In August 1998, the organisation of the sporting event was characterised by complications linked to the seizure of several stands and some underpasses by the magistrate's court due to alleged irregularities in the testing certifications. The affair continued until the beginning of September, when the use of the stands for the match was allowed.[1] The event was organised by the Automobile Club of Milan and SIAS, the company in charge of managing the racetrack. For the occasion, new giant screens were installed and the car parks and camping areas were expanded.[2]
Heading into the 14th round of the season, Mika Häkkinen led the championship with 77 points. Michael Schumacher was in second place, seven points behind. Häkkinen's teammate David Coulthard was in third position on 48 points, making these three the only drivers who could mathematically win the title. In the constructors championship, McLaren led on 125 points, ahead of Ferrari on 102. Williams were third with 33 points, one point ahead of Benetton and seven points ahead of Jordan in fifth.[3] Jordan had just achieved a 1–2 finish at the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix, where neither Häkkinen nor Schumacher scored any point; when lapping Coulthard, Schumacher had crashed into the Scot's McLaren, which had not moved off the racing line, obscured by spray.[4][5] Although he received no penalty or sanction, many were convinced that Coulthard had intentionally caused the collision with Schumacher in order to help his teammate.[6]
Report
Qualifying
While the free practice on Friday was dry, by the afternoon session it had rained. In a wet qualifying session, Michael Schumacher took pole position ahead of Jacques Villeneuve, who had achieved the team's best qualifying start. Mika Häkkinen, David Coulthard, and Eddie Irvine followed them in third, fourth, and fifth position.[4]
Race
Mika Häkkinen made a blinding start from third on the grid, pushing his way past Jacques Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher on the front row; at the same time, it was a dreadful start for Schumacher, who fell down to fifth but then passed Villeneuve for fourth and then Eddie Irvine for third. Häkkinen was struggling with a developing brake issue soon after and he waved his teammate David Coulthard through. Soon after, Coulthard's engine blew and seconds later Schumacher, who had caught Häkkinen, passed the Finn when Häkkinen had adjusted his brake bias forwards to cope with the brake problem and ran wide due to the smoke from Coulthard's engine.[4][6]
Villeneuve, who was 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 when his rear brakes failed, sending him into a wild spin at the Roggia chicane. Although he was able to keep his engine running and kept going, at the beginning of the next lap he went off again at the first Rettifilo chicane, and Irvine reeled him in and took second off him. Ralf Schumacher then caught and overtook Häkkinen, who was able to limp home in fourth.[4][6]
It was a jubilant scene for the Italian crowd as Schumacher came home first and Irvine, his Ferrari teammate, took second, with the younger Schumacher third.[4][7] It was Jordan's third podium finishes in two races. Johnny Herbert retired in unusual circumstances; prior to the start, a Sauber mechanic accidentally left a spanner in the cockpit. During the race, the spanner became jammed under the foot pedals, which caused Herbert to crash.[8] Schumacher was now level on points with Häkkinen going into the Nürburgring, the penultimate round, although Häkkinen still led the championship on countback as both drivers had six wins but Häkkinen had two second places against Schumacher's one. This race was Ferrari's 600th start in a World Championship event as a team.[9][10][nb 1]
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
Notes
^A privateer Ferrari entry in the 1950 French Grand Prix, which is often a source of incorrect count for their races as a team (as opposed to as a manufacturer) is not counted towards the team's participations.
^Cremonesi, Andrea; Vicentini, Mario (4 September 1998). "E Schumi ora dice: 'Parliamone'". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 13 February 2024.
