1998 Monaco Grand Prix

Last updated

1998 Monaco Grand Prix
Race 6 of 16 in the 1998 Formula One World Championship
  Previous race Next race  
Circuit Monaco.svg
Race details
Date24 May 1998
Official name Grand Prix de Monaco
Location Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo
Course Street circuit
Course length 3.367 km (2.092 miles)
Distance 78 laps, 262.626 km (163.188 miles)
Weather Hot and sunny with temperatures reaching up to 22 °C (72 °F) [1]
Pole position
Driver McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:19.798
Fastest lap
Driver Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:22.948 on lap 29
Podium
First McLaren-Mercedes
Second Benetton-Playlife
Third Ferrari
Lap leaders
  • 1998 Monaco Grand Prix

The 1998 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on 24 May 1998. It was the sixth race of the 1998 Formula One World Championship.

Contents

The 78-lap race was won by Finnish driver Mika Häkkinen, driving a McLaren-Mercedes, his fourth win of the season. Häkkinen recorded a grand chelem, having taken pole position, led every lap of the race and set the fastest lap. Italian Giancarlo Fisichella finished second in a Benetton-Playlife, with Northern Irishman Eddie Irvine third in a Ferrari.

Qualifying

Qualifying report

Qualifying saw Mika Häkkinen take his fourth pole position of the season by 0.339 seconds from McLaren teammate David Coulthard. In a surprise, Giancarlo Fisichella took third in his Benetton, over half a second behind Häkkinen but over three-tenths ahead of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari in fourth. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was fifth in the Williams; his teammate, reigning World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, could only manage 13th. The top ten was completed by Alexander Wurz in the second Benetton, Eddie Irvine in the second Ferrari, Mika Salo in the Arrows, Johnny Herbert in the Sauber and Jarno Trulli in the Prost. After a series of incidents in his Tyrrell, Ricardo Rosset failed to set a time within 107% of Häkkinen's pole time and so did not qualify for the race. [2]

Qualifying classification

PosNoDriverConstructorLap TimeGap
18 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.798
27 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:20.137+0.339
35 Flag of Italy.svg Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 1:20.368+0.570
43 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:20.702+0.904
52 Flag of Germany.svg Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Mecachrome 1:20.729+0.931
66 Flag of Austria.svg Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 1:20.955+1.157
74 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:21.712+1.914
817 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Salo Arrows 1:22.144+2.346
915 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 1:22.157+2.359
1012 Flag of Italy.svg Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 1:22.238+2.440
1114 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 1:22.257+2.459
1216 Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Diniz Arrows 1:22.355+2.557
131 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Mecachrome 1:22.468+2.670
1418 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1:22.540+2.742
159 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:23.151+3.353
1610 Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:23.263+3.465
1719 Flag of Denmark.svg Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 1:23.411+3.613
1811 Flag of France.svg Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 1:23.536+3.738
1922 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Shinji Nakano Minardi-Ford 1:23.957+4.159
2021 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Toranosuke Takagi Tyrrell-Ford 1:24.024+4.226
2123 Flag of Argentina.svg Esteban Tuero Minardi-Ford 1:24.031+4.233
107% time: 1:25.383
DNQ20 Flag of Brazil.svg Ricardo Rosset Tyrrell-Ford 1:25.737+5.939
Source: [3]

Race

Race report

A perfect start from both McLarens saw them lead through the first corner, with Häkkinen ahead of Coulthard, followed by Fisichella and Michael Schumacher. Esteban Tuero became the first retirement when he ran wide at Massenet in his Minardi and hit the armco barrier. In the early stages the McLarens pulled ahead, netting 12 fastest laps between them from laps 4 to 12. On lap 10, Frentzen and Irvine collided at the Loews hairpin; Frentzen retired but Irvine was able to continue. Rubens Barrichello dropped out on lap 12 with a suspension failure in his Stewart; his teammate Jan Magnussen suffered the same problem shortly before half distance. On lap 18, Coulthard's engine blew, promoting Fisichella to second.

