1998 Canadian Grand Prix
Template:F1 race report infobox
The 1998 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 7, 1998. The race was won by Michael Schumacher, however the race is probably best remembered for the crash on the first lap involving Alexander Wurz and Jean Alesi, which resulted in the race being red flagged ad restarted.
Qualifying Summary
In Montreal, David Coulthard secured his third pole of the season. The Scotsman managed to do the fastest time at the very end of the session. Mika Häkkinen was very unlucky during the qualifying session. He encountered alot of traffic during his quick laps. Michael Schumacher was third, and was happily suprised by his lap time which was only 0.2 seconds behind David Coulthard's time. The night before qualifying, Eddie Irvine had released a comment saying that the Canadian Grand Prix would be crucial for Ferrari, with Michael expressing the same opinion.
Race Summary
The First Start
At the very start of the race Alex Wurz was squeezed by other cars and was forced to cut across the grass in his Benetton. This meant that he was unable to brake, and therefore the Austrian crashed in Jean Alesi as well as Johnny Herbert and Jarno Trulli. Alex's car rolled over three times, though luckily Alex was not injured. The race was then stopped and Alesi, Wurz and Trulli all took the re-start in their spare car. Johnny Herbert was lucky that his mechanics were able to repair his Stewert. After the first incident, all that was wrong was that his car had a twisted suspension arm.
The Second Start
At the second start Mika Häkkinen gearbox jams. However, further back there is another incident. This time however, it was Ralf Schumacher who was pushing two hard. He also went across the grass and spun in the middle of the track. This caused mayhem in the pack behind him. Jarno Trulli mounted Jean Alesi's car. After the second start then, there were five retirees : [[Mika Häkkinen {gearbox), Ralf, Jean and Jarno who were involved in the accident, and Toranosuke Takagi who had transmission problems. Also on the first lap, Michael Schumacher had managed to overtake Giancarlo Fisichella. However, due to the retirements, the first safety car comes out. After five laps, the safety car goes in, and the order is - first David Coulthard followed by Michael Schumacher, Giancarlo Fisichella, Jacques Villeneuve, Rubens Barrichello, and Heinz-Harold Frentzen
David Coulthard vs Michael Schumacher
As the race begins to get way again, Coulthard and Schumacher had pulled away from the rest of the field. DC lead for the first 13 laps until the safety car came out. Pedro Diniz had gone off the track, but however managed to get his car back onto the track. However, he spreads so much grass onto the track that the second safety car of the day comes on. However when the safery car goes back in, there are three retirements. Mika Salo collides with Johnny Herbert who goes off for the second time, and David Coulthard has a transmission problem.
Heinz-Harold Frentzen vs. Michael Schumacher
That accident sends out the safety car for a third time, and Michael takes advantage by going in for fuel. This, however, is an illegal move as the pit lane entrance is supposed yo be closed each time the safety car comes out. However, this time the pits were luckily open. When Michael goes back onto the track, and while yellow flags are being flown to show that there is to be no overtaking, Michael shoots across to the other side of the track and sends Heinz-Harold Frentzen off the track and onto the grass as he tries to avoid the Ferrari. The poor Williams driver was thus knocked out of the grand prix.
Final Half
For the fourth start, Giancarlo Fisichella leads Jacques Villeneuve, Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill, Jan Magnussen and Shinji Nakano. At the very beginning, Jacques Villeneuve goes around the outside of Fisichella. However, he gets it all wrong, goes off the race track, and breaks his rear wing. On lap 35, Michael is given a 10 second penalty due to the incident involving him and Heinz-Harold. This momentarily puts him behind Damon Hill, however, Michael overtakes Damon on lap 38 to regain second place. Then on lap 45 Michael Schumacher takes the lead as Giancarlo Fisichella goes in for his only pit stop. Michael then extends his lead over the rest of the pack, and when he has to refuel again he is able to hold on to his first place, and finish the race with 16 seconds between him and second place finisher Giancarlo Fisichella.
Classification
Standings After Grand Prix
Drivers
- 1 Mika Häkkinen - McLaren-Mercedes - 46
- 2 Michael Schumacher - Ferrari - 34
- 3 David Coulthard - McLaren-Mercedes - 29
- 4 Eddie Irvine - Ferrari - 19
- 5 Giancarlo Fisichella - Benetton-Playlife - 13
- 6 Alexander Wurz - Benetton-Playlife - 12
- 7= Heinz-Harold Frentzen - Williams-Mecachrome - 8
- 7= Jacques Villeneuve - Williams-Mecachrome - 8
- 9 Rubens Barrichello - Stewart-Ford - 4
- 10= Jean Alesi - Sauber-Petronas - 3
- 10= Mika Salo - Arrows - 3
- 12= Johnny Herbert - Sauber-Petronas - 1
- 12= Pedro Diniz - Arrows - 1
- 12= Jan Magnussen -Stewart-Ford - 1
Constructers
- 1 McLaren-Mercedes - 75
- 2 Ferrari - 53
- 3 Benetton-Playlife - 25
- 4 Williams-Mecachrome - 16
- 5 Stewart-Ford - 5
- 6= Sauber-Petronas - 4
- 6= Arrows - 4
Notes
- Fastest Lap: Michael Schumacher 1m 19.379s
- Michael Schumacher received a stop-and-go penalty for colliding with Williams driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen after coming out of the pits. As a result of the accident, Frentzen had to abandon the race, Schumacher lost the lead after the penalty, but managed to overtake Giancarlo Fisichella afterwards.
- Jan Magnussen scored his only points in his last grand prix.
- Stewart Grand Prix scored their first two car points finish.
- The race was restarted after Alexander Wurz collided with Jean Alesi and barrel-rolled across the turn 1 gravel trap.