The 1998 British Grand Prix (formally the LI RAC British Grand Prix) was a Formula Onemotor race held at the Silverstone Circuit, England on 12 July 1998. It was the ninth race of the 1998 FIA Formula One World Championship. The 60-lap race was won by Michael Schumacher driving a Ferrari car after starting from second position. Mika Häkkinen, who started from pole position, finished second with Eddie Irvine third in the other Ferrari. Schumacher's victory was his fourth of the season, and his third consecutive victory having won both the preceding Canadian and French Grand Prix, but was under controversial circumstances: there was dispute whether he had avoided a stop-and-go penalty by entering the pit lane to serve it on the final lap, crossing the finish line in the pit lane to win the race before reaching his pit box, although the penalty, which was actually merely a time penalty, was later rescinded.
Mika Häkkinen took pole position by nearly half a second from championship rival Michael Schumacher. Jacques Villeneuve took third position whilst Häkkinen's team-mate David Coulthard qualified in fourth. Ralf Schumacher and Olivier Panis had their qualifying times deleted as they were not able to get out of their cars quick enough during an FIA safety drill, to practice evacuating the cockpit in case of fire. Ralf Schumacher had spun and stalled his engine early in qualifying and qualified in the spare car, which was set up for his team-mate Damon Hill.
Race
Heavy rain fell during the morning prior to the race. Although the rain stopped before the start, there was a mixture of wet and dry parts on the circuit and as a result all but two cars started on intermediate compound tyres. The two Stewart-Fords decided to start on dry weather tyres.[1] The first retirement came after 13 laps, when Damon Hill lost control on the damp track whilst battling with Villeneuve for 7th place. After 16 laps, it began to rain again, and many drivers switched to a full wet weather tyre. Johnny Herbert spun and regained the track, but had damaged his car and retired on reaching the pits.
David Coulthard, driving on intermediates, spun out on lap 38 whilst passing a backmarker. Jarno Trulli spun out on the same lap as Coulthard as Barrichello spun out and hit the wall at Club on lap 40. His McLaren-Mercedes team-mate Mika Häkkinen had built up a lead of 49 seconds over second place driver Michael Schumacher when four laps later he went off the track, did a complete 360 degrees turn before continuing. The incident damaged the front wing of his car and cost him 10 seconds of his lead but following numerous other spins caused by the worsening conditions the safety car was deployed which slowed the cars down, and removed Häkkinen's advantage over Schumacher altogether.[2]
The race restarted on lap 50 and it took only two laps for Häkkinen to make another mistake, which put Schumacher in the lead. The German quickly pulled away from his rival, who was now nursing his McLaren home.
However, two laps from the finish, Schumacher was issued with a 10-second time penalty for passing Alexander Wurz under the safety car on lap 43.[3] Unsure whether the handwritten notification declared that Schumacher would see 10 seconds being added to his race time or had to serve a 10-second stop-and-go penalty, his team decided to call in him into the pits out of precaution to serve a stop-and-go penalty at the end of the last lap of the race.[3] However, in doing so Schumacher crossed the finish line in the pit lane before reaching the Ferrari garage resulting in a dispute on whether he had actually served a stop and go penalty.[4]
Post-race
Following the race a dispute arose surrounding the circumstances of Michael Schumacher being issued with and serving his penalty. [3] His team argued that the penalty should have been issued within 25 minutes of the incident but instead they were informed after 31 minutes. They also argued that the hand-written notification was unclear as to which penalty was actually being issued: a stop-and-go, or a 10-second addition to Schumacher's race time, though the FIA's International Court of Appeal later clarified that it was the latter.[3] The stewards then decided to nevertheless apply the 10-second addition, post-race.[4] However, the added time penalty can only be used to punish an infraction in the last 12 laps of a Grand Prix, and so did not apply here.[3] The stewards eventually rescinded the penalty altogether.[4]
A protest was lodged by McLaren-Mercedes who felt Ferrari cheated by not having Schumacher serve the penalty, but this was rejected by the FIA.[3] At the hearing for the protest the International Court of Appeal confirmed that the stewards have made several mistakes in issuing a 10-second time penalty for an incident that happened outside of the last 12 laps of a race while exceeding the allowed time limit for the notification of a penalty having been issued.[3] As a result of their mistakes, the three stewards involved handed in their licenses at an extraordinary meeting of the FIA World Council.[5]
The 1998 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Interlagos on 29 March 1998. It was the second race of the 1998 FIA Formula One World Championship. Mika Häkkinen, driving a McLaren-Mercedes, took pole position, set the fastest lap and led every lap on his way to victory in the 72-lap race. Teammate David Coulthard finished second, with Michael Schumacher third in a Ferrari.
The 1998 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Magny-Cours on 28 June 1998. It was the eighth race of the 1998 FIA Formula One World Championship.
The 1998 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Suzuka, Mie, Japan on 1 November 1998. It was the sixteenth and final round of the 1998 FIA Formula One World Championship. The 51-lap race was won by Mika Häkkinen driving for the McLaren-Mercedes team. Eddie Irvine, driving for Ferrari, finished second with David Coulthard third in the other McLaren. Häkkinen's win confirmed him as 1998 Drivers' Champion as title-rival Michael Schumacher retired with a punctured tyre on Lap 31.
