The 1998 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the A1-Ring on 26 July 1998. It was the tenth round of the 1998 FIA Formula One World Championship. A wet-dry qualifying session resulted in a mixed-up grid order, with Giancarlo Fisichella taking the first pole position of his career. The 71-lap race was won by Mika Häkkinen for McLaren, with teammate David Coulthard recovering to finish second, having been involved in two collisions during the race, and Michael Schumacher finishing third for Ferrari.
Report Qualifying The qualifying session led to an unusual grid due to wet conditions, which dried out towards the end, with Fisichella taking his first ever pole and Jean Alesi alongside him in the Sauber.
Race Häkkinen started well to lead into the first corner but several cars collided at the first corner behind them, with Toranosuke Takagi's car ending up stranded. Olivier Panis was left immobile on the line with clutch failure. At the second corner, there was another accident, with both Arrows drivers colliding, hitting Coulthard in the process and knocking off his wing after he had qualified in 14th. Coulthard entered the pit lane for a new nose as a safety car was deployed to allow the debris from the collisions to be cleaned up, and he was able to catch up to the back of the field.
At the restart, Häkkinen led away again with Schumacher close behind him. Schumacher attempted to pass Häkkinen but ran wide, allowing Fisichella in the Benetton past him and almost Rubens Barrichello in the Stewart as well. Barrichello soon dropped out with brake problems, while Schumacher overtook Fisichella again. Schumacher was already on a disadvantage with a two-stop strategy and Häkkinen on just one; his situation got worse when he ran very wide, bouncing violently through the gravel trap and ripping off his front wing. He was able to reach the pits and fit a new wing but rejoined almost a lap behind. Around the same time, Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the Williams experienced an engine failure, which caught fire; he was able to escape from the car unharmed.
Twenty-one laps in, Fisichella and Alesi clashed at the second corner, with both having to retire. Coulthard and Schumacher were both quickly moving back up through the field; he had a lot of trouble passing his brother Ralf Schumacher in the Jordan Grand Prix, finally succeeding after several laps. Schumacher then started to catch up to teammate Eddie Irvine, who was slowing; although Irvine said after it was due to marginal brakes, some suggested he was given a team order and asked to move over for his team leader. In the end, Häkkinen took an easy victory. His teammate Coulthard finished second after being last at the start, and Schumacher took third aided by Irvine.
Classification Qualifying Pos No Driver Constructor Lap Gap 1 5 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 1:29.598 — 2 14 Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 1:30.317 +0.719 3 8 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:30.517 +0.919 4 3 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:30.551 +0.953 5 18 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1:31.005 +1.407 6 17 Mika Salo Arrows 1:31.028 +1.430 7 2 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Mecachrome 1:31.515 +1.917 8 4 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:31.651 +2.053 9 10 Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:31.917 +2.319 10 11 Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 1:32.081 +2.483 11 1 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Mecachrome 1:32.083 +2.485 12 19 Jos Verstappen Stewart-Ford 1:32.099 +2.501 13 16 Pedro Diniz Arrows 1:32.206 +2.608 14 7 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.399 +2.801 15 9 Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:32.718 +3.120 16 12 Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 1:32.906 +3.308 17 6 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 1:33.185 +3.587 18 15 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 1:33.205 +3.607 19 23 Esteban Tuero Minardi-Ford 1:33.399 +3.801 20 21 Toranosuke Takagi Tyrrell-Ford 1:34.090 +4.492 21 22 Shinji Nakano Minardi-Ford 1:34.536 +4.938 22 20 Ricardo Rosset Tyrrell-Ford 1:34.910 +5.312107% time: 1:35.870Source: This was the last pole position of Benetton in Formula One.
Race Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 8 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 71 1:30:44.086 3 10 2 7 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 71 +5.289 14 6 3 3 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 71 +39.092 4 4 4 4 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 71 +43.976 8 3 5 10 Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Mugen-Honda 71 +50.654 9 2 6 1 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Mecachrome 71 +53.202 11 1 7 9 Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 71 +1:13.624 15 8 15 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 70 +1 lap 18 9 6 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 70 +1 lap 17 10 12 Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 70 +1 lap 16 11 22 Shinji Nakano Minardi-Ford 70 +1 lap 21 12 20 Ricardo Rosset Tyrrell-Ford 69 +2 laps 22 19 Jos Verstappen Stewart-Ford 51 Engine 12 23 Esteban Tuero Minardi-Ford 30 Spun off 19 5 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 21 Collision 1 14 Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 21 Collision 2 2 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Mecachrome 16 Engine 7 18 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 8 Brakes 5 16 Pedro Diniz Arrows 3 Collision 13 17 Mika Salo Arrows 1 Collision 6 11 Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 0 Clutch 10 21 Toranosuke Takagi Tyrrell-Ford 0 Collision 20
Championship standings after the race Bold text indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Mika Häkkinen 66 2 Michael Schumacher 58 3 David Coulthard 36 4 Eddie Irvine 32 5 Alexander Wurz 17Source:
Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 McLaren-Mercedes 102 2 Ferrari 90 3 Benetton-Playlife 32 4 Williams-Mecachrome 20 5 Stewart-Ford 5Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References