The 1998 American Grand Prix was the fifteenth round of the 1998 FF1M Season and it was held at the Laguna Seca Raceway in California. It was the first and so far only race to be held at this race track and it was won by Michael Schumacher to move him closer to the championship.
Driver Change
- FJR replaced Allan McNish for FF1M-3000 runner up Heinz Harald Frentzen for the last three races.
Qualifying
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Results
Race Starting Grid
United States - Laguna Seca
(85 Laps)
1 Pole
Juan-Pablo Montoya
2 1m 09.103s
Jacques Villeneuve
1m 09.154s 3 Row 2
Michael Schumacher
4 1m 09.202s
Heinz-Harald Frentzen
1m 09.220s 5 Row 3
David Coulthard
6 1m 09.511s
Ralf Schumacher
1m 09.818s 7 Row 4
Mika Salo
8 1m 10.160s
Damon Hill
1m 10.184s 9 Row 5
Rubens Barrichello
10 1m 10.214s
Mika Hakkinen
1m 10.327s 11 Row 6
Alexander Wurz
12 1m 10.486s
Jos Verstappen
1m 10.660s 13 Row 7
Eddie Irvine
14 1m 10.695s
Olivier Panis
1m 10.936s 15 Row 8
Jean Alesi
16 1m 10.939s
Marc Gene
1m 11.121s 17 Row 9
Giancarlo Fisichella
18 1m 11.124s
Johnny Herbert
1m 11.311s 19 Row 10
Mark Blundell
20 1m 11.844s
Jan Magnussen
1m 12.035s 21 Row 11
Bruno Junqueira
22 1m 12.064s
Kenny Brack
1m 12.351s
Race
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Rain in qualifying meant that Juan Pablo Montoya took pole position ahead of Jacques Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher. Montoya had a good start whilst Villeneuve’s wasn’t, as he was beaten by Michael off the line. FJR debutant Heinz Harald Frentzen held on to 4th whilst at the back, Kenny Brack had spun by himself and rejoined. It was FF1M’s first race at Laguna Seca and overtaking appeared to be very difficult. This allowed Montoya to control the race until lap 14 when his engine exploded right in front of Michael. Villeneuve also got baulked a bit giving Michael some breathing space.
The race was processional but there was also a fairly high attrition rate with 9 retirements including Jacques Villeneuve, who lost 2nd place with 15 laps left. Villeneuve’s teammate also retired with engine problems making it a bad race for Pedersen. Other retirements included Mika Hakkinen with a puncture and Coulthard lost 5th place in the dying moments with a water leak.
Michael Schumacher took a controlled win ahead of his brother, increasing the championship lead to 10 points with Dodgem extremely close to winning the constructors championship. Frentzen drove a brilliant first race for FJR to 3rd, FJR’s first podium since the Spanish Grand Prix. Damon Hill was 4th ahead of Irvine, Wurz, Verstappen and Olivier Panis. The Frenchman has been outclassed by Wurz all season, so a point would surely be heart warming for him.
Results
Race Results
United States - Laguna Seca
(85 Laps)
Pos Driver Time/Speed
1st Michael Schumacher 1h 31m 18.652s
Dodgem-Ferrari
2nd Ralf Schumacher +41.362s
Gui Racing-Ford
3rd Heinz-Harald Frentzen +43.150s
FJR-Mecachrome
4th Damon Hill +44.738s
Willow Image-Ferrari
5th Eddie Irvine -1 Lap
VTR-Mecachrome
6th Alexander Wurz -1 Lap
J Racing-Ford
7th Jos Verstappen -1 Lap
FJR-Mecachrome
8th Olivier Panis -1 Lap
J Racing-Ford
9th Giancarlo Fisichella -1 Lap
AquinoPlus-Peugeot
10th Marc Gene -1 Lap
Maestro Mspt-Peugeot
11th Jean Alesi -1 Lap
Gui Racing-Ford
12th Mika Salo -1 Lap
AquinoPlus-Peugeot
13th Kenny Brack -2 Laps
Willow Image-Ferrari
14th David Coulthard -3 Laps
Mason Mspt-Mercedes
15th Mika Hakkinen Puncture
Dodgem-Ferrari
16th Rubens Barrichello Engine
Pedersen-Mercedes
17th Jacques Villeneuve Transmission
Pedersen-Mercedes
18th Bruno Junqueira Engine
Maestro Mspt-Peugeot
19th Jan Magnussen Suspension
Dark Wolf-Mugen
20th Johnny Herbert Transmission
VTR-Mecachrome
21st Mark Blundell Engine
Dark Wolf-Mugen
22nd Juan-Pablo Montoya Engine
Mason Mspt-Mercedes
Fastest Laps
Driver Best Laps
United States - Laguna Seca
(85 Laps)
Pos Driver Best Lap
1st Ralf Schumacher 1m 02.773s
Gui Racing-Ford
2nd Michael Schumacher +0.257s
Dodgem-Ferrari
3rd Jacques Villeneuve +0.271s
Pedersen-Mercedes
4th Heinz-Harald Frentzen +0.431s
FJR-Mecachrome
5th Damon Hill +0.529s
Willow Image-Ferrari
6th Juan-Pablo Montoya +0.575s
Mason Mspt-Mercedes
7th Mika Hakkinen +0.678s
Dodgem-Ferrari
8th David Coulthard +0.953s
Mason Mspt-Mercedes
9th Eddie Irvine +1.039s
VTR-Mecachrome
10th Jos Verstappen +1.078s
FJR-Mecachrome
11th Rubens Barrichello +1.118s
Pedersen-Mercedes
12th Alexander Wurz +1.232s
J Racing-Ford
13th Mika Salo +1.291s
AquinoPlus-Peugeot
14th Olivier Panis +1.308s
J Racing-Ford
15th Giancarlo Fisichella +1.450s
AquinoPlus-Peugeot
16th Jean Alesi +1.489s
Gui Racing-Ford
17th Johnny Herbert +1.509s
VTR-Mecachrome
18th Marc Gene +1.574s
Maestro Mspt-Peugeot
19th Bruno Junqueira +1.711s
Maestro Mspt-Peugeot
20th Kenny Brack +2.159s
Willow Image-Ferrari
21st Jan Magnussen +2.171s
Dark Wolf-Mugen
22nd Mark Blundell +2.281s
Dark Wolf-Mugen
Notes
- First FF1M podium for Heinz Harald Frentzen