulthard
05	10th of May	Spain	Circuit de Catalunya	307.196	Mika Hakkinen	Mika Hakkinen	Mika Hakkinen
06th	May 24th	Monaco	Circuit de Monaco	262.626	Mika Hakkinen	Mika Hakkinen	Mika Hakkinen
07th	June 7th	Canada	Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve	305.049	David Coulthard	Michael sSchumacher	Michael sSchumacher
08th	June 28th	France	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours	301.564	Mika Hakkinen	David Coulthard	Michael sSchumacher
09	July 12	Great Britain	Silverstone Circuit	308.296	Mika Hakkinen	Michael sSchumacher	Michael sSchumacher
10	July 26th	Austria	A1 ring	306.649	Giancarlo Fisichella	David Coulthard	Mika Hakkinen
11	August 2nd	Germany	Hockenheimring	307.035	Mika Hakkinen	David Coulthard	Mika Hakkinen
12	August 16	Hungary	Hungaroring	305.844	Mika Hakkinen	Michael sSchumacher	Michael sSchumacher
13	August 30th	Belgium	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	306,592	Mika Hakkinen	Michael sSchumacher	Damon Hill
14th	13.september	Italy	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	305.810	Michael sSchumacher	Mika Hakkinen	Michael sSchumacher
15th	September 27th	Luxembourg	Nürburgring	305.252	Michael sSchumacher	Mika Hakkinen	Mika Hakkinen
16	November 1st	Japan	Suzuka International Racing Course	299,064	Michael sSchumacher	Michael sSchumacher	Mika Hakkinen

Race reports

Australian Grand Prix

→ Main article : 1998 Australian Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren - Mercedes	1: 31: 45.996
2	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 0.702
3	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams - Mecachrome	+ 1 lap
4th	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	+ 1 lap
5	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams Mecachrome	+ 1 lap
6th	Johnny Herbert	Clean - Petronas	+ 1 lap

The Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne took place on March 8, 1998 over 58 laps over a total of 307.574 km.

The very first race showed that McLaren would dominate the 1998 season. Both drivers were significantly faster than the rest of the field. At Häkkinen's second pit stop, however, there was a problem with the fuel system, so that he had to refuel a few laps before the end. Thereupon David Coulthard was asked to let his teammate pass, which he did and Häkkinen got his second win as a gift.

Brazilian Grand Prix

→ Main article : 1998 Brazilian Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren - Mercedes	1: 37: 11.747
2	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 1.102
3	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	+1: 00.550
4th	Alexander Wurz	Benetton - Playlife	+1: 07.453
5	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams - Mecachrome	+ 1 lap
6th	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton Playlife	+ 1 lap

The Brazilian Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo took place on March 29, 1998 and covered a distance of 72 laps for a total of 309.024 km.

Argentina Grand Prix

→ Main article : 1998 Argentine Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	1: 48: 36.175
2	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren - Mercedes	+ 22.899
3	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	+ 57.745
4th	Alexander Wurz	Benetton - Playlife	+1: 08.134
5	Jean Alesi	Clean - Petronas	+1: 18.286
6th	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	+1: 19.751

The Argentine Grand Prix at the Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez race track in Buenos Aires took place on April 12, 1998 and covered a distance of 72 laps for a total of 306.648 km.

After a collision in the initial phase, David Coulthard fell back and the way was clear for Michael Schumacher. Schumacher made a driving error in the final phase when it started to rain; Nevertheless, he was able to get back on the track before Mika Häkkinen and still win the race.

San Marino Grand Prix

→ Main article : 1998 San Marino Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	David Coulthard	McLaren - Mercedes	1: 34: 24.593
2	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	+ 4.554
3	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	+ 51.776
4th	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams - Mecachrome	+ 54.590
5	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams Mecachrome	+ 1 lap
6th	Jean Alesi	Clean - Petronas	+ 1 lap

The San Marino Grand Prix at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola took place on April 26, 1998 and covered a distance of 62 laps for a total of 305.660 km.

David Coulthard used his pole position and led from the start, team-mate Häkkinen retired in the first third of the race due to a defect, which ultimately brought Coulthard his only win of the season.

