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 FIA Formula One World Championship.

1998 Monaco Grand Prix
Race 6 of 16 in the 1998 Formula One World Championship
Race details
Date 24 May 1998
Official name Grand Prix de Monaco
Location Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo
Course Street circuit
Course length 3.367 km (2.092 mi)
Distance 78 laps, 262.626 km (163.188 mi)
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 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:22.948 on lap 29
Podium
First McLaren-Mercedes
Second Benetton-Playlife
Third Ferrari

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

Qualifying summary

The biggest surprise in qualifying on the Saturday was Giancarlo Fisichella. He managed to put his car up into third place, behind only the two McLaren-Mercedes. At one stage Fisichella was the fastest driver. Michael Schumacher, who was fighting for the world championship, qualified fourth which was a big disappointment for the thousands of Italian fans who travelled to Monaco for the race.

Race summary

A perfect start from both McLarens saw them lead through the first corner, with Häkkinen ahead of Coulthard. Fisichella and Schumacher were running third and fourth. In the early stages the two McLarens pulled ahead, netting 12 fastest laps between them from laps 4 to 12. The pack stretched out behind them, while Heinz-Harald Frentzen succumbed to pressure from Eddie Irvine. Tuero ran wide in his Minardi and hit the armco barrier at turn 3 ending his race. As Irvine tangled with Frentzen at the Grand Hotel Hairpin on lap 10 as Frentzen retired, but luckily for Irvine the Ferrari was undamaged to eventually claim third. Rubens Barrichello was forced to retire in the pits by lap 11 due to a suspension failure. On lap 18 Coulthard retired with engine problems. The engine problems were diagnosed, post race, as a serious error in manufacture. Whilst the gudgeon pins used in David's engine had been turned (as usual) they had not been polished to their expected usual final state. The resulting micro-scratches on the unfinished pins lead to the engine giving up under the stress. (source Mr R Taylor, apprentice engineer).

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, Alexander 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 went in to pit for repairs, eventually coming out three laps down on the leader Häkkinen.

Wurz appeared unaffected by the contact, but 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. After Wurz's second accident on lap 42, the order was Häkkinen, Fisichella, Irvine, Jean Alesi, and Mika Salo. Ralf Schumacher also retired just 3 laps after Wurz with a suspension failure. As Panis retired his Prost with wheel problems by lap 49, as Trulli in the other Prost retired with the result of a gearbox failure by lap 57. However, Alesi experienced gearbox problems five laps from the end and was forced to retire, promoting Pedro Diniz to sixth. Michael Schumacher attempted to pass Diniz in the chicane, but they made contact. This second accident broke his front wing, and Michael finally ended up two laps down in tenth place, out of the points.

Classification

Qualifying

PosNoDriverConstructorLap TimeGap
1 8 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.798
2 7 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:20.137 +0.339
3 5 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 1:20.368 +0.570
4 3 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:20.702 +0.904
5 2 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Mecachrome 1:20.729 +0.931
6 6 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 1:20.955 +1.157
7 4 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:21.712 +1.914
8 17 Mika Salo Arrows 1:22.144 +2.346
9 15 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 1:22.157 +2.359
10 12 Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 1:22.238 +2.440
11 14 Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 1:22.257 +2.459
12 16 Pedro Diniz Arrows 1:22.355 +2.557
13 1 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Mecachrome 1:22.468 +2.670
14 18 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1:22.540 +2.742
15 9 Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:23.151 +3.353
16 10 Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Mugen-Honda 1:23.263 +3.465
17 19 Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 1:23.411 +3.613
18 11 Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 1:23.536 +3.738
19 22 Shinji Nakano Minardi-Ford 1:23.957 +4.159
20 21 Toranosuke Takagi Tyrrell-Ford 1:24.024 +4.226
21 23 Esteban Tuero Minardi-Ford 1:24.031 +4.233
107% time: 1:25.383
DNQ 20 Ricardo Rosset Tyrrell-Ford 1:25.737 +5.939
Source:[2]

Race

PosNoDriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
1 8 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes 78 1:51:23.595 1 10
2 5 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 78 + 11.475 3 6
3 4 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 78 + 41.378 7 4
4 17 Mika Salo Arrows 78 + 1:00.363 8 3
5 1 Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Mecachrome 77 + 1 Lap 13 2
6 16 Pedro Diniz Arrows 77 + 1 Lap 12 1
7 15 Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 77 + 1 Lap 9  
8 9 Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen-Honda 76 + 2 Laps 15  
9 22 Shinji Nakano Minardi-Ford 76 + 2 Laps 19  
10 3 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 76 + 2 Laps 4  
11 21 Toranosuke Takagi Tyrrell-Ford 76 + 2 Laps 20  
12 14 Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas 72 Gearbox 11  
Ret 12 Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 56 Gearbox 10  
Ret 11 Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 49 Wheel 18  
Ret 10 Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Mugen-Honda 44 Suspension 16  
Ret 6 Alexander Wurz Benetton-Playlife 42 Accident Damage 6  
Ret 19 Jan Magnussen Stewart-Ford 30 Suspension 17  
Ret 7 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 17 Engine 2  
Ret 18 Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 11 Suspension 14  
Ret 2 Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Mecachrome 9 Collision 5  
Ret 23 Esteban Tuero Minardi-Ford 0 Spun Off 21  
DNQ 20 Ricardo Rosset Tyrrell-Ford 107% Rule  
Source:[3]

Championship standings after the race

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

References

  1. Weather info for the 1998 Monaco Grand Prix at Weather Underground
  2. "Grand Prix de Monaco 1998 – Qualifying". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Ltd. 23 May 1998. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  3. "Grand Prix de Monaco 1998 – Race Result". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Ltd. 24 May 1998. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  4. "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

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