1998 F1 Grand Prix Season
Mika Hakkinen Won Maiden Formula 1 World Championship at Suzuka
Dec 29, 2008
Heading into the final two races of the 1998 Formula 1 season the battle for the title was between McLaren’s Mika Hakkinen and Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher. The penultimate race was the Luxembourg Grand Prix, which was actually held in Germany at the Nurburgring. The season finale would be at Suzuka in Japan.
Hakkinen Beats Schumacher at the Nurburgring
Everything looked good for Ferrari after qualifying for the Luxembourg Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher was on pole, with his team-mate Eddie Irvine second. McLaren struggled, with Hakkinen third and David Coulthard fifth. Between the silver cars was the Benetton driven by Giancarlo Fisichella.
Irvine made the better start and led for much of the first lap, before the Irishman made a mistake which allowed his team-mate past. It took Hakkinen a lot longer to pass Irvine, by which time Michael Schumacher had built a useful lead. Hakkinen set about catching his title rival and succeeded in getting past the Ferrari at the pit stops. Although Michael Schumacher put Hakkinen under pressure for several laps he could not find a way past and started to drop back. They finished in that order, with Coulthard third and Irvine fourth. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was fifth in his Williams and Fisichella sixth.
Formula 1 World Championship Goes to Hakkinen
Michael Schumacher and Hakkinen shared the front row of the grid at Suzuka, where the World Championship would be decided. The tension showed at the start, when Jarno Trulli stalled his Prost. The start was aborted but, at the second attempt, Michael Schumacher stalled. This relegated him to the back of the grid for the third start and made Hakkinen a firm favourite to win the title.
Hakkinen led away, with Irvine pursuing. Further back, Michael Schumacher made rapid progress in the early stages, before becoming stuck in seventh position. He turned in some trademark flying laps while other pitted and found himself in third, but his title hopes disappeared when a tyre on his Ferrari failed. With his retirement from the race Hakkinen was confirmed as the 1998 Formula 1 World Champion. He took the title in style by winning the race, with Irvine second and Coulthard third. Damon Hill was fourth for Jordan, Frentzen fifth and Jacques Villeneuve sixth. Hakkinen is quoted in the 2002 book, “Formula 1, The Autobiography”, edited by Gerald Donaldson and published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson, talking about his title success;
“When I saw Michael’s Ferrari parked beside the track, I knew it was over. I started whistling to myself in the car, and slowed down a bit… I’m very happy. We’re all very happy. And I guess everybody in Finland is upside down.”
After a dominant start to the season by McLaren, 1998 turned out to be an exciting year in Formula 1. Michael Schumacher and Ferrari showed that they could never be discounted, and would be pushing harder than ever to win the title in 1999.
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