The 1999 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 7 March 1999 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit in Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia. The 57-lap race was the first round of the 1999 Formula One season, the 50th World Championship season in the history of Formula One.
The 1999 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 27 June 1999 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours near Magny-Cours, France. It was the seventh race of the 1999 Formula One season. The 72-lap race was won by Heinz-Harald Frentzen driving a Jordan car after starting from fifth position. Mika Häkkinen finished second driving for McLaren, with Rubens Barrichello finishing third for the Stewart team. The remaining points-scoring positions were filled by Ralf Schumacher (Williams), Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), Eddie Irvine (Ferrari).
The 1999 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 26 September 1999 at the Nürburgring in Nürburg, Germany. It was the fourteenth race of the 1999 FIA Formula One World Championship. The 66-lap race was won by Johnny Herbert, driving a Stewart-Ford, with Jarno Trulli second in a Prost-Peugeot and Herbert's teammate Rubens Barrichello third.
The 2000 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 23 April 2000 at Silverstone Circuit, England. It was the fourth race of the 2000 Formula One season and the 55th British Grand Prix. The 60-lap race was won by McLaren driver David Coulthard after starting from fourth position. His teammate Mika Häkkinen finished second with Michael Schumacher third for the Ferrari team.
The 2000 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 7 May 2000 at the Circuit de Catalunya, in Montmeló, Catalonia, Spain with approximately 79,000 spectators. It was the fifth round of the 2000 Formula One World Championship and the 42nd Spanish Grand Prix. Mika Häkkinen of McLaren won the 65-lap race after starting second. His teammate David Coulthard finished second, with Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello third.
The 2000 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 21 May 2000, at the Nürburgring in Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, in front of 142,000 spectators. It was the sixth round of the 2000 Formula One World Championship, as well as the ninth Formula One European Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher of Ferrari won the 67-lap race after starting second. McLaren's Mika Häkkinen finished second and teammate David Coulthard finished third.
The 2000 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 18 June 2000 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Quebec, Canada before 100,000 people. It was the eighth round of the 2000 Formula One World Championship and the 38th Canadian Grand Prix. Ferrari's Michael Schumacher won the 69-lap race from pole position. His teammate Rubens Barrichello finished second with Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella third.
The 2000 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race contested on 2 July 2000 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in Magny-Cours, Burgundy, Central France, attended by 112,112 spectators. It was the 86th French Grand Prix and the ninth round of the 2000 Formula One World Championship. McLaren's David Coulthard won the 72-lap race after starting second. His teammate Mika Häkkinen finished second with Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello third.
The 2000 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race contested on 30 July 2000, at the Hockenheimring in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in front of 102,000 people. It was the 62nd German Grand Prix and the 11th round of the 2000 Formula One World Championship. Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello won the 45-lap race after starting 18th. McLaren's Mika Häkkinen finished second, with teammate David Coulthard third.
The 2000 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 13 August 2000, at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród, Pest, Hungary, attended by 120,000 spectators. The race was the twelfth of seventeen in the 2000 Formula One World Championship and the 18th in Hungary. Mika Häkkinen, driving a McLaren-Mercedes, won the 77-lap race after starting third. Ferrari's Michael Schumacher finished second after qualifying on pole position in the one-hour qualifying session the day before the race. Häkkinen's teammate David Coulthard finished third.
The 2000 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 24 September 2000 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. It was the 15th round of the 2000 Formula One World Championship and the 34th United States Grand Prix. Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher won the 73-lap race from pole position. His teammate Rubens Barrichello finished second with Jordan driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen third.
The 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 1 April 2001 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo, Brazil. It was the third race of the 2001 Formula One season. The 71-lap race was won by McLaren driver David Coulthard after starting from fifth position. Michael Schumacher finished second in a Ferrari with Nick Heidfeld third for the Sauber team.
The 2001 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 24 June 2001 at the Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany. It was the ninth race of the 2001 Formula One season. It is also the last race held on this layout, before the circuit was modified in 2002. The 67-lap race was won by Michael Schumacher driving for Ferrari after starting from pole position. Juan Pablo Montoya finished second driving for Williams, with David Coulthard third driving for McLaren.
The 2001 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 15 July 2001 at Silverstone in Northamptonshire, England. It was the eleventh race of the 2001 FIA Formula One World Championship.
The 2001 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 55th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2001 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 2001 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a seventeen-race series that commenced on 4 March and ended on 14 October.
The 2000 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 54th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It commenced on 12 March and ended on 22 October after seventeen races. Michael Schumacher became Ferrari's first World Drivers' Champion in 21 years, having clinched the Drivers' title at the penultimate race of the season. Ferrari successfully defended its Constructors' title. This season marked the first for future world champion Jenson Button.
The 1999 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 53rd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1999 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1999 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 7 March and ended on 31 October.
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Michael Schumacher 
