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The 1998 Austrian Grand Prix was the tenth round of the 1998 season. After a bizarre wet qualifying session which saw Giancarlo Fisichella claim his first pole position the race saw Mika Häkkinen lead a 1-2 finish for McLaren-Mercedes.Mika Häkkinen's championship rival Michael Schumacher was third in the race.


Background[]

Following the British Grand Prix, the teams headed to Monza for a week of testing before making the move to Austria for the Austrian Grand Prix. Shortly before the Austrian race, Michael Schumacher confirmed a deal with Ferrari which would see him remain with the team until 2002. Despite offers from McLaren to join their team in 1999, Schumacher made the long term committment to remain with Ferrari.

Following the Schumacher announcement, it was announced that Jacques Villeneuve would be leaving Williams at the end of 1998, to join fledgling team BAR in 1999.

Austria would be the home race for Benetton driver Alexander Wurz.


Entry list[]

No. Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
1 Canada Jacques Villeneuve United Kingdom Winfield Williams Williams FW20 Mecachrome GC37-01 V10 3.0 G
2 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen United Kingdom Winfield Williams Williams FW20 Mecachrome GC37-01 V10 3.0 G
3 Germany Michael Schumacher Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F300 Ferrari 047 V10 3.0 G
4 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F300 Ferrari 047 V10 3.0 G
5 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Mild Seven Benetton Playlife Benetton B198 Playlife GC37-01 V10 3.0 B
6 Austria Alexander Wurz Italy Mild Seven Benetton Playlife Benetton B198 Playlife GC37-01 V10 3.0 B
7 United Kingdom David Coulthard United Kingdom West McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4/13 Mercedes FO 110G V10 3.0 B
8 Finland Mika Häkkinen United Kingdom West McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4/13 Mercedes FO 110G V10 3.0 B
9 United Kingdom Damon Hill Ireland Benson and Hedges Jordan Jordan 198 Mugen-Honda MF-301 HC V10 3.0 G
10 Germany Ralf Schumacher Ireland Benson and Hedges Jordan Jordan 198 Mugen-Honda MF-301 HC V10 3.0 G
11 France Olivier Panis France Gauloises Prost Peugeot Prost AP01 Peugeot A16 V10 3.0 B
12 Italy Jarno Trulli France Gauloises Prost Peugeot Prost AP01 Peugeot A16 V10 3.0 B
14 France Jean Alesi Switzerland Red Bull Sauber Petronas Sauber C17 Petronas SPE-01D V10 3.0 G
15 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Switzerland Red Bull Sauber Petronas Sauber C17 Petronas SPE-01D V10 3.0 G
16 Brazil Pedro Diniz United Kingdom Danka Zepter Arrows Arrows A19 Arrows T2-F1 V10 3.0 B
17 Finland Mika Salo United Kingdom Danka Zepter Arrows Arrows A19 Arrows T2-F1 V10 3.0 B
18 Brazil Rubens Barrichello United Kingdom HSBC Stewart Ford Stewart SF02 Ford Cosworth VJ Zetec-R V10 3.0 B
19 Netherlands Jos Verstappen United Kingdom HSBC Stewart Ford Stewart SF02 Ford Cosworth VJ Zetec-R V10 3.0 B
20 Brazil Ricardo Rosset United Kingdom PIAA Tyrrell Ford Tyrrell 026 Ford Cosworth JD Zetec-R V10 3.0 G
21 Japan Toranosuke Takagi United Kingdom PIAA Tyrrell Ford Tyrrell 026 Ford Cosworth JD Zetec-R V10 3.0 G
22 Japan Shinji Nakano Italy Fondmetal Minardi Team Minardi M198 Ford Cosworth JD Zetec-R V10 3.0 B
23 Argentina Esteban Tuero Italy Fondmetal Minardi Team Minardi M198 Ford Cosworth JD Zetec-R V10 3.0 B

Practice Overview[]

FP1[]

David Coulthard set the initial pace following the conclusion of Friday practice. Coulthard was 0.042 seconds faster than McLaren teammate Mika Häkkinen. Giancarlo Fisichella performed well to finish the session in third place for Benetton. The big surprises was that Johnny Herbert finished the session fourth and Rubens Barrichello finishing fifth.

Home talent, Alexander Wurz was sixth at the end of the session. Ferrari appeared off the pace with Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine seventh and eighth. Their day was not as bad as Williams's, Jacques Villeneuve was thirteenth whilst teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished in seventeenth following a spin into the gravel trap.

FP2[]

David Coulthard once again led the timesheets ahead of teammate Mika Häkkinen. Eddie Irvine was third ahead of Frentzen, Schumacher and Jean Alesi.

Practice Results[]

No.         Driver         Constructor         FP1 FP2 Warm-Up
Time Pos Time Pos Time Pos
1 Canada  Jacques Villeneuve United KingdomWilliams-Mecachrome 1:14.820 13 1:13.354 10 1:16.159 21
2 Germany  Heinz-Harald Frentzen 1:15.345  17 1:12.673 4 1:15.376 14
3 Germany  Michael Schumacher ItalyFerrari 1:14.411  7 1:12.690 5 1:14.307 3
4 United Kingdom  Eddie Irvine 1:14.523 8 1:12.569 3 1:14.350 4
5 Italy  Giancarlo Fisichella ItalyBenetton-Playlife 1:13.704 2 1:13.074 8 1:14.941 8
6 Austria  Alexander Wurz 1:14.397  6 1:13.671 13 1:14.942 9
7 United Kingdom  David Coulthard United KingdomMcLaren-Mercedes 1:13.703 1 1:11.655 1 1:13.602 2
8 Finland  Mika Häkkinen 1:13.746 3 1:11.819 2 1:13.301 1
9 United Kingdom  Damon Hill IrelandJordan-Mugen-Honda 1:14.535 9 1:13.010 7 1:15.162 12
10 Germany  Ralf Schumacher 1:15.117 14 1:13.259 9 1:14.086 10
11 France  Olivier Panis FranceProst-Peugeot 1:14.755 12 1:13.966 17 1:16.006 19
12 Italy  Jarno Trulli 1:14.685 11 1:13.396 11 1:15.097 11
14 France  Jean Alesi SwitzerlandSauber-Petronas 1:14.627 10 1:12.789 6 1:14.474 5
15 United Kingdom  Johnny Herbert 1:14.103 4 1:13.421 12 1:15.368 13
16 Brazil  Pedro Diniz United KingdomArrows 1:16.303 20 1:13.999 18 1:15.638 16
17 Finland  Mika Salo 1:15.696 18 1:13.802 15 1:15.574 15
18 Brazil  Rubens Barrichello United KingdomStewart-Ford 1:14.302 5 1:13.887 16 1:14.881 7
19 NetherlandsJos Verstappen 1:15.231 16 1:14.070 19 1:15.702 17
20 Brazil  Ricardo Rosset United KingdomTyrrell-Ford 1:18.469 22 1:14.351 20 1:16.309 22
21 Japan  Toranosuke Takagi 1:15.158  15 1:13.730 14 1:14.480 6
22 Japan  Shinji Nakano ItalyMinardi-Ford 1:16.171 19 1:14.906 22 1:16.142 20
23 Argentina  Esteban Tuero 1:16.582 21 1:14.738 21 1:15.788 18


[]

Qualifying[]

The Austrian Grand Prix brought the first wet qualifying session of the season. The circuit was drenched and the driver's were unwilling to make it out on track with the rain. 28 minutes into the session Toranosuke Takagi and Damon Hill were the first driver's to enter onto the circuit. In the wet conditions Takagi spun 360 de grees going into turn 8, Takagi continued without isssue. Following his first flying lap, Takagi then spun his car going into the first corner, the Tyrrell driver lightly clouted the barrier but once again was able to continue on.

After completing two flying laps, Damon Hill returned to the pits. As Hill exited the track, Jos Verstappen in the Stewart entered the circuit. Following this, the cars began making their move onto the race track. Eddie Irvine was the first of the front runners to enter the track with Michael Schumacher following him onto the circuit. 

After completing his first flying lap, Verstappen went wide and into the gravel going into turn 1. Immediately afterwards Pedro Diniz went wide at the same place going into turn 1. Michael Schumacher then went faster to dislodge Hill's provisional pole time. Ralf Schumacher in the second Jordan then went second fastest before immediately being dislodged from second by Heinz-Harald Frentzen

Frentzen then was on course to take provisional pole until he made a mistake going into the final corner. Jean Alesi then took the provisional pole time in his Sauber. Irvine then took the fastest time, going ahead of Alesi. Michael Schumacher then reclaimed his provisional pole position. Meanwhile, further down the McLaren cars languished down in eighth and tenth.

