The 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix (formally the XIV Marlboro Magyar Nagydíj) was a Formula One motor race held at the Hungaroring, Mogyoród, Pest, Hungary on 16 August 1998. It was the twelfth race of the 1998 Formula One World Championship.
The 77-lap race was won by German driver Michael Schumacher, driving a Ferrari, after he started from third position. Drivers' Championship leader, Finn Mika Häkkinen, took pole position in his McLaren-Mercedes and led the first 46 laps. Under guidance from Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn, Schumacher opted to take three pit stops rather than the two favoured by the McLarens, and took the lead after his second stop, before extending his advantage such that he could retain it after his third stop. Schumacher went on to win by 9.4 seconds from Briton David Coulthard in the other McLaren-Mercedes, with Canadian Jacques Villeneuve third in a Williams-Mecachrome.
With Häkkinen dropping to sixth after shock absorber problems in the closing stages of the race, Schumacher cut the Finn's championship lead to seven points with four races remaining. In October 1998, the organisers of the race were fined US$1 million, with US$750,000 of it suspended, due to a track invasion. As there was no repeat of this invasion in the following two years, the fine was US$250,000.
Classification Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Time Gap 1 8 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.973 2 7 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:17.131 +0.158 3 3 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:17.366 +0.393 4 9 Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:18.214 +1.241 5 4 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:18.325 +1.352 6 1 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Mecachrome 1:18.337 +1.364 7 2 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Mecachrome 1:19.029 +2.056 8 5 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 1:19.050 +2.077 9 6 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 1:19.063 +2.090 10 10 Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:19.171 +2.198 11 14 Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 1:19.210 +2.237 12 16 Pedro Diniz Arrows 1:19.706 +2.733 13 17 Mika Salo Arrows 1:19.712 +2.739 14 18 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1:19.876 +2.903 15 15 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 1:19.878 +2.905 16 12 Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 1:20.042 +3.069 17 19 Jos Verstappen Stewart-Ford 1:20.198 +3.225 18 21 Toranosuke Takagi Tyrrell-Ford 1:20.354 +3.381 19 22 Shinji Nakano Minardi-Ford 1:20.635 +3.662 20 11 Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 1:20.663 +3.690 21 23 Esteban Tuero Minardi-Ford 1:21.725 +4.752107% time: 1:22.361 20 Ricardo Rosset Tyrrell-Ford 1:23.140 +6.167 Source:
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 3 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 77 1:45:25.550 3 10 2 7 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 77 + 9.433 2 6 3 1 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Mecachrome 77 + 44.444 6 4 4 9 Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 77 + 55.076 4 3 5 2 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Mecachrome 77 + 56.510 7 2 6 8 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 76 + 1 lap 1 1 7 14 Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 76 + 1 lap 11 8 5 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 76 + 1 lap 8 9 10 Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Mugen-Honda 76 + 1 lap 10 10 15 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 76 + 1 lap 15 11 16 Pedro Diniz Arrows 74 + 3 laps 12 12 11 Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 74 + 3 laps 20 13 19 Jos Verstappen Stewart-Ford 74 + 3 laps 17 14 21 Toranosuke Takagi Tyrrell-Ford 74 + 3 laps 18 15 22 Shinji Nakano Minardi-Ford 74 + 3 laps 19 16 6 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 69 Gearbox 9 18 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 54 Gearbox 14 12 Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 28 Engine 16 17 Mika Salo Arrows 18 Gearbox 13 4 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 13 Gearbox 5 23 Esteban Tuero Minardi-Ford 13 Engine 21
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Mika Häkkinen 77 2 Michael Schumacher 70 3 David Coulthard 48 4 Eddie Irvine 32 5 Jacques Villeneuve 20Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-Mercedes 125 2 Ferrari 102 3 Benetton-Playlife 32 4 Williams-Mecachrome 30 5 Jordan-Mugen-Honda 10Source:
References