1998 Luxembourg Grand Prix Explained

Type:F1
Previous Round:1998 Italian Grand Prix
Next Round:1998 Japanese Grand Prix
Country:Germany
Grand Prix:Luxembourg
Date:27 September
Year:1998
Official Name:Grosser Warsteiner Preis von Luxemburg 1998
Race No:15
Season No:16
Location:Nürburg, Germany
Course:Permanent racing facility
Course Mi:2.831
Course Km:4.556
Distance Laps:67
Distance Mi:189.664
Distance Km:305.235
Weather:Cloudy, cold, dry
Pole Driver:Michael Schumacher
Pole Country:GER
Pole Team:Ferrari
Pole Time:1:18.561
Fast Driver:Mika Häkkinen
Fast Country:FIN
Fast Team:McLaren-Mercedes
Fast Time:1:20.450
Fast Lap:25
First Driver:Mika Häkkinen
First Country:FIN
First Team:McLaren-Mercedes
Second Driver:Michael Schumacher
Second Country:GER
Second Team:Ferrari
Third Driver:David Coulthard
Third Country:GBR
Third Team:McLaren-Mercedes

The 1998 Luxembourg Grand Prix (formally the Grosser Warsteiner Preis von Luxemburg 1998)[1] was a Formula One motor race held at the Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany on 27 September 1998. It was the fifteenth and penultimate race of the 1998 FIA Formula One World Championship. The 67-lap race was won by Mika Häkkinen driving for the McLaren team. Michael Schumacher finished second driving a Ferrari car, with David Coulthard third in the other McLaren.

Report

With two races remaining of the season, McLaren's Mika Häkkinen and Ferrari's Michael Schumacher were battling for the drivers title; they were level on 80 points with Häkkinen ahead on countback. However the momentum was with Schumacher who had won the previous race at Monza, whereas Häkkinen had not won a race since the German Grand Prix four races earlier.

Ferrari locked out the front row with Schumacher on pole ahead of Eddie Irvine. Häkkinen qualified third. At the start Irvine passed Schumacher to take the lead, however he allowed his team leader past at the end of the first lap and then proceeded to hold up Häkkinen. The Finn passed the Ulsterman at the Veedol Chicane on lap 14 and began to close on Schumacher. The German pitted on lap 24, while Häkkinen stayed out until lap 28, emerging from his stop ahead of Schumacher albeit by less than a second. Häkkinen resisted pressure from Schumacher during the second stint and narrowly held on to his lead during the second round of pit stops. In the final stint Häkkinen pulled away from Schumacher, extending his lead to five seconds before easing off in the closing laps to take victory by 2.2 seconds from Schumacher, with the other McLaren of David Coulthard completing the podium having leapfrogged Irvine during the first round of pitstops. The win gave Häkkinen a four-point lead in the championship heading into the final race in Suzuka, meaning he would only need second place there to clinch his first title.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Time Gap
13data-sort-value="scm" Michael SchumacherFerrari1:18.561
24data-sort-value="irv" Eddie IrvineFerrari1:18.907+0.346
38data-sort-value="hak" Mika HäkkinenMcLaren-Mercedes1:18.940+0.379
45data-sort-value="fis" Giancarlo FisichellaBenetton-Playlife1:19.048+0.487
57data-sort-value="cou" David CoulthardMcLaren-Mercedes1:19.169+0.608
610data-sort-value="scr" Ralf SchumacherJordan-Mugen-Honda1:19.455+0.894
72data-sort-value="fre" Heinz-Harald FrentzenWilliams-Mecachrome1:19.522+0.961
86data-sort-value="wur" Alexander WurzBenetton-Playlife1:19.569+1.008
91data-sort-value="vil" Jacques VilleneuveWilliams-Mecachrome1:19.631+1.070
109data-sort-value="hil" Damon HillJordan-Mugen-Honda1:19.807+1.246
1114data-sort-value="ale" Jean AlesiSauber-Petronas1:20.493+1.932
1218data-sort-value="bar" Rubens BarrichelloStewart-Ford1:20.530+1.969
1315data-sort-value="her" Johnny HerbertSauber-Petronas1:20.650+2.089
1412data-sort-value="tru" Jarno TrulliProst-Peugeot1:20.709+2.148
1511data-sort-value="pan" Olivier PanisProst-Peugeot1:21.048+2.487
1617data-sort-value="sal" Mika SaloArrows1:21.120+2.559
1716data-sort-value="din" Pedro DinizArrows1:21.258+2.697
1819data-sort-value="ver" Jos VerstappenStewart-Ford1:21.501+2.940
1921data-sort-value="tak" Toranosuke TakagiTyrrell-Ford1:21.525+2.964
2022data-sort-value="nak" Shinji NakanoMinardi-Ford1:22.078+3.517
2123data-sort-value="tue" Esteban TueroMinardi-Ford1:22.146+3.585
2220data-sort-value="ros" Ricardo RossetTyrrell-Ford1:22.822+4.261
107% time

1:24.060

Source:[2]

Race

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
18 Mika HäkkinenMcLaren-Mercedes671:32:14.789310
23 Michael SchumacherFerrari67+2.21216
37 David CoulthardMcLaren-Mercedes67+34.16454
44 Eddie IrvineFerrari67+58.18323
52 Heinz-Harald FrentzenWilliams-Mecachrome67+1:00.24872
65 Giancarlo FisichellaBenetton-Playlife67+1:01.36041
76 Alexander WurzBenetton-Playlife67+1:04.7908 
81 Jacques VilleneuveWilliams-Mecachrome66+1 lap9 
99 Damon HillJordan-Mugen-Honda66+1 lap10 
1014 Jean AlesiSauber-Petronas66+1 lap11 
1118 Rubens BarrichelloStewart-Ford65+2 laps12 
1211 Olivier PanisProst-Peugeot65+2 laps15 
1319 Jos VerstappenStewart-Ford65+2 laps18 
1417 Mika SaloArrows65+2 laps16 
1522 Shinji NakanoMinardi-Ford65+2 laps20 
1621 Toranosuke TakagiTyrrell-Ford65+2 laps19 
NC23 Esteban TueroMinardi-Ford56+11 laps21 
Ret10 Ralf SchumacherJordan-Mugen-Honda53Brakes6 
Ret15 Johnny HerbertSauber-Petronas37Engine13 
Ret20 Ricardo RossetTyrrell-Ford36Engine22 
Ret12 Jarno TrulliProst-Peugeot6Transmission14 
Ret16 Pedro DinizArrows6Hydraulics17 

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Mika Häkkinen90
2 Michael Schumacher86
3 David Coulthard52
4 Eddie Irvine41
5 Jacques Villeneuve20
Source:[3]
Constructors' Championship standings
PosConstructorPoints
1 McLaren-Mercedes142
2 Ferrari127
3 Williams-Mecachrome35
4 Benetton-Playlife33
5 Jordan-Mugen-Honda31
Source:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Luxembourg. Formula1.com. 16 November 2021.
  2. Web site: Luxembourg 1998 - Qualifications • STATS F1. F1. STATS. www.statsf1.com. en. 19 October 2018.
  3. Web site: Luxembourg 1998 - Championship • STATS F1. www.statsf1.com. 19 March 2019.