1998 Italian Grand Prix
| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race 14 of 16 in the 1998 Formula One season | ||
 Autodromo Nazionale Monza (last modified in 1995) | ||
| Date | September 13, 1998 | |
| Official name | LIX Gran Premio Campari d'Italia | |
| Location | Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy | |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 5.770 km (3.585 mi) | |
| Distance | 53 laps, 305.810 km (190.022 mi) | |
| Weather | Sunny | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver |  Michael Schumacher |
Ferrari |
| Time | 1:25.298 | |
| Fastest lap | ||
| Driver |  Mika Häkkinen |
McLaren-Mercedes |
| Time | 1:25.139 on lap 45 | |
| Podium | ||
| First | Michael Schumacher |
Ferrari |
| Second |  Eddie Irvine |
Ferrari |
| Third | Ralf Schumacher |
Jordan-Mugen-Honda |
The 1998 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Monza on September 13, 1998. The race was won by Michael Schumacher. This was also the last win for tyre manufacturer Goodyear in Formula One.
It was a dramatic race, Häkkinen got a blinding start pushing his way past Jacques Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher on the front row, at same time it was a dreadful start for Schumacher who fell down to 5th, soon after he passed Villeneuve for 4th then Irvine for 3rd.
Häkkinen seemed to be struggling soon after and he waved his team mate Coulthard through, but soon after Coulthard's engine blew and seconds later Schumacher, who had caught Häkkinen, passed the Finn when Häkkinen ran wide due to the smoke from Coulthard's engine.
Villeneuve running very low downforce soon spun out of the race, and Häkkinen started catching Schumacher again. Häkkinen was just three seconds behind with a handful of laps remaining, but then his brakes failed, sending him into a wild spin at the Roggia chicane. He was able to keep his engine running and kept going, but at the beginning of the next lap he went off again at the first Rettifilo chicane, and Irvine reeled him in and took 2nd off him. Soon after Ralf Schumacher caught and over took Häkkinen who was able to limp home in 4th.
It was jubliant scenes for the Italian crowd as Michael Schumacher came home first and his Ferrari team mate Eddie Irvine took second with Ralf Schumacher 3rd, meaning the Jordan team had finished on all three podium places in two races.
Michael Schumacher was now level on points with Mika Häkkinen going into the Nürburgring, the penultimate round.
Classification
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Michael Schumacher |
Ferrari | 53 | 1:17:09.672 | 1 | 10 |
| 2 | 4 | Eddie Irvine |
Ferrari | 53 | +37.977 | 5 | 6 |
| 3 | 10 | Ralf Schumacher |
Jordan-Mugen-Honda | 53 | +41.152 | 6 | 4 |
| 4 | 8 | Mika Häkkinen |
McLaren-Mercedes | 53 | +55.671 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | 14 |  Jean Alesi |
Sauber-Petronas | 53 | +1:01.872 | 8 | 2 |
| 6 | 9 | Damon Hill |
Jordan-Mugen-Honda | 53 | +1:06.688 | 14 | 1 |
| 7 | 2 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen |
Williams-Mecachrome | 52 | +1 Lap | 12 | |
| 8 | 5 |  Giancarlo Fisichella |
Benetton-Playlife | 52 | +1 Lap | 11 | |
| 9 | 21 |  Toranosuke Takagi |
Tyrrell-Ford | 52 | +1 Lap | 19 | |
| 10 | 18 |  Rubens Barrichello |
Stewart-Ford | 52 | +1 Lap | 13 | |
| 11 | 23 |  Esteban Tuero |
Minardi-Ford | 51 | +2 Laps | 22 | |
| 12 | 20 | Ricardo Rosset |
Tyrrell-Ford | 51 | +2 Laps | 18 | |
| 13 | 12 | Jarno Trulli |
Prost-Peugeot | 50 | +3 Laps | 10 | |
| Ret | 19 |  Jos Verstappen |
Stewart-Ford | 39 | Gearbox | 17 | |
| Ret | 1 |  Jacques Villeneuve |
Williams-Mecachrome | 37 | Spun off | 2 | |
| Ret | 17 | Mika Salo |
Arrows | 32 | Throttle | 16 | |
| Ret | 6 |  Alexander Wurz |
Benetton-Playlife | 24 | Gearbox | 7 | |
| Ret | 7 | David Coulthard |
McLaren-Mercedes | 16 | Engine | 4 | |
| Ret | 11 | Olivier Panis |
Prost-Peugeot | 15 | Vibrations | 9 | |
| Ret | 22 | Shinji Nakano |
Minardi-Ford | 13 | Engine | 21 | |
| Ret | 15 | Johnny Herbert |
Sauber-Petronas | 12 | Spun off | 15 | |
| Ret | 16 | Pedro Diniz |
Arrows | 10 | Spun off | 20 |
Standings after Grand Prix
- Bold text indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
Notes
- Lap leaders: Mika Häkkinen 10 (1-7, 32-34), David Coulthard 9 (8-16), Michael Schumacher 34 (17-31, 35-53)
- This was the last win for tyre manufacturer Goodyear in F1.
- This marked the first time that brothers Michael and Ralf Schumacher stood on the podium together, as well as the first time in history that two brothers had shared a podium in F1.
- McLaren's bad luck started when David Coulthard's engine blew whilst leading, Häkkinen in second was blinded by the smoke allowing Michael Schumacher to pass. Häkkinen slipped to 4th with brake trouble.
- Johnny Herbert spun off owing to a spanner that had been left by one of the Sauber mechanics in his car that slipped beneath the pedals.
- Tora Takagi was fourth fastest in the Warm-up session.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1998 Italian Grand Prix. |
| Previous race: 1998 Belgian Grand Prix |
FIA Formula One World Championship 1998 season |
Next race: 1998 Luxembourg Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 1997 Italian Grand Prix |
Italian Grand Prix | Next race: 1999 Italian Grand Prix |
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