Spanish Grand Prix

→ Main article : 1998 Spanish Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren - Mercedes	1: 33: 37.621
2	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 9.439
3	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	+ 47.094
4th	Alexander Wurz	Benetton - Playlife	+1: 02.538
5	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart - Ford	+ 1 lap
6th	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams - Mecachrome	+ 1 lap

The Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona took place on May 10, 1998 and covered a distance of 65 laps for a total of 307.320 km.

Monaco Grand Prix

→ Main article : 1998 Monaco Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren - Mercedes	1: 51: 23.595
2	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton - Playlife	+ 11.474
3	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	+ 41.378
4th	Mika Salo	Arrows	+1: 00.363
5	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams - Mecachrome	+ 1 lap
6th	Pedro Diniz	Arrows	+ 1 lap

The Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo took place on May 24, 1998 and covered a distance of 78 laps for a total of 262.626 km.

Häkkinen won safely after Coulthard retired early with engine failure and Michael Schumacher had to repair a damaged suspension after a daring overtaking maneuver against Alexander Wurz, which brought him several laps behind.

Canadian Grand Prix

→ Main article : 1998 Canadian Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	1: 40: 57.355
2	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton - Playlife	+ 16.662
3	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	+1: 00.058
4th	Alexander Wurz	Benetton Playlife	+1: 03.232
5	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart - Ford	+1: 21.512
6th	Jan Magnussen	Stewart-Ford	+ 1 lap

The Canadian Grand Prix on the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montréal took place on June 7, 1998 and went over a distance of 69 laps for a total of 305.049 km.

The race was characterized by 2 start accidents and 3 safety car phases, which kept the order mixed up. Highlights were the multiple rollover by Alex Wurz at the first start as well as various spins and accidents. The world championship leader Häkkinen retired at the second start with a gearbox failure, David Coulthard a few laps later and Michael Schumacher had to fight hard to prevail against the strong Giancarlo Fisichella.

French Grand Prix

→ Main article : 1998 French Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	1: 34: 45.026
2	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	+ 19.575
3	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren - Mercedes	+ 19.747
4th	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams - Mecachrome	+1: 06.965
5	Alexander Wurz	Benetton - Playlife	+ 1 lap
6th	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 1 lap

The French Grand Prix at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours near Nevers took place on June 28, 1998 and covered a distance of 71 laps (301.750 km).

Great Britain Grand Prix

→ Main article : 1998 British Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	1: 47: 12.450
2	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren - Mercedes	+ 12.465
3	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	+ 19,199
4th	Alexander Wurz	Benetton - Playlife	+ 1 lap
5	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton Playlife	+ 1 lap
6th	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan - Mugen-Honda	+ 1 lap

The Grand Prix of Great Britain at the Silverstone Circuit in Silverstone took place on July 12, 1998 and covered a distance of 60 laps (308,400 km).

The race was turned upside down by a track that was initially wet, then drying and then wet again. Around the middle of the race it started to rain again, which resulted in numerous spins and accidents. a. of second-placed David Coulthard when lapping it. The safety car even came onto the track for a few laps. One lap after the race was reopened, the leading Häkkinen made a driving error, which allowed Schumacher to take the lead and clearly break away. 3 laps before the end, however, Schumacher received a time penalty, which he only served at the end of the last lap, so that he crossed the finish line in the pit lane and therefore still won.

Grand Prix of Austria

→ Main article : Grand Prix of Austria 1998

space	driver	team	time
1	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren - Mercedes	1: 30: 44.086
2	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 5.289
3	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	+ 39.093
4th	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	+ 43.977
5	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan - Mugen-Honda	+ 50.655
6th	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams - Mecachrome	+ 53.202

The Austrian Grand Prix on the A1-Ring in Spielberg took place on July 26, 1998 and covered a distance of 71 laps (306.649 km).

After the training had mixed up the order a bit, there were several collisions in the first lap, which u. a. David Coulthard fell far behind and later had to start a race to catch up. Michael Schumacher initially kept up well with Häkkinen, but then made a driving mistake, which meant he had to get a new front wing. Despite a race to catch up, the McLaren-Mercedes had long since hurried.

Grand Prix of Germany

→ Main article : German Grand Prix 1998

space	driver	team	time
1	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren - Mercedes	1: 20: 47.984
2	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 0.427
3	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams - Mecachrome	+ 2.578
4th	Damon Hill	Jordan - Mugen-Honda	+ 7.185
5	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	+ 12.613
6th	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	+ 29.739

The German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring in Hockenheim took place on August 2nd, 1998 and covered a distance of 45 laps for a total of 307.035 km.

Hungarian Grand Prix

→ Main article : 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	1: 45: 25.550
2	David Coulthard	McLaren - Mercedes	+ 9.433
3	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams - Mecachrome	+ 44.444
4th	Damon Hill	Jordan - Mugen-Honda	+ 55.075
5	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams Mecachrome	+ 56.510
6th	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 1 lap

The Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring in Budapest took place on August 16, 1998 and covered a distance of 77 laps for a total of 305.844 km.

Häkkinen led most of the race ahead of Coulthard and Schumacher. Schumacher was faster than the two McLaren, only it is hardly possible to overtake on the Hungaroring. Then Schumacher consumed less fuel during his second pit stop, which meant he was on a three-stop strategy whereas the McLaren were on two stops. So Schumacher also took the lead, but it was clear that he had to go back to the pits and gave everything to build his lead to 25 seconds. However, at the end of the 52nd lap he made a minor driving error - Schumacher did not know at the time that he was leading, as he said in the press conference.

However, Häkkinen had already run into problems laps before and Coulthard was only given permission to overtake his team-mate at the same time as Schumacher's driving error. This statement came too late, because despite the slip, Schumacher still managed to extend his lead so that he came out again before Coulthard. Meanwhile, Häkkinen fell back to sixth place and was ultimately even overtaken by Schumacher.

The organizers of the Hungarian Grand Prix were fined one million dollars after the race. Spectators stormed the track shortly after Schumacher had crossed the finish line.

Belgian Grand Prix

→ Main article : 1998 Belgian Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Damon Hill	Jordan - Mugen-Honda	1: 43: 47,407
2	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	+ 0.932
3	Jean Alesi	Clean - Petronas	+ 7.240
4th	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams - Mecachrome	+ 32.242
5	Pedro Diniz	Arrows	+ 51.682
6th	Jarno Trulli	Cheers - Peugeot	+ 2 rounds

The Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps took place on August 30, 1998 and covered a distance of 44 laps (306.592 km). World Championship leader Mika Häkkinen secured first place in the McLaren ahead of his teammates David Coulthard and Damon Hill (Jordan).

Shortly after the start, at the exit of the first corner, there was an unprecedented pile-up, in which 13 cars were involved. David Coulthard had lost control of his car in the rain and hit the boundary wall. Due to the spray , the following drivers did not see the wreck and collided with each other. The race was initially canceled and could only be resumed after about an hour, when all the wrecks had been recovered.

In the course of the race many other pilots were eliminated because of the rain. Michael Schumacher led by a clear margin at halftime and looked like the sure winner when he lapped David Coulthard, who was in eighth position, because of a misunderstanding. Coulthard had taken off the accelerator on the ideal line to let Schumacher overtake. Schumacher assumed that Coulthard would make way for him. As a result, Schumacher had to end the race and thus missed the chance to take the lead in the World Cup. In the end, Damon Hill won in the Jordan ahead of his teammate Ralf Schumacher , who was faster in the end - it was the British team's first Grand Prix victory.

Italian Grand Prix

→ Main article : 1998 Italian Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	1: 17: 09.672
2	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	+ 37.977
3	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan - Mugen-Honda	+ 41.152
4th	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren - Mercedes	+ 55.671
5	Jean Alesi	Clean - Petronas	+1: 01.872
6th	Damon Hill	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	+1: 06.688

The Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza took place on September 13, 1998 and covered a distance of 53 laps (305.810 km). Both McLaren got off to an excellent start and also dominated the first laps in which David Coulthard was able to overtake Häkkinen. After Coulthard's engine burst, Michael Schumacher also overtook Häkkinen, pulled away and only lost the lead through pit stops.

At the end of the race it looked as if Häkkinen could catch up with Schumacher after all, but he spun into the gravel trap with braking problems. As a result, it was eventually passed through to fourth place.

