1998 Austrian Grand Prix

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.<ref name="Galvin 1998">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref name="Galvin 1998"/>

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.<ref name="Galvin 1998"/>

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.<ref name="Galvin 1998"/>

Classification

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Lap	Gap
1	5	Template:Flagicon Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton-Playlife	1:29.598	—
2	14	Template:Flagicon Jean Alesi	Sauber-Petronas	1:30.317	+0.719
3	8	Template:Flagicon Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:30.517	+0.919
4	3	Template:Flagicon Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	1:30.551	+0.953
5	18	Template:Flagicon Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	1:31.005	+1.407
6	17	Template:Flagicon Mika Salo	Arrows	1:31.028	+1.430
7	2	Template:Flagicon Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Mecachrome	1:31.515	+1.917
8	4	Template:Flagicon Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	1:31.651	+2.053
9	10	Template:Flagicon Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	1:31.917	+2.319
10	11	Template:Flagicon Olivier Panis	Prost-Peugeot	1:32.081	+2.483
11	1	Template:Flagicon Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Mecachrome	1:32.083	+2.485
12	19	Template:Flagicon Jos Verstappen	Stewart-Ford	1:32.099	+2.501
13	16	Template:Flagicon Pedro Diniz	Arrows	1:32.206	+2.608
14	7	Template:Flagicon David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	1:32.399	+2.801
15	9	Template:Flagicon Damon Hill	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	1:32.718	+3.120
16	12	Template:Flagicon Jarno Trulli	Prost-Peugeot	1:32.906	+3.308
17	6	Template:Flagicon Alexander Wurz	Benetton-Playlife	1:33.185	+3.587
18	15	Template:Flagicon Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Petronas	1:33.205	+3.607
19	23	Template:Flagicon Esteban Tuero	Minardi-Ford	1:33.399	+3.801
20	21	Template:Flagicon Toranosuke Takagi	Tyrrell-Ford	1:34.090	+4.492
21	22	Template:Flagicon Shinji Nakano	Minardi-Ford	1:34.536	+4.938
22	20	Template:Flagicon Ricardo Rosset	Tyrrell-Ford	1:34.910	+5.312
107% time: 1:35.870
Source:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation						CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• This was the last pole position of Benetton in Formula One.

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	8	Template:Flagicon Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	71	1:30:44.086	3	10
2	7	Template:Flagicon David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	71	+5.289	14	6
3	3	Template:Flagicon Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	71	+39.092	4	4
4	4	Template:Flagicon Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	71	+43.976	8	3
5	10	Template:Flagicon Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	71	+50.654	9	2
6	1	Template:Flagicon Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Mecachrome	71	+53.202	11	1
7	9	Template:Flagicon Damon Hill	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	71	+1:13.624	15
8	15	Template:Flagicon Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Petronas	70	+1 lap	18
9	6	Template:Flagicon Alexander Wurz	Benetton-Playlife	70	+1 lap	17
10	12	Template:Flagicon Jarno Trulli	Prost-Peugeot	70	+1 lap	16
11	22	Template:Flagicon Shinji Nakano	Minardi-Ford	70	+1 lap	21
12	20	Template:Flagicon Ricardo Rosset	Tyrrell-Ford	69	+2 laps	22
Ret	19	Template:Flagicon Jos Verstappen	Stewart-Ford	51	Engine	12
Ret	23	Template:Flagicon Esteban Tuero	Minardi-Ford	30	Spun off	19
Ret	5	Template:Flagicon Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton-Playlife	21	Collision	1
Ret	14	Template:Flagicon Jean Alesi	Sauber-Petronas	21	Collision	2
Ret	2	Template:Flagicon Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Mecachrome	16	Engine	7
Ret	18	Template:Flagicon Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	8	Brakes	5
Ret	16	Template:Flagicon Pedro Diniz	Arrows	3	Collision	13
Ret	17	Template:Flagicon Mika Salo	Arrows	1	Collision	6
Ret	11	Template:Flagicon Olivier Panis	Prost-Peugeot	0	Clutch	10
Ret	21	Template:Flagicon Toranosuke Takagi	Tyrrell-Ford	0	Collision	20
Source:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation								CitationClass=web }}</ref>{{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

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	Template:Flagicon Mika Häkkinen	66
2	Template:Flagicon Michael Schumacher	58
3	Template:Flagicon David Coulthard	36
4	Template:Flagicon Eddie Irvine	32
5	Template:Flagicon Alexander Wurz	17
Source:<ref name="Championship standings">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation				CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Template:Flagicon McLaren-Mercedes	102
2	Template:Flagicon Ferrari	90
3	Template:Flagicon Benetton-Playlife	32
4	Template:Flagicon Williams-Mecachrome	20
5	Template:Flagicon Stewart-Ford	5
Source:<ref name="Championship standings"/>

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

References

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