| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race 5 of 16 in the 1998 Formula One season | ||
 Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona | ||
| Date | May 10, 1998 | |
| Official name | XL Gran Premio Marlboro de España | |
| Location | Circuit de Catalunya Barcelona, Spain | |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 4.728 km (2.938 mi) | |
| Distance | 65 laps, 307.320 km (190.960 mi) | |
| Weather | Sunny and warm | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver |  Mika Häkkinen
|
McLaren-Mercedes |
| Time | 1:20.262 | |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver | Mika Häkkinen
|
McLaren-Mercedes |
| Time | 1:24.275 on lap 25 | |
| Podium | ||
| First | Mika Häkkinen
|
McLaren-Mercedes |
| Second |  David Coulthard
|
McLaren-Mercedes |
| Third |  Michael Schumacher
|
Ferrari |
The 1998 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on May 10, 1998 at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Race Summary[]
Mika Häkkinen qualified in pole position, 0.7 seconds ahead of his McLaren team-mate David Coulthard in second place, with Ferrari's Michael Schumacher a further 0.8 seconds behind in third. The race proved to be a formality for Häkkinen, winning the race ahead of Coulthard in second, and Schumacher in third.
Arrows driver Pedro Diniz started from the pit lane due to stalling on the warm up lap. At the start the McLarens got away well, but Schumacher made a poor start and fell back to fifth behind his team-mate Eddie Irvine and Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella. They ran in these positions until the first round of pit stops, when Irvine delayed Fisichella sufficiently for his team-mate Schumacher to emerge ahead of them both and regain third. Fisichella and Irvine continued to battle until lap 28, when Fisichella attempted a passing manoeuvre around the outside of Irvine, resulting in a collision spearing them both off into the gravel trap. This led to Fisichella's Benetton team-mate, Alexander Wurz, inheriting fourth place which he held until the finish. Mika Häkkinen was consistently faster than his team mate David Coulthard throughout the race weekend, who was unable to match his pace, even though they were in the same car. Respected ex driver and pundit Martin Brundle made the comment that Häkkinen was "in a class of his own".
During the race, Michael Schumacher and Minardi's Esteban Tuero were given 10 second stop-go penalties for pit lane speeding.[1]
The Stewart of Rubens Barrichello earned two points by finishing in fifth place, which were team's first of the season, this was made possible by the new engine and chassis the team used (however teammate Jan Magnussen ran with the old chassis).[1] Reigning World Champion Jacques Villeneuve finished in sixth place, after Williams had their worst qualifying result since the 1989 United States Grand Prix.
On the final lap, Williams driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen passed Prost's Jarno Trulli for eight place when Trulli was incorrectly shown the blue flags as the marshalls had mistaken the Williams for a Ferrari.[1]
"I am truly angry because I had to give up a great battle, and it isn't fair to lose a position because they are blind and can't recognise one car from another. Of course it doesn't matter much to finish eighth or ninth, but for a racer it matters. In a case of a blue flag I didn't have an alternative". Jarno Trulli[1]
Post race, Fisichella was given a $7,500 USD fine for the collision with Irvine.[1]
Classification[]
Toranosuke Takagi on his way to qualifying 21st and last on the grid, as his teammate Ricardo Rosset failed to qualify for the Grand Prix, missing the benchmark 107% of the polesitters time by 0.065 secs.
