1998 Argentine Grand Prix

1998 Argentine Grand Prix
Race details
	Race 3 of 16 in the 1998 Formula One season
	;
Date	12 April 1998
Official name	XXI Gran Premio Marlboro Argentina
Location	Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez; Buenos Aires, Argentina
Course	Permanent racing facility ; 4.259 km (2.647 mi)
Distance	72 laps, 306.6 km (190.6 mi)
Weather	Cloudy, dry-wet
Pole position
Time	1:25.852
Fastest lap
Time	1:28.179 on lap 39
Podium

The 1998 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, Buenos Aires on April 12, 1998. It was the third race of the 1998 Formula One season. The race, contested over 72 laps, was won by Michael Schumacher, and represented his first win of the season. The race was also notable as it was the last time (to date) there was an Argentine Grand Prix.

Race Summary[]

At the start of the race, Michael Schumacher was caught out by Mika Häkkinen, while David Coulthard maintained his first place. Schumacher passed Häkkinen at the start of the second lap. On the same lap Eddie Irvine overtook Heinz-Harald Frentzen. By lap 4, Schumacher caught up with Coulthard, and on the next lap the Scotsman took the wrong line, and Schumacher went past. The two cars touched, and Coulthard slid off the track, and rejoined in sixth place. The race then became one between Schumacher, stopping twice, and Häkkinen, on a one-stop strategy. Schumacher's plan proved to be the right one, as he emerged in front following his second stop, after Häkkinen lost time behind Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Behind Häkkinen and the two Ferraris, Jacques Villeneuve was under attack from Jean Alesi and Coulthard. When Esteban Tuero came into the pits, one of his tyres was missing. Eventually, one of the mechanics found it in the garage. Coulthard was slowed by gearbox problems and lost further ground when he tangled with Jacques Villeneuve, putting the Canadian out, while the Scot collected the solitary point for sixth place behind Eddie Irvine, Alexander Wurz and Sauber's Jean Alesi In the lead, Schumacher headed for victory.

Starting Grid[]

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Lap Time	Gap
1	7	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:25.852
2	3	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:26.251	+0.399
3	8	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:26.632	+0.780
4	4	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	1:26.780	+0.928
5	10	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	1:26.827	+0.975
6	2	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Mecachrome	1:26.876	+1.024
7	1	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Mecachrome	1:26.941	+1.089
8	6	Alexander Wurz	Benetton-Playlife	1:27.196	+1.344
9	9	Damon Hill	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	1:27.483	+1.631
10	5	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton-Playlife	1:27.836	+1.984
11	14	Jean Alesi	Sauber-Petronas	1:27.839	+1.987
12	15	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Petronas	1:28.016	+2.164
13	21	Toranosuke Takagi	Tyrrell-Ford	1:28.811	+2.959
14	18	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	1:29.249	+3.397
15	11	Olivier Panis	Prost-Peugeot	1:29.320	+3.468
16	12	Jarno Trulli	Prost-Peugeot	1:29.352	+3.500
17	17	Mika Salo	Arrows	1:29.617	+3.765
18	16	Pedro Diniz	Arrows	1:30.022	+4.170
19	22	Shinji Nakano	Minardi-Ford	1:30.054	+4.202
20	23	Esteban Tuero	Minardi-Ford	1:30.158	+4.306
21	20	Ricardo Rosset	Tyrrell-Ford	1:30.437	+4.585
22	19	Jan Magnussen	Stewart-Ford	1:31.178	+5.326

Classification[]

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	3	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	72	1:48:36.1	2	10
2	8	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	72	+22.898	3	6
3	4	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	72	+57.745	4	4
4	6	Alexander Wurz	Benetton-Playlife	72	+1:08.134	8	3
5	14	Jean Alesi	Sauber-Petronas	72	+1:18.286	11	2
6	7	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	72	+1:19.751	1	1
7	5	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton-Playlife	72	+1:28.437	10
8	9	Damon Hill	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	71	+1 Lap	9
9	2	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Mecachrome	71	+1 Lap	6
10	18	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	70	+2 Laps	14
11	12	Jarno Trulli	Prost-Peugeot	70	+2 Laps	16
12	21	Toranosuke Takagi	Tyrrell-Ford	70	+2 Laps	13
13	22	Shinji Nakano	Minardi-Ford	69	+3 Laps	19
14	20	Ricardo Rosset	Tyrrell-Ford	68	+4 Laps	21
15	11	Olivier Panis	Prost-Peugeot	65	Engine	15
Ret	23	Esteban Tuero	Minardi-Ford	63	Spun off	20
Ret	1	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Mecachrome	52	Collision	7
Ret	15	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Petronas	46	Collision	12
Ret	10	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	22	Suspension	5
Ret	17	Mika Salo	Arrows	18	Gearbox	17
Ret	19	Jan Magnussen	Stewart-Ford	17	Transmission	22
Ret	16	Pedro Diniz	Arrows	13	Gearbox	18

Standings after Grand Prix[]

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Mika Häkkinen	26
2	Michael Schumacher	14
3	David Coulthard	13
4	Eddie Irvine	7
5	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	6

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	McLaren-Mercedes	39
2	Ferrari	21
3	Williams-Mecachrome	8
4	Benetton-Playlife	7
5	Sauber-Petronas	3

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

Notes[]

Fastest Lap: Alexander Wurz 1m 28.179s
Alexander Wurz's only fastest lap
This was the last Formula 1 Argentine Grand Prix.
Leaders: David Coulthard 1-4, Michael Schumacher 5-28 and 43-72, Mika Häkkinen 29-42.
The two Saubers collided en route to the grid.

Previous race: 1998 Brazilian Grand Prix	FIA Formula One World Championship 1998 season	Next race: 1998 San Marino Grand Prix
Previous race: 1997 Argentine Grand Prix	Argentine Grand Prix	Next race: None

This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1998 Argentine Grand Prix. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.