Jacques Villeneuve then spun into the gravel trap at turn 3, being forced to exit his car. Schumacher then bettered his own provisional pole time. Ricardo Rosset and Giancarlo Fisichella then both suffered their own spins. Coulthard and Häkkinen then improved to go third and fourth. Coulthard then moved into second, but still was unable to beat Schumacher's time.

Fisichella then improved his time to go third fastest. As the session came to a close, the sun began to shine and the track began to dry. Shinji Nakano then spun and stalled his Minardi. Frentzen then improved to go second fastest despite making yet another mistake during the lap. Fisichella then suffered another big spin but yet again was able to continue without major damage. Ralf Schumacher then improved to move into second position. 

Olivier Panis was another driver to suffer going wide into the first corner. Rubens Barrichello then put in a strong lap to go third fastest with Verstappen right behind. Alesi then moved into second position. Mika Salo then went fifth fastest before Barrichello moved up to third. Häkkinen then improved to take fourth position, before to everyone's amazement Alesi took the provisional pole time. Häkkinen then went faster than Schumacher to go into second. 

On Fisichella's final flying lap, he managed to take the pole position as the session came to a close. The result meant that Fisichella took his first pole time ahead of Alesi, Häkkinen, Schumacher, Barrichello and Salo. Frentzen was seventh followed by Irvine, Ralf Schumacher and Panis. Villeneuve was a disgruntled eleventh whilst Coulthard was in a disastrous fourteenth position.


Qualifying Results[]

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time
1 5 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Benetton-Playlife 1:29.598
2 14 France Jean Alesi Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 1:30.317
3 8 Finland Mika Häkkinen United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 1:30.517
4 3 Germany Michael Schumacher Italy Ferrari 1:30.551
5 18 Brazil Rubens Barrichello United Kingdom Stewart-Ford 1:31.005
6 17 Finland Mika Salo United Kingdom Arrows 1:31.028
7 2 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen United Kingdom Williams-Mecachrome 1:31.515
8 4 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Italy Ferrari 1:31.651
9 10 Germany Ralf Schumacher Ireland Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:31.917
10 11 France Olivier Panis France Prost-Peugeot 1:32.081
11 1 Canada Jacques Villeneuve United Kingdom Williams-Mecachrome 1:32.083
12 19 Netherlands Jos Verstappen United Kingdom Stewart-Ford 1:32.099
13 16 Brazil Pedro Diniz United Kingdom Arrows 1:32.202
14 7 United Kingdom David Coulthard United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.399
15 9 United Kingdom Damon Hill Ireland Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:32.718
16 12 Italy Jarno Trulli France Prost-Peugeot 1:32.906
17 6 Austria Alexander Wurz Italy Benetton-Playlife 1:33.185
18 15 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 1:33.205
19 23 Argentina Esteban Tuero Italy Minardi-Ford 1:33.399
20 21 Japan Toranosuke Takagi United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 1:34.090
21 22 Japan Shinji Nakano Italy Minardi-Ford 1:34.356
22 20 Brazil Ricardo Rosset United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 1:34.910

Race[]

Report[]

Unlike qualifying, the race would be held under sunny conditions. The start saw Mika Häkkinen move into the lead, whilst Michael Schumacher also managing to get past pole sitter Giancarlo Fisichella to move into second. Jean Alesi made a poor start, dropping to fifth behind Rubens Barrichello

Olivier Panis failed to make it off the grid, retiring with a clutch failure. At the back, Toranosuke Takagi lost control of his car heading into turn 1, spinning into the corner and colliding with Shinji Nakano. Johnny Herbert and Esteban Tuero were also forced wide off the circuit to avoid the accident. Nakano continued, but Takagi suffered terminal damage to the rear of the car. 

Going into turn 3 there was further carnage, the two Arrows cars of Pedro Diniz and Mika Salo collided. Salo, spinning into the unfortunate David Coulthard and taking off his front wing. Jacques Villeneuve who was also obstructed by the incident, found himself at the back of the pack as well. 

Following these incidents, the safety car was brought out to clear away the debris. Coulthard and Salo struggled back to the pits, Coulthard for a new front wing whilst Salo headed for retirement. Diniz would also retire due to damage, two laps later.

When racing resumed on lap 3, Häkkinen found himself under pressure from Michael Schumacher. Going into turn 4, Schumacher made a lunge around the outside but could not make the move stick, going wide he lost a position to Fisichella's Benetton. Going into turn 8, Alexander Wurz made a move on Jos Verstappen for twelfth, however he succeeded in only going wide into the gravel trap losing multiple positions. The following lap Wurz came into the pits for repairs.

The following lap, Schumacher went for the overtake on Fisichella into turn 4, this time making it stick and reclaiming second position. Häkkinen and Schumacher then began a close duel, Schumacher lapping faster continually made manoueveres but each time he was covered by Häkkinen. 

On lap 8, Barrichello came into the pits for retirement, a disappointing result considering he was running in fourth place. With Barrichello's retirement, Eddie Irvine inherited fourth following his overtake on Alesi's Sauber

Coulthard in the second McLaren had began making progress through the back of the field, on lap 12 he made his overtake on Damon Hill for eighth. On lap 15, Schumacher went wide into the final corner and onto the gravel, his car bounced through the gravel trap ripping off his front wing. Schumacher was forced to struggle around for a whole new lap before he was able to come into the pits for repairs. A lap later Heinz-Harald Frentzen retired from sixth with a major engine blow-up.

On lap 20, Fisichella came into the pits for his first stop, he exited the pits just behind Alesi's Sauber. Going into turn 3, Fisichella attempted to take fourth from the Sauber driver, but Alesi closed the door. The two drivers collided and retired from the race. 

This carnage enabled Coulthard to move into third place behind Irvine and teammate Häkkinen. 

Lap 30 saw Tuero spin off the circuit and into retirement.

Villeneuve then went off the circuit whilst trying to overtake Jarno Trulli's Prost for fifth position, Villeneuve however managed to maintain his position. Trulli led a train of cars with Villeneuve, Michael Schumacher, Herbert and Hill following close behind. Häkkinen coming up to lap this battle opted to head into the pits for his first stop in order to not get stuck behind this traffic. This allowed Coulthard to take the lead, two laps later he came into the pits relinquishing the lead back to Häkkinen. Coulthard exiting the pits in a comfortable second position.

As this occurred, Michael Schumacher managed to clear himself of Villeneuve and Trulli ahead of him to move into fifth position. A few laps later Schumacher came into the pits for his pit-stop, Schumacher exited in sixth behind Damon Hill. A lap later Ralf Schumacher pitted from fourth exiting just ahead of teammate Hill. A lap later Hill came into the pits.

Lap 51 saw Jos Verstappen retire, suffering a major engine failure and spinning out on his own oil. As this occurred, a battle between the Schumacher brothers began with Michael harrying brother Ralf. Two laps later Michael was able to overtake Ralf and move into fourth position.

Michael Schumacher then began his charge to catch up to teammate Eddie Irvine in third position. Irvine, on Ferrari's orders began to back off allowing Schumacher to close up to him. With two laps to go Irvine allowed Schumacher to take third position going into turn 3. 

Häkkinen took a dominant victory ahead of teammate Coulthard. The two Ferrari's of Schumacher and Irvine were third and fourth with Ralf Schumacher finishing fifth ahead of Jacques Villeneuve.

Results[]

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 8 Finland Mika Häkkinen United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 71 1:30.44.086 3 10
2 7 United Kingdom David Coulthard United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 71 +5.289 14 6
3 3 Germany Michael Schumacher Italy Ferrari 71 +39.092 4 4
4 4 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine Italy Ferrari 71 +43.976 8 3
5 10 Germany Ralf Schumacher Ireland Jordan-Mugen-Honda 71 +50.654 9 2
6 1 Canada Jacques Villeneuve United Kingdom Williams-Mecachrome 71 +53.202 11 1
7 9 United Kingdom Damon Hill Ireland Jordan-Mugen-Honda 71 +1:13.624 15
8 15 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 70 +1 lap 18
9 6 Austria Alexander Wurz Italy Benetton-Playlife 70 +1 lap 17
10 12 Italy Jarno Trulli France Prost-Peugeot 70 +1 lap 16
11 22 Japan Shinji Nakano Italy Minardi-Ford 70 +1 lap 21
12 20 Brazil Ricardo Rosset United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 69 +2 laps 22
Ret 19 Netherlands Jos Verstappen United Kingdom Stewart-Ford 51 Engine 12
Ret 23 Argentina Esteban Tuero Italy Minardi-Ford 30 Spun off 19
Ret 5 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Benetton-Playlife 21 Collision 1
Ret 14 France Jean Alesi Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 21 Collision 2
Ret 2 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen United Kingdom Williams-Mecachrome 16 Engine 7
Ret 18 Brazil Rubens Barrichello United Kingdom Stewart-Ford 8 Brakes 5
Ret 16 Brazil Pedro Diniz United Kingdom Arrows 3 Collision 13
Ret 17 FinlandMika Salo United KingdomArrows 1 Collision 6
Ret 11 France Olivier Panis France Prost-Peugeot 0 Clutch 10
Ret 21 Japan Toranosuke Takagi United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 0 Collision 20

Milestones[]

  • First pole position for Giancarlo Fisichella, and the last for Benetton.

Standings after race[]

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Finland Mika Häkkinen 66
2 Germany Michael Schumacher 58
3 United Kingdom David Coulthard 36
4 United Kingdom Eddie Irvine 32
5 Austria Alexander Wurz 17
6 Italy Giancarlo Fisichella 15
7 Canada Jacques Villeneuve 12
8 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen 8
9 Brazil Rubens Barrichello 4
10 Finland Mika Salo 3
11 France Jean Alesi 3
12 Germany Ralf Schumacher 3
13 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert 1
14 Brazil Pedro Diniz 1
15 Denmark Jan Magnussen 1
16 United Kingdom Damon Hill 0
17 Japan Shinji Nakano 0
18 Brazil Ricardo Rosset 0
19 Argentina Esteban Tuero 0
20 Italy Jarno Trulli 0
21 France Olivier Panis 0
22 Japan Toranosuke Takagi 0
23 Netherlands Jos Verstappen 0
Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 102
2 Italy Ferrari 90
3 Italy Benetton-Playlife 32
4 United Kingdom Williams-Mecachrome 20
5 United Kingdom Stewart-Ford 5
6 Switzerland Sauber-Petronas 4
7 United Kingdom Arrows 4
8 Ireland Jordan-Mugen-Honda 3
9 Italy Minardi-Ford 0
10 United Kingdom Tyrrell-Ford 0
11 France Prost-Peugeot 0

References[]

v·d·e Nominate this page for Featured Article
V T E 1998 Formula One Season
Teams Williams • Ferrari • Benetton • McLaren • Jordan • Prost • Sauber • Arrows • Stewart • Tyrrell • Minardi
Engines Arrows • Ferrari • Ford • Mecachrome • Mercedes • Mugen-Honda • Petronas • Peugeot • Playlife
Drivers Villeneuve • 2 Frentzen • 3 M. Schumacher • 4 Irvine • 5 Fisichella • 6 Wurz • 7 Coulthard • 8 Häkkinen • 9 Hill • 10 R. Schumacher • 11 Panis • 12 Trulli • 14 Alesi • 15 Herbert • 16 Diniz • 17 Salo • 18 Barrichello • 19 Magnussen • 19 Verstappen • 20 Rosset • 21 Takagi • 22 Nakano • 23 Tuero
Other Drivers Badoer • De la Rosa • Heidfeld • Kristensen • Montoya • Zonta
Cars Williams FW20 • Ferrari F300 • Benetton B198 • McLaren MP4/13 • Jordan 198 • Prost AP01 • Sauber C17 • Arrows A19 • Stewart SF02 • Tyrrell 026 • Minardi M198
Tyres Goodyear • Bridgestone
Races Australia • Brazil • Argentina • San Marino • Spain • Monaco • Canada • France • Britain • Austria • Germany • Hungary • Belgium • Italy • Luxembourg • Japan
See also 1997 Formula One Season • 1999 Formula One Season • Category
V T E Austria Austrian Grand Prix
Circuits Zeltweg Airfield (1963–1964), Red Bull Ring (1970–1987, 1997-2003, 2014-present)
Circuit Red Bull Ring
Races 19641965–19691970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619871988–199619971998199920002001200220032004–20132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Non-Championship Race 1963
Red Bull Ring was previously called Österreichring and A1-Ring.
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