Qualifying[]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Lap Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Mika Häkkinen
|
McLaren-Mercedes | 1:20.262 | |
| 2 | 7 | David Coulthard
|
McLaren-Mercedes | 1:20.996 | +0.734 |
| 3 | 3 | Michael Schumacher
|
Ferrari | 1:21.785 | +1.523 |
| 4 | 5 |  Giancarlo Fisichella
|
Benetton-Playlife | 1:21.894 | +1.632 |
| 5 | 6 |  Alexander Wurz
|
Benetton-Playlife | 1:21.965 | +1.703 |
| 6 | 4 | Eddie Irvine
|
Ferrari | 1:22.350 | +2.088 |
| 7 | 15 | Johnny Herbert
|
Sauber-Petronas | 1:22.794 | +2.532 |
| 8 | 9 | Damon Hill
|
Jordan-Mugen-Honda | 1:22.835 | +2.573 |
| 9 | 18 |  Rubens Barrichello
|
Stewart-Ford | 1:22.860 | +2.598 |
| 10 | 1 |  Jacques Villeneuve
|
Williams-Mecachrome | 1:22.885 | +2.623 |
| 11 | 10 | Ralf Schumacher
|
Jordan-Mugen-Honda | 1:22.927 | +2.665 |
| 12 | 11 |  Olivier Panis
|
Prost-Peugeot | 1:22.963 | +2.701 |
| 13 | 2 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen
|
Williams-Mecachrome | 1:23.197 | +2.935 |
| 14 | 14 | Jean Alesi
|
Sauber-Petronas | 1:23.327 | +3.065 |
| 15 | 16 | Pedro Diniz
|
Arrows | 1:23.704 | +3.442 |
| 16 | 12 | Jarno Trulli
|
Prost-Peugeot | 1:23.748 | +3.486 |
| 17 | 17 | Mika Salo
|
Arrows | 1:23.887 | +3.625 |
| 18 | 19 |  Jan Magnussen
|
Stewart-Ford | 1:24.112 | +3.850 |
| 19 | 23 |  Esteban Tuero
|
Minardi-Ford | 1:24.265 | +4.003 |
| 20 | 22 |  Shinji Nakano
|
Minardi-Ford | 1:24.538 | +4.276 |
| 21 | 21 | Toranosuke Takagi
|
Tyrrell-Ford | 1:24.722 | +4.460 |
| 22 | 20 | Ricardo Rosset
|
Tyrrell-Ford | 1:25.946 | +5.684 |
Race[]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Mika Häkkinen
|
McLaren-Mercedes | 65 | 1:33:38.3 | 1 | 10 |
| 2 | 7 | David Coulthard
|
McLaren-Mercedes | 65 | +9.439 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | 3 | Michael Schumacher
|
Ferrari | 65 | +47.095 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 6 | Alexander Wurz
|
Benetton-Playlife | 65 | +1:02.538 | 5 | 3 |
| 5 | 18 | Rubens Barrichello
|
Stewart-Ford | 64 | +1 Lap | 9 | 2 |
| 6 | 1 | Jacques Villeneuve
|
Williams-Mecachrome | 64 | +1 Lap | 10 | 1 |
| 7 | 15 | Johnny Herbert
|
Sauber-Petronas | 64 | +1 Lap | 7 | |
| 8 | 2 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen
|
Williams-Mecachrome | 63 | +2 Laps | 13 | |
| 9 | 12 | Jarno Trulli
|
Prost-Peugeot | 63 | +2 Laps | 16 | |
| 10 | 14 | Jean Alesi
|
Sauber-Petronas | 63 | +2 Laps | 14 | |
| 11 | 10 | Ralf Schumacher
|
Jordan-Mugen-Honda | 63 | +2 Laps | 11 | |
| 12 | 19 | Jan Magnussen
|
Stewart-Ford | 63 | +2 Laps | 18 | |
| 13 | 21 | Toranosuke Takagi
|
Tyrrell-Ford | 63 | +2 Laps | 21 | |
| 14 | 22 | Shinji Nakano
|
Minardi-Ford | 63 | +2 Laps | 20 | |
| 15 | 23 | Esteban Tuero
|
Minardi-Ford | 63 | +2 Laps | 19 | |
| 16 | 11 | Olivier Panis
|
Prost-Peugeot | 60 | Engine | 12 | |
| Ret | 9 | Damon Hill
|
Jordan-Mugen-Honda | 46 | Engine | 8 | |
| Ret | 4 | Eddie Irvine
|
Ferrari | 28 | Collision | 6 | |
| Ret | 5 | Giancarlo Fisichella
|
Benetton-Playlife | 28 | Collision | 4 | |
| Ret | 17 | Mika Salo
|
Arrows | 21 | Engine | 17 | |
| Ret | 16 | Pedro Diniz
|
Arrows | 20 | Engine | 15 | |
| DNQ | 20 | Ricardo Rosset
|
Tyrrell-Ford |
Standings after Grand Prix[]
|
|
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
Notes[]
- Fastest Lap: Mika Häkkinen 1m 24.275s
- This was the first race of the 1998 season in which a driver failed to qualify due to not completing a time inside 107% of the pole position time. The unfortunate driver was Ricardo Rosset, who failed to qualify by 7/100ths of a second.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 AtlasF1 (10 May 1998). Hakkinen increases Championship lead (Spanish GP). http://atlasf1.autosport.com/news/1998/686.htm. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
| Previous race: 1998 San Marino Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1998 season |
Next race: 1998 Monaco Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1997 Spanish Grand Prix |
Spanish Grand Prix | Next race: 1999 Spanish Grand Prix |
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This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1998 Spanish 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. |