Ahead of the return of Formula 1 from its summer break, Read Motorsport takes a blast into the past from Spa, as we look back at the legendary 1998 Belgian Grand Prix.
McLaren’s Mika Hakkinen led Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher by 7 points heading into the race weekend; with Hakkinen’s team mate David Coulthard the only other driver capable of winning the title. In the Constructors’, McLaren led with 125 points compared to Ferrari’s 102. Benetton sat in a tight third place on 32 points, with Williams only 2 points behind. Jordan were fifth on 10 points.
To further show their respective championship bids, Mika Hakkinen led a McLaren one-two in qualifying, with Damon Hill a surprise third for Jordan. Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine were fourth and fifth, with reigning champion Jacques Villeneuve – yet to win a race in 1998 – sixth. Giancarlo Fisichella, Ralf Schumacher, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jean Alesi rounded out the top 10.
As most motorsport fans know, the weather at Spa plays a crucial part in almost every race weekend. As with the year before, Sunday morning was soaking wet – with the rain continuing to pour down. Unlike the previous year, however, the race would get underway with a standing start as opposed to a Safety Car start.
The five lights went out, and Coulthard and Schumacher made poor starts. Into turn 1, Hakkinen led Villeneuve and Coulthard, with Eddie Irvine getting ahead of his Ferrari team mate.
A ball of spray was all that could be seen as the cars worked their way through La Source and down to Eau Rouge, out of it we saw Villeneuve challenging for the lead with Irvine in third. Coulthard spun on the drains at the edge of the track. He speared off into the wall on the right-hand side, and then all hell broke loose!
Due to the spray and narrow confines of the circuit, several cars spun whilst trying to avoid Coulthard’s McLaren, which had slid from one side of the track to the other and into the wall. The reduced visibility meant that drivers were not able to see what was happening in front of them, leading to an enormous pile-up that wiped out over half of the field.
The race was, unsurprisingly, stopped to allow the clean up to take place.
Tyrrell, Prost and Arrows lost both of their cars in the accident, and as they each only had a single spare car Rosset, Panis and Salo were forced to retire. Rubens Barrichello also failed to take the restart, as he picked up a slight injury in the pile-up.
The remaining 18 cars lined up for take 2, where Damon Hill launched his Jordan into the lead of the race before Hakkinen had even reached La Source. Irvine once again out-dragged Schumacher, but things were about to get a lot worse for the championship leader. He spun at turn 1 and was hit by Johnny Herbert, causing both of them to retire from the race.
Up to the Les Combes chicane, and the two Ferraris swapped position. Amongst the chaos at the start, Jean Alesi had moved up to fourth!
To rub more salt into the wounds of McLaren, David Coulthard and Alex Wurz came together at the chicane. Wurz retired, whilst the Scotsman rejoined in last place. The Safety Car was deployed to recover the damaged cars, with Hill leading the two Ferraris.
At the restart, Hill lead Schumacher by 8 tenths of a second, whilst Villeneuve passed Alesi to move up into fourth place.
The two leaders pulled away from the pack, but Schumi was looking the quicker of the two. On lap 8 he made his move, passing Hill on the way into the Bus Stop chicane to take the lead. Irvine, too, was lapping faster than the Jordan, but on lap 10 he spun coming out of Les Combes and broke his front wing when hitting the barrier, ending his pursuit of the 1996 champion.
On lap 24, looking assured for his 6th win of the season, Michael Schumacher came up to lap David Coulthard. Ferrari were rightfully concerned, with team boss Jean Todt walking down to the McLaren pit wall to make sure Coulthard would ease off.
Ease off the McLaren driver did – but he was on the racing line. Schumacher ploughed into the back of the McLaren, ripping the front right suspension from the chassis and destroying the rear wing of the McLaren. Schumacher was out!
He trundled back to the pits with three wheels on his waggon, followed by Coulthard. The German threw his steering wheel out of the car and stormed down to the McLaren garage, where he accused Coulthard of trying to kill him and threatened to return the favour. The two drivers were separated by mechanics from both teams, but no action was taken by the stewards after the race.
On lap 27, coming under pressure from the chasing Schumacher, new race leader Damon Hill locked a brake and missed the first part of the Bus Stop chicane, which would see even more drama on the following lap! Giancarlo Fisichella hit the back of Shinji Nakano’s Minardi in similar circumstances to the Schumacher-Coulthard accident. Fisi’s Benetton then clipped the pit entry wall going into the Bus Stop, leaving him helpless as the car aquaplaned to a halt and then caught fire. It was soon extinguished, but that was yet another car out of the race. The Safety Car was deployed for a second time in the race.
With just 6 cars running and 6 point scoring positions, McLaren and Minardi sent Coulthard and Nakano back out after repairing their cars in the hope of stealing a point or two should more incidents occur.
Hill and Alesi pitted under the Safety Car, but Ralf Schumacher was not able to take the lead from his British team mate. As the race got back underway, Damon Hill slid his way over the start finish line, in the lead by 4 tenths from his team mate Ralf Schumacher. Jean Alesi retained third despite his pit stop, with Frentzen pulling away with the leaders. Pedro Diniz was fifth and the lapped Jarno Trulli rounded out the points, with Coulthard and Nakano five laps down at the back of the pack.
Hill ran very wide on the exit of La Source, but Schumacher couldn’t make the pass. Frentzen was looking feisty behind Jean Alesi. The order, though, did not change. Damon Hill gave Jordan their first ever win, and it was a one-two finish as well!
The top 5 in the Drivers’ Championship didn’t change, but in the Constructors’, Williams took third place. Benetton were now a point behind, whilst Jordan closed the gap dramatically – they were now only six behind on 26.
