The 1998 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Interlagos on 29 March 1998. It was the second race of the 1998 FIA Formula One World Championship. Mika Häkkinen, driving a McLaren-Mercedes, took pole position, set the fastest lap and led every lap on his way to victory in the 72-lap race. Teammate David Coulthard finished second, with Michael Schumacher third in a Ferrari.
Report
Background Before the race there was a furore surrounding McLaren as Scuderia Ferrari had protested about its braking system, which enabled the drivers to apply the brakes on the rear wheels independently, and thus assist both turn into corners and traction out of them. This effectively meant that the system was a four-wheel steering device, which was banned by the FIA. McLaren announced that they would not appeal the decision. Ferrari, Sauber, and Minardi had all protested the designs of the McLaren, Williams, and Jordan cars, whilst Arrows had protested the McLaren and Williams designs and Tyrrell had protested against McLaren's design. Ferrari were censured by the stewards for claiming their competitors cars to be "dangerous", which FIA technical delegate Charlie Whiting refuted. Drivers including Jacques Villeneuve and Damon Hill (the two most recent World Champion drivers) disliked how the device performed. As a result of Ferrari's protest, the team agreed not to use the system at any stage over the weekend. However, team boss Ron Dennis was livid that the system had been approved on four occasions by Whiting, but was being declared illegal by the three stewards in office for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Race As soon as the race started, Mika Häkkinen took the lead, and he subsequently led every lap of the Grand Prix. At the back of the grid the Arrows team had their worst weekend since Tom Walkinshaw took over with Mika Salo qualifying 20th, and Pedro Diniz qualifying last. On lap one Häkkinen led David Coulthard by over a second, and was three seconds ahead of Heinz-Harald Frentzen in third. Ralf Schumacher spun out on the first lap at the fourth corner, meaning that he had not finished a single lap so far in the season. Eddie Irvine was ahead of the slow-starting Michael Schumacher. On lap 18 Coulthard was 5 seconds behind Häkkinen. Frentzen and Schumacher, after getting past his teammate, were 23 seconds behind the McLaren duo. Schumacher passed Frentzen at the first pit stop, but had to fight to make sure he was not lapped by the two McLarens. The McLarens were totally dominant, for the second time in as many races. Ferrari and Benetton could not compete with them, while reigning World Constructors' Champion Williams were also struggling. Damon Hill was disqualified following the race as his car did not meet the minimum weight requirements.
Classification
Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Lap Time Gap 1 8 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:17.092 2 7 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:17.757 +0.665 3 2 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Mecachrome 1:18.109 +1.017 4 3 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:18.250 +1.158 5 6 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 1:18.261 +1.169 6 4 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:18.449 +1.357 7 5 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 1:18.652 +1.560 8 10 Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:18.735 +1.643 9 11 Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 1:18.753 +1.661 10 1 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Mecachrome 1:18.761 +1.669 11 9 Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:18.988 +1.896 12 12 Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 1:19.069 +1.977 13 18 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1:19.344 +2.252 14 15 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 1:19.375 +2.283 15 14 Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 1:19.449 +2.357 16 19 Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 1:19.644 +2.552 17 21 Toranosuke Takagi Tyrrell-Ford 1:20.203 +3.111 18 22 Shinji Nakano Minardi-Ford 1:20.390 +3.298 19 23 Esteban Tuero Minardi-Ford 1:20.459 +3.367 20 17 Mika Salo Arrows 1:20.481 +3.389 21 20 Ricardo Rosset Tyrrell-Ford 1:20.748 +3.656 22 16 Pedro Diniz Arrows 1:20.847 +3.755107% time: 1:22.488Source:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 8 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 72 1:37:11.747 1 10 2 7 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 72 + 1.102 2 6 3 3 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 72 + 1:00.550 4 4 4 6 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 72 + 1:07.453 5 3 5 2 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Mecachrome 71 + 1 Lap 3 2 6 5 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 71 + 1 Lap 7 1 7 1 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Mecachrome 71 + 1 Lap 10 8 4 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 71 + 1 Lap 6 9 14 Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 71 + 1 Lap 15 10 19 Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 70 + 2 Laps 16 11 15 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 67 Physical 14 11 Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 63 Engine 9 18 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 56 Gearbox 13 20 Ricardo Rosset Tyrrell-Ford 52 Gearbox 21 23 Esteban Tuero Minardi-Ford 44 Throttle 19 16 Pedro Diniz Arrows 26 Gearbox 22 21 Toranosuke Takagi Tyrrell-Ford 19 Engine 17 17 Mika Salo Arrows 18 Engine 20 12 Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 17 Fuel Pump 12 22 Shinji Nakano Minardi-Ford 3 Spun Off 18 10 Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Mugen-Honda 0 Spun Off 8 9 Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 70 Underweight 11
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Mika Häkkinen 20 2 David Coulthard 12 3 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 6 4 Michael Schumacher 4 5 Eddie Irvine 3Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-Mercedes 32 2 Williams-Mecachrome 8 3 Ferrari 7 4 Benetton-Playlife 4 5 Sauber-Petronas 1Source:
References