Grand Prix Insider

Mika Häkkinen was completely dominant throughout the Spanish Grand Prix weekend. The Finn set the fastest time in all sessions and won the race. David Coulthard shadowed his team-mate throughout but found that he could do nothing to match Hakkinen’s pace, while Michael Schumacher finished nearly a minute behind Häkkinen on a day when McLaren’s Bridgestone tyres had the edge over the Goodyears on the Ferrari.

In qualifying Hakkinen was one and a half seconds ahead of Schumacher, the pair being split by Coulthard who was seventh-tenths slower than Hakkinen. To underline the speed of the Bridgestones Giancarlo Fisichella was fourth fastest in his Benetton with team mate Alexander Wurz fifth ahead of a disappointing Eddie Irvine in the second Ferrari. It was a bad day for Williams, with World Champion Jacques Villeneuve 10th on the grid and Heinz-Harald Frentzen 13th.

At the start of the race the two McLarens went into the lead but Schumacher was very slow away and dropped behind Fisichella and a fast-starting Irvine. Hakkinen built a 10 second lead in 10 laps while Coulthard was able to stay six seconds clear of Irvine, who was under attack from Fisichella. Michael Schumacher shadowed the pair.

With overtaking difficult the pits stops were very important and, as soon as Irvine and Fisichella went into the pits, Michael Schumacher did his usual impressive job and was able to get ahead of both his rivals. They then collided at the first corner and put each other out of the race, promoting Wurz to fourth and Barrichello to fifth, although he had Villeneuve and Johnny Herbert (Sauber) chasing him.

Schumacher was then given a 10-second stop-go penalty for failing to observe the speed limit in the pitlane. This dropped him behind Wurz but he regained the place during the second pit stops to finish third. Wurz was fourth while Barrichello was able to get away from the Villeneuve-Herbert battle to give Stewart a decent result.

1998 Spanish Formula 1 Grand Prix, Barcelona, Spain.

Pole Position: Mika Häkkinen, McLaren MP4/13-Mercedes, 1m 20.262s, 212.065 km/h (131.799 mph) average.

Race Result: Winner – Mika Häkkinen, McLaren MP4/13-Mercedes, 65 laps x 4.728 km (2.938 miles) = 307.320 km (191.000 miles) total race distance in 1h 33m 37.621s, 196.943 km/h (122.400 mph) average.

2) David Coulthard, McLaren MP4/13-Mercedes, + 9.439s
3) Michael Schumacher, Ferrari F300 + 47.095s
4) Alex Wurz, Benetton B198-Playlife + 1m 02.538s
5) Rubens Barrichello, Stewart SF2-Ford + 1 lap
6) Jacques Villeneuve, Williams FW20-Mecachrome + 1 lap

Fastest Lap: Mika Häkkinen, McLaren MP4/13-Mercedes, 1m 24.275s on lap 25 = 201.967 km/h (123.459 mph) average.

Milestones among teams, constructors and suppliers:

- Bridgestone’s 200th Formula 1 Grand Prix as tire supplier

- Texaco’s 250th Formula 1 Grand Prix as lubricant supplier