1998 Brazilian Grand Prix

1998 Brazilian Grand Prix
Race 2 of 16 in the 1998 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date	29 March 1998
Official name	XXVII Grande Prêmio Marlboro do Brasil
Location	Autódromo José Carlos Pace São Paulo, Brazil
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.292 km (2.667 mi)
Distance	72 laps, 309.024 km (192.019 mi)
Weather	Mostly cloudy, 31 °C (88 °F)
Pole position
Driver	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:17.092
Fastest lap
Driver	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:19.337 on lap 65
Podium
First	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes
Second	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes
Third	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
Lap leaders

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 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. Drivers including Jacques Villeneuve and Damon Hill disliked how the device performed.^[1] 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 the FIA technical delegate, Charlie 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	+3.755
107% time: 1:22.488
Source:[2]

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
DSQ	9	Damon Hill	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	70	Underweight	11
Ret	11	Olivier Panis	Prost-Peugeot	63	Engine	9
Ret	18	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	56	Gearbox	13
Ret	20	Ricardo Rosset	Tyrrell-Ford	52	Gearbox	21
Ret	23	Esteban Tuero	Minardi-Ford	44	Throttle	19
Ret	16	Pedro Diniz	Arrows	26	Gearbox	22
Ret	21	Toranosuke Takagi	Tyrrell-Ford	19	Engine	17
Ret	17	Mika Salo	Arrows	18	Engine	20
Ret	12	Jarno Trulli	Prost-Peugeot	17	Fuel Pump	12
Ret	22	Shinji Nakano	Minardi-Ford	3	Spun Off	18
Ret	10	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	0	Spun Off	8
Source:[3]

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 3 Source:[4]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-Mercedes 32 2 Williams-Mecachrome 8 3 Ferrari 7 4 Benetton-Playlife 4 5 Sauber-Petronas 1 Source:[4]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References[]