1998 German Grand Prix

  1998 German Grand Prix

Race details
Race 11 of 16 in the 1998 Formula One season
Date	August 2, 1998
Official name	Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland
Location	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim, Germany
Course	Permanent racing facility 6.823 km (4.240 mi)
Distance	45 laps, 307.035 km (190.783 mi)
Weather	Cloudy but dry
Pole position
Driver	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:41.838
Fastest lap
Driver	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:46.116 on lap 17
Podium
First	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes
Second	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes
Third	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Mecachrome

The 1998 German Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at the Hockenheimring on August 2, 1998. Mika Häkkinen won the race for McLaren Mercedes.

Qualifying

Mika Häkkinen took pole position ahead of team-mate David Coulthard. Jacques Villeneuve qualified in third, in a new long-wheelbase Williams. Ralf Schumacher was fourth.

Michael Schumacher, Häkkinen's main championship rival, qualified ninth after a series of problems throughout practice. Ferrari's long-wheelbase chassis, making its Grand Prix debut, was dismissed by Schumacher after he tried it during the Friday practice sessions. Back in his old car, he spun off on his first lap during first practice on Saturday, and then suffered an engine failure early in second practice.

There were also various mutterings that the Ferraris were off the pace as McLaren had threatened to protest about the Italian team's new braking system, and some were sure it had been removed to the team's obvious detriment.

Race Summary

Come the race, the McLarens were dominant, running first and second throughout and only stopping once each. Ralf Schumacher, running on a light fuel load due to his two-stop strategy, looked to be the only driver capable of troubling them in the first part of the race. He managed to stay with the McLarens but he could not pass them.

Villeneuve took over third place when Schumacher made the first of his stops, and this was where he stayed to the finish. By the end, Villeneuve was catching the McLarens because Häkkinen had not taken on enough fuel at his stop, and the Finn had to slow down to reduce his fuel consumption.

Damon Hill, who also one stopped came through to take his first points of the year, finishing ahead of Michael and Ralf Schumacher in fifth and sixth places respectively.

Qualification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Lap	Gap
1	8	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:41.838	—
2	7	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:42.347	+0.509
3	1	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Mecachrome	1:42.365	+0.527
4	10	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	1:42.994	+1.156
5	9	Damon Hill	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	1:43.183	+1.345
6	4	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	1:43.270	+1.432
7	6	Alexander Wurz	Benetton-Playlife	1:43.341	+1.503
8	5	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton-Playlife	1:43.369	+1.531
9	3	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:43.459	+1.621
10	2	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Mecachrome	1:43.467	+1.629
11	14	Jean Alesi	Sauber-Petronas	1:43.663	+1.825
12	15	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Petronas	1:44.599	+2.761
13	18	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	1.44.776	+2.938
14	12	Jarno Trulli	Prost-Peugeot	1:44.844	+3.006
15	21	Toranosuke Takagi	Tyrrell-Ford	1:44.961	+3.123
16	11	Olivier Panis	Prost-Peugeot	1:45.197	+3.359
17	17	Mika Salo	Arrows	1:45.276	+3.438
18	16	Pedro Diniz	Arrows	1:45.588	+3.750
19	19	Jos Verstappen	Stewart-Ford	1:45.623	+3.785
20	22	Shinji Nakano	Minardi-Ford	1:46.713	+4.875
21	23	Esteban Tuero	Minardi-Ford	1:47:265	+5.427

Ricardo Rosset was withdrawn for qualification by his team, due to a crash in a free practice session.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	8	Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	45	1:20:47.984	1	10
2	7	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	45	+0.426	2	6
3	1	Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Mecachrome	45	+2.577	3	4
4	9	Damon Hill	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	45	+7.185	5	3
5	3	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	45	+12.613	9	2
6	10	Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	45	+29.738	4	1
7	5	Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton-Playlife	45	+31.026	8
8	4	Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	45	+31.649	6
9	2	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Mecachrome	45	+32.784	10
10	14	Jean Alesi	Sauber-Petronas	45	+48.371	11
11	6	Alexander Wurz	Benetton-Playlife	45	+57.994	7
12	12	Jarno Trulli	Prost-Peugeot	44	+1 lap	14
13	21	Toranosuke Takagi	Tyrrell-Ford	44	+1 lap	15
14	17	Mika Salo	Arrows	44	+1 lap	17
15	11	Olivier Panis	Prost-Peugeot	44	+1 lap	16
16	23	Esteban Tuero	Minardi-Ford	43	+2 laps	21
Ret	15	Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Petronas	37	Gearbox	12
Ret	22	Shinji Nakano	Minardi-Ford	36	Gearbox	20
Ret	18	Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	27	Gearbox	13
Ret	19	Jos Verstappen	Stewart-Ford	24	Gearbox	19
Ret	16	Pedro Diniz	Arrows	2	Throttle	18
DNQ	20	Ricardo Rosset	Tyrrell-Ford

Standings after Grand Prix

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Mika Häkkinen 76 2 Michael Schumacher 60 3 David Coulthard 42 4 Eddie Irvine 32 5 Alexander Wurz 17

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-Mercedes 118 2 Ferrari 92 3 Benetton-Playlife 32 4 Williams-Mecachrome 24 5 Jordan-Mugen-Honda 7

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

Previous race: 1998 Austrian Grand Prix	FIA Formula One World Championship 1998 season	Next race: 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix
Previous race: 1997 German Grand Prix	German Grand Prix	Next race: 1999 German Grand Prix

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