Michael Schumacher was first to pit for fuel on lap 30. Fisichella pitted the following lap, coming out of the pits behind the Ferrari. Soon Michael came up behind Fisichella's teammate, Wurz, and tried to get past. At the Loews hairpin, Michael went down the inside but Wurz did not give way. The two cars touched and the Ferrari was damaged. Michael pitted for repairs, eventually coming out three laps down on Häkkinen. Wurz appeared unaffected, but on lap 43 his suspension broke due to damage from the collision and he had a huge accident coming out of the tunnel, finally stopping at the Nouvelle Chicane.

Ralf Schumacher suffered a suspension failure in his Jordan on lap 45, before the two Prosts retired within seven laps of each other, Olivier Panis with wheel problems on lap 50 and Trulli with a gearbox failure on lap 57. By this point, Salo had moved up to fourth behind Häkkinen, Fisichella and Irvine, with Jean Alesi fifth in the Sauber and Villeneuve sixth. On lap 73, Alesi's gearbox failed, promoting Pedro Diniz in the second Arrows to sixth, just ahead of the recovering Michael Schumacher. Attempting to overtake Diniz at the Nouvelle Chicane on the final lap, Michael lost control and hit the back of the Arrows, losing his front wing; he ended up finishing tenth, two laps down.

Häkkinen's final margin of victory over Fisichella was 11.4 seconds, with another 30 seconds back to Irvine and a further 19 to Salo, the last driver on the lead lap. Villeneuve was fifth with Diniz holding on to sixth.

Race classification

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
18 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 781:51:23.595110
25 Flag of Italy.svg Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 78+ 11.47536
34 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Eddie Irvine Ferrari 78+ 41.37874
417 Flag of Finland.svg Mika Salo Arrows 78+ 1:00.36383
51 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Mecachrome 77+ 1 lap132
616 Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Diniz Arrows 77+ 1 lap121
715 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 77+ 1 lap9 
89 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 76+ 2 laps15 
922 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Shinji Nakano Minardi-Ford 76+ 2 laps19 
103 Flag of Germany.svg Michael Schumacher Ferrari 76+ 2 laps4 
1121 Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg Toranosuke Takagi Tyrrell-Ford 76+ 2 laps20 
1214 Flag of France.svg Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 72Gearbox11 
Ret12 Flag of Italy.svg Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 56Gearbox10 
Ret11 Flag of France.svg Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 49Wheel18 
Ret10 Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Mugen-Honda 44Suspension16 
Ret6 Flag of Austria.svg Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 42Accident damage6 
Ret19 Flag of Denmark.svg Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 30Suspension17 
Ret7 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 17Engine2 
Ret18 Flag of Brazil.svg Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 11Suspension14 
Ret2 Flag of Germany.svg Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Mecachrome 9Collision5 
Ret23 Flag of Argentina.svg Esteban Tuero Minardi-Ford 0Spun off21 
DNQ20 Flag of Brazil.svg Ricardo Rosset Tyrrell-Ford 107% rule 
Source: [4]

Championship standings after the race

References

  1. Weather info for the 1998 Monaco Grand Prix at Weather Underground
  2. "Ricardo Rosset - Biography". Formula One Rejects. 16 August 2001. Archived from the original on 21 March 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  3. "Grand Prix de Monaco 1998 – Qualifying". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Ltd. 23 May 1998. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  4. "Grand Prix de Monaco 1998 – Race Result". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Ltd. 24 May 1998. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  5. 1 2 "Monaco 1998 - Championship • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
Previous race:
1998 Spanish Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
1998 season
Next race:
1998 Canadian Grand Prix
Previous race:
1997 Monaco Grand Prix
Monaco Grand Prix Next race:
1999 Monaco Grand Prix

43°44′4.74″N7°25′16.8″E / 43.7346500°N 7.421333°E / 43.7346500; 7.421333