The 1998 German Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the 1998 FF1M Season. It was won by Michael Schumacher who retook the championship lead after his brother failed to finish.
Qualifying[]
Results[]
Race Starting Grid
Germany - Hockenheim
(45 Laps)
Pole 1
Ralf Schumacher
1m 36.379s 2
Alexander Wurz
Row 2 3 1m 36.475s
Michael Schumacher
1m 36.580s 4
Damon Hill
Row 3 5 1m 36.622s
Johnny Herbert
1m 36.642s 6
Eddie Irvine
Row 4 7 1m 36.738s
Mika Hakkinen
1m 36.744s 8
Rubens Barrichello
Row 5 9 1m 36.959s
Jean Alesi
1m 37.103s 10
Juan-Pablo Montoya
Row 6 11 1m 37.186s
Jacques Villeneuve
1m 37.493s 12
Allan McNish
Row 7 13 1m 37.676s
Bruno Junqueira
1m 37.820s 14
Jos Verstappen
Row 8 15 1m 38.004s
Mark Blundell
1m 38.113s 16
Olivier Panis
Row 9 17 1m 38.114s
David Coulthard
1m 38.238s 18
Giancarlo Fisichella
Row 10 19 1m 38.323s
Mika Salo
1m 38.349s 20
Jan Magnussen
Row 11 21 1m 38.425s
Marc Gene
1m 38.454s 22
Kenny Brack
1m 39.190s
Race[]
Report[]
thumb|300px|rightAnother pole position was transformed into another perfect start for Ralf Schumacher as Wurz’s brilliant 2nd place was lost after a slow getaway. Michael Schumacher inherited that position, so both Schumacher’s led in front of their home crowd ahead of Wurz, Hill and both VTR’s as everyone made it around turn 1.
The real acid test was the first chicane and it all fell apart for the younger Schumacher as first Michael slipstreamed past him, and then Hill attempted an optimistic move, which resulted in both drivers colliding and going off, handing 2nd place to Irvine.
Lap 2 resulted in more action at the first chicane as first Hakkinen overtook Barrichello, and then Alesi and McNish collided at the first apex. McNish got away without losing a position, whilst Alesi blocked most of the track, impeding other cars.
Barrichello and Hakkinen continued their scrap for 5th place. Both drivers displayed maturity that seemed to be missing with most drivers so far this race. Kenny Brack was just one of the drivers displaying a bit of petulance, shutting the door on a recovering Ralf Schumacher at the braking zone for the third chicane.
Lap 4 saw Mika Salo take a detour through the gravel trap at turn 1 losing many positions. On the same lap, a water leak ended Johnny Herbert’s race from 6th place.
On the next lap, Villeneuve and Verstappen battled for 7th place. Verstappen was trying to take back 7th at the Ostkurve having been overtaken by Villeneuve already, but the Dutchman’s persistence paid off as he retook the position. Verstappen and Villeneuve’s battle still went on as the FJR driver ran slightly wide at turn 1 on the next lap and gave 7th place back to Villeneuve.
Meanwhile back in 10th place, Panis lost a position to Alesi, and then ran wide and spun at turn 1. Even further back, Juan Pablo Montoya was having a miserable race running in 20th place having overtaken the Maestro of Marc Gene. He then struggled to overtake Kenny Brack and Ralf Schumacher had now joined the party. Both drivers ducked and darted about and Ralf eventually passed Montoya going into the Stadium section on lap 9.
Ralf Schumacher was now charging, powering past Fisichella two laps later and then overtaking Magnussen shortly after. Ralf then gained another place as the other AquinoPlus of Salo retired with an engine failure. Montoya then battled with Fisichella, both drivers running side-by-side for the entirety of the longest straight. Fisichella hung on until lap 14 when Montoya outbraked him into the first chicane.