Grand Prix of Luxembourg

→ Main article : 1998 Grand Prix of Luxembourg

space	driver	team	time
1	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren - Mercedes	1: 32: 14.789
2	Michael sSchumacher	Ferrari	+ 2.212
3	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 34.164
4th	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	+ 58.183
5	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams - Mecachrome	+1: 00.248
6th	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton - Playlife	+1: 01.360

The Grand Prix of Luxembourg at the Nürburgring took place on September 27, 1998 and covered a distance of 67 laps over a total of 305.252 km.

The two World Cup favorites Häkkinen and Schumacher entered this Grand Prix tied with 80 points each. They fought a tough fight over the entire race distance, which Häkkinen narrowly won.

Japanese Grand Prix

→ Main article : 1998 Japanese Grand Prix

space	driver	team	time
1	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren - Mercedes	1: 27: 22.789
2	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	+ 6.491
3	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 27.662
4th	Damon Hill	Jordan - Mugen-Honda	+1: 13.491
5	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams - Mecachrome	+1: 13.857
6th	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams Mecachrome	+1: 15.867

The Japanese Grand Prix at the Suzuka International Racing Course near Suzuka took place on November 1, 1998 and covered a distance of 51 laps for a total of 299.064 km. There were two aborted starts, which reduced the number of laps to be completed from the original 53 to 51. The second crash was caused by Michael Schumacher, who had to give up his pole position and was the last to start. After Michael Schumacher suffered a puncture at the end of the 30th lap and had to give up the race on the 31st lap, Mika Häkkinen was finally Formula 1 world champion for the first time.

Qualifying / racing duels

These two tables show which drivers in each team achieved the better positions in qualifying and in the race.

Qualifying duels

driver	:	driver
Williams Mecachrome
Jacques Villeneuve	10: 6	Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Ferrari
Michael sSchumacher	15: 1	Eddie Irvine
Benetton Playlife
Giancarlo Fisichella	10: 6	Alexander Wurz
McLaren-Mercedes
David Coulthard	3:13	Mika Hakkinen
Jordan-Mugen-Honda
Damon Hill	6:10	Ralf Schumacher
Cheers Peugeot
Olivier Panis	7: 9	Jarno Trulli
Clean Petronas
Jean Alesi	10: 6	Johnny Herbert
Arrows
Pedro Diniz	5:11	Mika Salo
Stewart-Ford
Rubens Barrichello	7-0	Jan Magnussen
	8: 1	Jos Verstappen
Tyrrell-Ford
Ricardo Rosset	2:14	Toranosuke Takagi
Minardi-Ford
Shinji Nakano	11: 5	Esteban Tuero

Racing duels

driver	:	driver
Williams Mecachrome
Jacques Villeneuve	9: 7	Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Ferrari
Michael sSchumacher	13: 3	Eddie Irvine
Benetton Playlife
Giancarlo Fisichella	9: 7	Alexander Wurz
McLaren-Mercedes
David Coulthard	4:12	Mika Hakkinen
Jordan-Mugen-Honda
Damon Hill	9: 7	Ralf Schumacher
Cheers Peugeot
Olivier Panis	9: 7	Jarno Trulli
Clean Petronas
Jean Alesi	11: 5	Johnny Herbert
Arrows
Pedro Diniz	6:10	Mika Salo
Stewart-Ford
Rubens Barrichello	3: 4	Jan Magnussen
	6: 3	Jos Verstappen
Tyrrell-Ford
Ricardo Rosset	5:11	Toranosuke Takagi
Minardi-Ford
Shinji Nakano	11: 5	Esteban Tuero

World championship ratings

Driver ranking of the 1998 Formula 1 season

The world champion is the driver or designer who has accumulated the most points in the world championship by the end of the season. When distributing points, the placements in the overall result of the respective race of all races are taken into account. The first six drivers in each race receive points according to the following scheme:

Distribution of points
space	1	2	3	4th	5	6th
Points	10	6th	4th	3	2	1

Driver ranking

Item	driver	constructor																	Points
01	M. Hakkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1	1	2	DNF	1	1	DNF	3	2	1	1	6th	DNF	4th	1	1	100
02	M. Schumacher	Ferrari	DNF	3	1	2	3	10	1	1	1	3	5	1	DNF	1	2	DNF	86
03	D. Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	2	2	6th	1	2	DNF	DNF	6th	DNF	2	2	2	7th	DNF	3	3	56
04th	E. Irvine	Ferrari	4th	8th	3	3	DNF	3	3	2	3	4th	8th	DNF	DNF	2	4th	2	47
05	J. Villeneuve	Williams Mecachrome	5	7th	DNF	4th	6th	5	10	4th	7th	6th	3	3	DNF	DNF	8th	6th	21st
06th	D. Hill	Jordan-Mugen	8th	DNF	8th	10	DNF	8th	DNF	DNF	DNF	7th	4th	4th	1	6th	9	4th	20th
07th	H. Frentzen	Williams Mecachrome	3	5	9	5	8th	DNF	DNF	15th	DNF	DNF	9	5	4th	7th	5	5	17th
08th	A. Wurz	Benetton Playlife	7th	4th	4th	DNF	4th	DNF	4th	5	4th	9	11	16	DNF	DNF	7th	9	17th
09	G. Fisichella	Benetton Playlife	DNF	6th	7th	DNF	DNF	2	2	9	5	DNF	7th	8th	DNF	8th	6th	8th	16
10	R. Schumacher	Jordan-Mugen	DNF	DNF	DNF	7th	11	DNF	DNF	16	6th	5	6th	9	2	3	DNF	DNF	14th
11	J. Alesi	Clean Petronas	DNF	9	5	6th	10	12	DNF	7th	DNF	DNF	10	7th	3	5	10	7th	9
12	R. Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	DNF	DNF	10	DNF	5	DNF	5	10	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	10	11	DNF	4th
13	M. Salo	Arrows	DNF	DNF	DNF	9	DNF	4th	DNF	13	DNF	DNF	14th	DNF	DNF	DNF	14th	DNF	3
14th	P. Diniz	Arrows	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	6th	9	14th	DNF	DNF	DNF	11	5	DNF	DNF	DNF	3
15th	J. Herbert	Clean Petronas	6th	11	DNF	DNF	7th	7th	DNF	8th	DNF	8th	DNF	10	DNF	DNF	DNF	10	1
16	J. Trulli	Cheers Peugeot	DNF	DNF	11	DNF	9	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	10	12	DNF	6th	13	DNF	12	1
17th	J. Magnussen	Stewart-Ford	DNF	10	DNF	DNF	12	DNF	6th										1
18th	S. Nakano	Minardi-Ford	DNF	DNF	13	DNF	14th	9	7th	17th	8th	11	DNF	15th	8th	DNF	15th	DNF	0
19th	E. Tuero	Minardi-Ford	DNF	DNF	DNF	8th	15th	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	16	DNF	DNF	11	DNF	DNF	0
20th	R. Rosset	Tyrrell-Ford	DNF	DNF	14th	DNF	DNQ	DNQ	8th	DNF	DNF	12	DNQ	DNQ	DNF	12	DNF	DNQ	0
21st	T. Takagi	Tyrrell-Ford	DNF	DNF	12	DNF	13	11	DNF	DNF	9	DNF	13	14th	DNF	9	16	DNF	0
22nd	O. Panis	Cheers Peugeot	9	DNF	DNF	11	16	DNF	DNF	11	DNF	DNF	15th	12	DNF	DNF	12	11	0
23	J. Verstappen	Stewart-Ford								12	DNF	DNF	DNF	13	DNF	DNF	13	DNF	0

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

Constructors' championship

McLaren MP4 / 13 Mercedes from 1998

Item constructor Points 1  McLaren-Mercedes 156 2  Ferrari 133 3  Williams Mecachrome 38 4th  Jordan-Mugen 34 5  Benetton Playlife 33 6th  Clean Petronas 10

Item constructor Points 7th  Arrows 6th 8th  Stewart-Ford 5 9  Cheers Peugeot 1 10  Minardi-Ford 0 11  Tyrrell-Ford 0

Web links

Commons : Formula 1 season 1998  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official Formula 1 website Results Season 1998 (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ grandprix.com X Wings are banned! (accessed on March 22, 2019)
2. ↑ At a glance: The highest fines in Formula 1. In: Motorsport-Total.com. Retrieved May 14, 2016 .