The 1998 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 52nd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1998 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1998 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 8 March and ended on 1 November.
The season saw a large shuffling of the pecking order, with McLaren emerging as the fastest constructor. After the factory withdrawal of Renault and the departure of designer Adrian Newey to McLaren, the Williams team and Jacques Villeneuve were unable to defend their respective championships. Williams suffered their first winless season since .
Mika Häkkinen won his first World Drivers' Championship[1] and McLaren won the World Constructors' Championship for the first time since .[2]
The following teams and drivers competed in the 1998 FIA Formula One World Championship.
V10 configuration.[3]At the end of, Renault withdrew as a direct engine supplier from Formula One and thus marked the first season since that Renault-branded engines were absent due to the company's privatisation plan. As a result, the two teams running Renault engines were forced to source alternative suppliers. Williams opted to run engines supplied by Mecachrome, who were working with Renault to develop the most recent iteration of their RS9 engine rebadged with the Mecachrome name. Benetton sourced a similar rebadged Renault engine from Playlife. Neither Williams nor Benetton were competitive to the same level as in previous seasons. Renault themselves would invest in Benetton for, before buying the team outright in . They would not supply engines to other competing teams again until .
Arrows had bought out Brian Hart's preparation company to build their own engines.[6] They would do so as well for .
The Prost and Jordan teams swapped their engine suppliers from 1997: Prost now used Peugeot, whilst Jordan used Mugen-Honda.
Minardi switched from Hart to Ford engines.
Gerhard Berger retired at the end of after fourteen years in F1, leaving a vacant seat at Benetton. The team also opted not to renew Jean Alesi's contract, so the Frenchman signed a two-year deal to join Johnny Herbert at Sauber. As their replacements, Benetton signed Giancarlo Fisichella from Jordan and Alexander Wurz, who had already substituted for Berger for three races in 1997.
Jordan replaced Fisichella by signing World Champion Damon Hill to partner Ralf Schumacher. To fill his Hill's seat, Arrows secured the services of Tyrrell's Mika Salo alongside Pedro Diniz. Tyrrell also parted ways with Jos Verstappen in the off-season, despite Ken Tyrrell wanting him to stay. However, new owners British American Tobacco preferred to hire Brazilian Ricardo Rosset, who had briefly raced for the now-defunct Lola team in 1997. They promoted test driver Toranosuke Takagi to fill the second seat. Verstappen returned to F1 midway through 1998 with Stewart, while Lola's other driver, Vincenzo Sospiri, found a home in the IndyCar Series.
Prost retained Olivier Panis, but dropped second driver Shinji Nakano and replaced him with Jarno Trulli. Trulli had started 1997 with Minardi but then substituted for Panis when he broke his leg at the Canadian Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Nakano joined Trulli's old team, Minardi, to replace his retiring countryman Ukyo Katayama. He was partnered by rookie Esteban Tuero, who was promoted from a testing role as he was preferred to the outgoing Tarso Marques. Marques would eventually return to F1 in, also with Minardi.
Jan Magnussen was dropped by Stewart after the Canadian Grand Prix, following a series of underwhelming performances (including crashing into and eliminating his teammate Rubens Barrichello on lap 1 at Imola). He was replaced by Jos Verstappen, who had been out of a drive since leaving Tyrrell at the end of 1997.
The 1998 season brought about two significant technical changes to reduce cornering speeds and aid overtaking:[9] [10] [11] [12]
Quite a list of regulations were drafted up with regards to the brakes. The goal was to limit braking performance, thereby improving possibilities of overtaking and reducing costs.[15]
The cameras mounted on top of the engine covers, as seen on selected cars from 1995 to 1997, were made mandatory for each car in 1998, and changed from an I-shape to a more aerodynamic T-shape. This design has remained largely unchanged since.
"X wings", a pair of tall aerodynamic appendages mounted at the front of each sidepod and first seen on the Tyrrell 025 in 1997, were banned before the Spanish Grand Prix.[16] The teams that used them before the ban were Ferrari, Jordan, Prost, Sauber, and Tyrrell.
In, a driver was allowed a maximum of 30 laps free practice per day. This limit was abolished for 1998.[17]
When the season commenced, it was immediately clear that McLaren had adapted to the rule changes best, with their drivers locking out the front row of the grid at the opening race of the season in Australia and both being more than half a second clear of Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari. Mika Häkkinen started on pole position and led up to lap 36, when he misheard a call to come into the pits. Teammate David Coulthard took the lead, but moved over to allow Häkkinen to pass, honouring a pre-race agreement that the driver leading at the first corner could win the race. The result was protested but was held up by the WMSC.
The McLaren drivers finished 1-2 again in Brazil, and in the same order. But once again, controversy was not far away: a protest was lodged regarding the McLaren braking system. It was suggested to allow the drivers to brake front and rear wheels independently, contravening the rules. McLaren agreed not to run the system, but remained dominant in the race.
With Goodyear making steps forward before Argentina, Schumacher was able to take his first win of the season there. Häkkinen finished a distant second and Coulthard only managed sixth after he was tipped into a spin by Schumacher early in the race.
Coulthard bounced back in Imola by gaining pole position and winning the race ahead of the Ferrari's of Schumacher and Eddie Irvine. Häkkinen suffered his first retirement of the season due to a gearbox failure.
It seemed that normal service resumed in Spain, however, where the McLaren took another 1-2 finish led by Häkkinen. A further win for Häkkinen in Monaco gave him a seventeen-point lead over Coulthard with Schumacher a further five points behind.