Gui Racing’s difficult race got worse when Alesi’s engine began smoking on lap 16. He retired from 10th shortly afterward. Ralf Schumacher then retired just 8 laps later with transmission failure. Damon Hill suffered a puncture, whilst McNish lost 7th place thanks to a broken Mecachrome engine.
Having made only one pit stop compared to most of the field’s two, Michael Schumacher took a crucial win to retake the championship lead. Irvine finished 2nd ahead of Hakkinen, Barrichello, while Wurz’s 2nd place on the grid was rewarded with a fine 4th place. Villeneuve survived a spin to finished 6th ahead of Verstappen and completing the point scorers was David Coulthard.
Results[]
Race Results
Germany - Hockenheim
(45 Laps)
Pos Driver Time/Speed
1st Michael Schumacher 1h 14m 44.197s
Dodgem-Ferrari
2nd Eddie Irvine +20.140s
VTR-Mecachrome
3rd Mika Hakkinen +31.938s
Dodgem-Ferrari
4th Rubens Barrichello +35.335s
Pedersen-Mercedes
5th Alexander Wurz +39.919s
J Racing-Ford
6th Jacques Villeneuve +52.667s
Pedersen-Mercedes
7th Jos Verstappen +1m 00.515s
FJR-Mecachrome
8th David Coulthard -1 Lap
Mason Mspt-Mercedes
9th Juan-Pablo Montoya -1 Lap
Mason Mspt-Mercedes
10th Olivier Panis -1 Lap
J Racing-Ford
11th Mark Blundell -1 Lap
Dark Wolf-Mugen
12th Bruno Junqueira -1 Lap
Maestro Mspt-Peugeot
13th Giancarlo Fisichella -1 Lap
AquinoPlus-Peugeot
14th Jan Magnussen -1 Lap
Dark Wolf-Mugen
15th Kenny Brack -1 Lap
Willow Image-Ferrari
16th Marc Gene -1 Lap
Maestro Mspt-Peugeot
17th Allan McNish Engine
FJR-Mecachrome
18th Damon Hill Puncture
Willow Image-Ferrari
19th Ralf Schumacher Transmission
Gui Racing-Ford
20th Jean Alesi Engine
Gui Racing-Ford
21st Mika Salo Engine
AquinoPlus-Peugeot
22nd Johnny Herbert Water Leak
VTR-Mecachrome
Fastest Laps[]
Driver Best Laps
Germany - Hockenheim
(45 Laps)
Pos Driver Best Lap
1st Mika Hakkinen 1m 37.370s
Dodgem-Ferrari
2nd Eddie Irvine +0.069s
VTR-Mecachrome
3rd Jacques Villeneuve +0.125s
Pedersen-Mercedes
4th Alexander Wurz +0.274s
J Racing-Ford
5th Damon Hill +0.427s
Willow Image-Ferrari
6th Jos Verstappen +0.498s
FJR-Mecachrome
7th Rubens Barrichello +0.545s
Pedersen-Mercedes
8th Michael Schumacher +0.658s
Dodgem-Ferrari
9th Juan-Pablo Montoya +0.887s
Mason Mspt-Mercedes
10th Ralf Schumacher +0.967s
Gui Racing-Ford
11th Olivier Panis +0.973s
J Racing-Ford
12th Allan McNish +1.183s
FJR-Mecachrome
13th Giancarlo Fisichella +1.416s
AquinoPlus-Peugeot
14th David Coulthard +1.439s
Mason Mspt-Mercedes
15th Bruno Junqueira +1.537s
Maestro Mspt-Peugeot
16th Marc Gene +1.544s
Maestro Mspt-Peugeot
17th Kenny Brack +1.860s
Willow Image-Ferrari
18th Mark Blundell +1.868s
Dark Wolf-Mugen
19th Johnny Herbert +1.994s
VTR-Mecachrome
20th Jan Magnussen +2.058s
Dark Wolf-Mugen
21st Jean Alesi +2.226s
Gui Racing-Ford
22nd Mika Salo +2.645s
AquinoPlus-Peugeot