Michael Schumacher climbed back in the standings by winning the next three races, while mistakes and mechanical failures cost both Häkkinen and Coulthard points. After the British Grand Prix, Schumacher had closed the gap to Häkkinen to just two points, while Coulthard was 26 points behind his teammate and looking unlikely to be able to fight for the championship.
Consecutive wins in Austria and Germany for Häkkinen, however, proved that McLaren still had the strongest car. Finally, a strategic master stroke in Hungary allowed Schumacher to take the win, with Häkkinen only managing sixth, and close the championship gap again, to just seven points.
The start of a typically rain-filled Belgian Grand Prix saw one of the worst accidents in Formula One history, with over half the cars on the grid crashing into each other after the first corner. Four of the drivers were unable to take the restart, which took place almost an hour later, due to lack of spare cars. An action-packed race saw Mika Häkkinen spin out into retirement at the restart and saw Michael Schumacher crashing into David Coulthard when trying to lap him. The path was then clear for world champion Damon Hill to take Jordan's first ever win, followed by teammate Ralf Schumacher in second.
Schumacher bounced back to take a surprise victory in Italy. Häkkinen initially followed in second, but after two spins caused by brake problems, could only manage fourth. The rivals were now level in points with two races to go and Ferrari was back into contention for the Constructors' Championship (just ten points behind on McLaren).
For the next race at the Nürburgring, Häkkinen managed to beat Schumacher in a straight fight. And the season concluded in Japan, where Häkkinen won without any challenge from Schumacher, who stalled on the grid and retired from a blown tyre later in the race.
This gave Häkkinen his first Drivers' Championship and McLaren their eighth Constructors' Championship. Williams, champions of, experienced a disappointing season overall, with only two podium finishes for reigning champion Jacques Villeneuve and one for Heinz-Harald Frentzen. In Japan, they did manage to secure third in the Constructors' Championship, ahead of Jordan and Benetton.
Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each race as follows:[19]
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 10 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
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Notes:
| Constructor | AUS | BRA | ARG | SMR | ESP | MON | CAN | FRA | GBR | AUT | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | LUX | JPN | Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLaren-Mercedes | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Ret | Ret | 2 | 7 | Ret | 3 | 3 | 156 | |||||||
| 8 | 2 | Ret | Ret | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | Ferrari | 3 | Ret | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 133 | |||||||||
| 4 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 3 | Ret | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 | Ret | Ret | 2 | 4 | 2 | ||||
| 3 | Williams-Mecachrome | 1 | 5 | 7 | Ret | 4 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 3 | Ret | Ret | 8 | 6 | 38 | |
| 2 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 8 | Ret | Ret | 15† | Ret | Ret | 9 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 5 | ||||
| 4 |  Jordan-Mugen-Honda | 9 | 8 | DSQ | 8 | 10† | Ret | 8 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 34 | |
| 10 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 7 | 11 | Ret | Ret | 16 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 3 | Ret | Ret | ||||
| 5 | Benetton-Playlife | 5 | Ret | 6 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 2 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 8 | Ret | 8 | 6 | 8 | 33 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 4 | Ret | 4 | Ret | 4 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 16† | Ret | Ret | 7 | 9 | |||||
| 6 |  Sauber-Petronas | 14 | Ret | 9 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 12† | Ret | 7 | Ret | Ret | 10 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 10 | |
| 15 | 6 | 11† | Ret | Ret | 7 | 7 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 10 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 10 | ||||
| 7 | Arrows | 16 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 6 | 9 | 14 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 11 | 5 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 6 | |
| 17 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 9 | Ret | 4 | Ret | 13 | Ret | Ret | 14 | Ret | DNS | Ret | 14 | Ret | ||||
| 8 | Stewart-Ford | 18 | Ret | Ret | 10 | Ret | 5 | Ret | 5 | 10 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | DNS | 10 | 11 | Ret | 5 | |
| 19 | Ret | 10 | Ret | Ret | 12 | Ret | 6 | 12 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 13 | Ret | Ret | 13 | Ret | ||||
| 9 | Prost-Peugeot | 11 | 9 | Ret | 15† | 11† | 16† | Ret | Ret | 11 | Ret | Ret | 15 | 12 | DNS | Ret | 12 | 11 | 1 | |
| 12 | Ret | Ret | 11 | Ret | 9 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 10 | 12 | Ret | 6 | 13 | Ret | 12† | ||||
| — | Minardi-Ford | 22 | Ret | Ret | 13 | Ret | 14 | 9 | 7 | 17† | 8 | 11 | Ret | 15 | 8 | Ret | 15 | Ret | 0 | |
| 23 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 8 | 15 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 16 | Ret | Ret | 11 | Ret | Ret | ||||
| — | Tyrrell-Ford | 20 | Ret | Ret | 14 | Ret | DNQ | DNQ | 8 | Ret | Ret | 12 | DNQ | DNQ | DNS | 12 | Ret | DNQ | 0 | |
| 21 | Ret | Ret | 12 | Ret | 13 | 11 | Ret | Ret | 9 | Ret | 13 | 14 | Ret | 9 | 16 | Ret | ||||
| Constructor | AUS | BRA | ARG | SMR | ESP | MON | CAN | FRA | GBR | AUT | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | LUX | JPN | Points | |||
| Source: | ||||||||||||||||||||
Notes:
