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Spanish Grand Prix Review
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Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
8th - 11th May 1998
by Paul Ryder, England
The F1 Circus arrived at Barcelona for the 5th Grand Prix of the season, with the
championship 'top 3' - consisting of Mika
Hakkinen, David Coulthard and Michael Schumacher - closed up after Imola. Mika Hakkinen
was keen to re-establish his
place as 'Number One' in McLaren after Coulthard's only win of the season so far last time
out, a win which was perceived by
many as important to both drivers for showing McLaren who should and can be the World
Champion.
The 'best of the rest' were all looking for improvement in Barcelona: Ferrari tested their
new exhaust system the prior week and
decided that both cars would use it at the race after impressive performance during
testing; Williams were also looking for a
drastic improvement, as time is running out for them, if they are to stand any chance of
winning this year; and both Benetton and
Jordan looking for that extra bit of speed which can take them closer to Ferrari,
currently the only team catching up to
McLaren.
Before the race
As in Imola, qualifying was no surprise. Mika Hakkinen dominated the free practice
sessions, with times more than 0.4 seconds
ahead of team mate David Coulthard, who was having problems finding confidence within the
car on this track. Hakkinen set
the pace from the start, claiming pole with a time of 1:20.262, his fastest time of the
weekend. David Coulthard could only
manage 1:20.996, 0.734 adrift of the Finn. This would normally have resulted in a worse
grid position than second, but because of McLaren's sheer dominance at this circuit and in
general, he still had over 0.8 seconds over Michael Schumacher on 3rd, compared to his 7th
position in free practice.
The Benetton pair had a good session for once, claiming 4th with Giancarlo Fisichella and
5th with Alexander Wurz. Eddie Irvine claimed the 6th spot with fellow Britons Johnny
Herbert and Damon Hill both putting in impressive runs to take up 7th and 8th
respectively. A fantastic performance from Rubens Barrichello placed his Stewart in the
9th place, compared to teammate Jan Magnussen down in 18th place. The Williams pair
appeared to be struggling here even more than in previous races, with Jacques Villeneuve
only able to manage 10th place, only shortly after going off circuit in attempt to
improve, and teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen finding himself back in 13th place. This is by
far one of the worst qualifying sessions for Williams in memory, but then again, so is
their season so far. Other notables were Jean Alesi down in 14th, and Ricardo
Rosset who sadly failed to meet the 107% time limit, probably because of the McLaren
dominance.
All this meant that the race looked settled before the lights went out on Sunday.
The Race
As the grid shot away on a bright and sunny track, Mika Hakkinen lead into turn one with
no challenge from team mate David Coulthard who took up second spot. Michael Schumacher
was left behind slightly, enabling Eddie Irvine and Giancarlo Fisichella to shoot past
him, both nearly coming together going into turn one, forcing Fisichella to use the dirt
to avoid collision. Alex Wurz kept his 6th place and fantastic starts from both Rubens
Barrichello and Jacques Villeneuve leapt them both up
to 7th and 8th respectively.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen had a bad first lap (and a terrible race), and whilst trying to pass
Alesi around the outside of the first corner, both cars spun and ended up at the back of
the field. Positions at the end of lap 2 where as follows: Hakkinen -> 3.300 ->
Coulthard -> 2.700 -> Irvine -> 0.600 -> Fisichella -> 0.900 ->
M.Schumacher -> 1.200 -> Wurz.
Hakkinen had already opened up a 4 seconds gap to Coulthard, which was destined to
increase at 1 second per lap with
David pulling away from 3rd placed Irvine at a slower rate.
By lap 8 the top 10 remained unchanged, with all the racing going on in the lower places.
Hakkinen, still pulling away from
Coulthard, was now 8.1 seconds ahead of his teammate, who held a 5.2 second lead over
Irvine. Fisichella was closer to
Irvine, with only 1.3 seconds separating the Ferrari and the Benetton. Michael Schumacher
was still in 5th place as the ham in
the Benetton sandwich, with 1.2 seconds behind Fisichella and 2 seconds ahead of Wurz.
There followed a 6.1 seconds gap
before Barrichello in 7th place with Villeneuve in 8th, closely followed by Herbert and
Hill.
On Lap 10 there was still no change in the running order of the top 10, with Prost driver
Olivier Panis in 11th and his teammate
Jarno Trulli in 12th. The rest of the field was rounded out with Jan Magnussen, Mika Salo,
Tora Takagi, Ralf Schumacher, Jean Alesi, Shinji Nakano, Esteban Tuero, Heinz-Harald
Frentzen and Pedro Diniz. So far over the race, both Ralf Schumacher and Jean Alesi have
failed to match the pace of their teammates.
Hakkinen's gap to 2nd placed Coulthard continued to increase until lap 15, when he began
to encounter traffic. Coulthard was
now 13 seconds behind the Finn.
Thus, on lap 15, the top 10 looked like this:
Hakkinen -> 13.000 -> Coulthard -> 6.100 -> Irvine -> 1.900 ->
Fisichella -> 2.100 -> M. Schumacher -> 3.800 -> Wurz
-> 10.600 -> Barrichello -> 3.100 -> Villeneuve -> 0.600 -> Herbert
-> 1.800 -> Hill.
The two noticeable battles in the top 10 were those of Irvine and Fisichella, with Michael
Schumacher poised to take
advantage, and that of Herbert, who was still putting pressure on Villeneuve but was
unable to get close enough to make any
challenge.
By lap 20 Hakkinen's lead was down to 12.1 seconds. Irvine had now managed to open up a
gap of 3.6 to Fisichella, and
likewise Villeneuve, now 1.1 seconds ahead of Herbert in his Sauber. Coulthard took
another half a second off Hakkinen's
lead the following lap, obviously dealing with the traffic better than the Finn. On the
same lap, both Arrows cars retired as they
came down the start finish straight. Both cars had engine problems, and came to a smoking
halt yards from each other, in what
seemed a rather comical way to exit a race.
Lap 22 and the pitstops began. Barrichello, Herbert and Hill all pitted for the first of
two stops. Wurz and Trulli stopping one
lap later for fresh fuel and rubber.
Eddie Irvine and Giancarlo Fisichella left their stops till lap 25. This allowed
Schumacher, yet to pit, to take up 3rd place and
open a gap of 17.7 seconds before his stop. Schumacher is renowned for his quick laps
before stops, which often is the key to
him getting that extra race position, and a testament to Ferrari tactics. Hakkinen stopped
on lap 26 getting back out in second
place. Coulthard and Schumacher pitted on lap 27, along with 6th placed Villeneuve.
Upon exiting the pit lane, Schumacher managed to slip out just in front of teammate
Irvine, leaving "Fast Eddie" struggling to hold off Fisichella, who was now 0.3
seconds behind the Ferrari. It is interesting to note that before Irvine and Schumacher
pitted, Irvine held a 5.3 seconds lead over his teammate.With Only three laps later,
Schumacher was leading Irvine by 1.5 seconds, a total loss of 6.8 seconds for Irvine,
which left him in a very difficult position in the race.
On lap 28 Fisichella, 0.3 seconds behind Irvine, made a move to the outside of Irvine
going into turn 1. Despite being on the dusty part of the track, the Italian continued the
move and the cars collided taking both drivers into the gravel and out of the race. What
followed was a very heated reaction from Fisichella toward Irvine. Fisichella was
obviously blaming Irvine for the incident, he in fact looked almost ready to start a
fight, but the Irishman calmly walked to the tyre barrier holding back any desire to
continue the argument. In this kind of a situation, both drivers are to blame and it is
usually put down to a racing incident, but oddly enough the race officials chose to punish
Fisichella, with a $7,500 fine.
Back to the race, where at lap 30 the positions where as follows:
Hakkinen -> 15.400 -> Coulthard -> 14.500 -> M.Schumacher -> 8.800 ->
Wurz -> 19.600 -> Barrichello -> 0.900 ->
Villeneuve -> 2.600 -> Herbert -> 5.000 -> Hill -> 2.200 -> Panis ->
15.400 -> Trulli.
Coulthard seemed to realise he could be put under slight pressure from Schumacher if he
allowed matters to continue, so he
pulled away from him over the next few laps. There was a big gap of 13 seconds back to
Wurz, and another 20 seconds from
Wurz to Barrichello in the Stewart. Rubens was still under pressure from Villeneuve, who
was equally under pressure from
Herbert. On Lap 38 Michael Schumacher was called in for a pit lane speeding 10-seconds
penalty, leaving the pits 1 position
back in 4th place, but only 4.2 seconds adrift of Wurz.
The second round of pit-stops began on lap 42. Panis and Ralf Schumacher stopped along
with Heinz-Harald Frentzen who
was still at the rear of the field. Frentzen exited the pit lane just in front of Damon
Hill, who was ready to lap the German.
Frentzen proved difficult to pass, and Hill later said he believes this was intentional.
At one point Hill attempted to pass the
Williams but was forced to run wide and off into the gravel and back onto the circuit.
After the race Hill blamed Frentzen for
the incident, branding him a dangerous driver and "one brick short of a load".
On Lap 44 Barrichello, Herbert and Hill stopped, followed a lap later by Hakkinen and
Villeneuve. A further lap later (lap 46)
saw Coulthard and Wurz pit with Michael Schumacher making his stop on Lap 48 and coming
out notably ahead of Wurz.
The positions at the end of the 2nd round stops were:
Hakkinen -> 6.000 -> Coulthard -> 39.800 -> M.Schumacher -> 4.500 ->
Wurz -> 25.500 -> Barrichello -> 2.600 ->
Villeneuve.
Over the next few laps Hakkinen opened up the gap slightly to 9.4 seconds. Barrichello was
still doing well in 5th place,
followed by Villeneuve in the points in 6th, with Herbert still trying to close up. It was
later revealed, though, that Herbert was
racing at this point with a cracked exhaust. Herbert's team mate Jean Alesi had by now
moved up into 10th place after
recovering from his earlier accident with Frentzen.
On lap 59 the top positions were:
Hakkinen -> 8.00 -> Coulthard -> 35.500 -> M. Schumacher -> 12.600 ->
Wurz -> 36.800 -> Barrichello -> 2.900 ->
Villeneuve -> 0.600 -> Herbert -> 23.800 -> Panis
The recent run of bad luck for Olivier Panis and the Prost Grand Prix team continued as on
lap 60, the AP01 retired because
of yet another mechanical failure.
Positions remained the same over the next 6 laps. Hakkinen, by now going at a slightly
slower pace, was able to keep a
reasonable gap between himself and Coulthard. Schumacher was unable to do anything about
the 37 seconds gap between
himself and Coulthard, and had settled a long time ago for 3rd place. Wurz was 15 seconds
behind Schumacher but again was
unable to give himself a shot at a podium finish. Barrichello followed 42 seconds behind,
with Villeneuve putting him under
increasing pressure. Villeneuve, however, could not find a way past the Brazilian and
settled for 6th in the end. Frentzen, who
had made an impressive run to get to 8th place (although this was aided by incorrect usage
of blue flags by the marshals), now
followed Johnny Herbert.
Hakkinen took the flag at the end of lap 65, followed 9.4 seconds later by Coulthard, M.
Schumacher, Wurz, Barrichello and
Villeneuve.
The race itself was far from exciting with the only action being during the pit stops and
even then this didn't affect the McLaren domination. Ferrari predicts their team will
close the gap in Monaco and we will hopefully see a different race there. Hakkinen drove a
superb race leading from start to finish and dominating throughout the weekend. The battle
between the McLaren teammates continues unabated but it seems that the Finn is gaining the
upper hand. Benetton gave an impressive performance, slightly clouded by Fisichella's move
and post-crash argument with Irvine. Rubens Barrichello did a great job holding 5th place,
giving a fantastic result for the Stewart team, which made Jackie Stewart a very happy man
and released a lot of pressure from the British team. World champion Jacques Villeneuve
finished in 6th and, along with Heinz-Harald Frentzen, must be wondering when, if ever,
things are going to get any better.
Onto Monaco, and hopefully a more exciting race.
Fastest Lap: M.Hakkinen - 1'24"275
P. Č. Jazdec Tým Čas
1. 8 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1'22"147 207.199 km/h
2. 7 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1'22"965 + 0'00"818
3. 15 HERBERT Sauber Petronas 1'23"237 + 0'01"090
4. 4 IRVINE Ferrari 1'23"421 + 0'01"274
5. 3 M.SCHUM' Ferrari 1'23"468 + 0'01"321
6. 2 FRENTZEN Williams Mecachro 1'23"843 + 0'01"696
7. 18 BARRICHELLO Stewart Ford 1'24"037 + 0'01"890
8. 1 VILLENEUVE Williams Mecachro 1'24"198 + 0'02"051
9. 14 ALESI Sauber Petronas 1'24"257 + 0'02"110
10. 11 PANIS Prost Peugeot 1'24"272 + 0'02"125
11. 5 FISICHELLA Benetton Mecachro 1'24"286 + 0'02"139
12. 6 WURZ Benetton Mecachro 1'24"311 + 0'02"164
13. 10 R.SCHUM' Jordan Mugen-Hond 1'24"420 + 0'02"273
14. 9 HILL Jordan Mugen-Hond 1'24"888 + 0'02"741
15. 12 TRULLI Prost Peugeot 1'24"897 + 0'02"750
16. 22 NAKANO Minardi Ford 1'25"280 + 0'03"133
17. 21 TAKAGI Tyrrell Ford 1'25"336 + 0'03"189
18. 23 TUERO Minardi Ford 1'25"525 + 0'03"378
19. 16 DINIZ Arrows TWR 1'25"770 + 0'03"623
20. 17 SALO Arrows TWR 1'26"285 + 0'04"138
21. 20 ROSSET Tyrrell Ford 1'26"371 + 0'04"224
22. 19 MAGNUSSEN Stewart Ford 1'26"606 + 0'04"459
2. voľný tréning
Maximálna rýchlosť: HAKKINEN 313,13 Km/h
P. Č. Jazdec Tým Čas
1. 8 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1'20"791 210.677 km/h
2. 7 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1'21"223 + 0'00"432
3. 5 FISICHELLA Benetton Mecachro 1'22"102 + 0'01"311
4. 6 WURZ Benetton Mecachro 1'22"414 + 0'01"623
5. 4 IRVINE Ferrari 1'22"497 + 0'01"706
6. 18 BARRICHELLO Stewart Ford 1'22"673 + 0'01"882
7. 3 M.SCHUM' Ferrari 1'22"890 + 0'02"099
8. 9 HILL Jordan Mugen-Hond 1'22"974 + 0'02"183
9. 15 HERBERT Sauber Petronas 1'23"058 + 0'02"267
10. 2 FRENTZEN Williams Mecachro 1'23"083 + 0'02"292
11. 10 R.SCHUM' Jordan Mugen-Hond 1'23"113 + 0'02"322
12. 11 PANIS Prost Peugeot 1'23"317 + 0'02"526
13. 14 ALESI Sauber Petronas 1'23"397 + 0'02"606
14. 1 VILLENEUVE Williams Mecachro 1'23"483 + 0'02"692
15. 21 TAKAGI Tyrrell Ford 1'23"944 + 0'03"153
16. 17 SALO Arrows TWR 1'24"096 + 0'03"305
17. 23 TUERO Minardi Ford 1'24"640 + 0'03"849
18. 12 TRULLI Prost Peugeot 1'24"680 + 0'03"889
19. 16 DINIZ Arrows TWR 1'24"793 + 0'04"002
20. 19 MAGNUSSEN Stewart Ford 1'24"862 + 0'04"071
21. 22 NAKANO Minardi Ford 1'25"375 + 0'04"584
22. 20 ROSSET Tyrrell Ford 1'25"885 + 0'05"094
Kvalifikácia
Nekvalifikoval sa : (1O7%) 1'25"88O / ROSSET nad 1O7% (1'25"88O)
P. Č. Jazdec Tým Čas
1. 8 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1'20"262 212.065 km/h
2. 7 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1'20"996 + 0'00"734
3. 3 M.SCHUM' Ferrari 1'21"785 + 0'01"523
4. 5 FISICHELLA Benetton Mecachro 1'21"894 + 0'01"632
5. 6 WURZ Benetton Mecachro 1'21"965 + 0'01"703
6. 4 IRVINE Ferrari 1'22"350 + 0'02"088
7. 15 HERBERT Sauber Petronas 1'22"794 + 0'02"532
8. 9 HILL Jordan Mugen-Hond 1'22"835 + 0'02"573
9. 18 BARRICHELLO Stewart Ford 1'22"860 + 0'02"598
10. 1 VILLENEUVE Williams Mecachro 1'22"885 + 0'02"623
11. 10 R.SCHUM' Jordan Mugen-Hond 1'22"927 + 0'02"665
12. 11 PANIS Prost Peugeot 1'22"963 + 0'02"701
13. 2 FRENTZEN Williams Mecachro 1'23"197 + 0'02"935
14. 14 ALESI Sauber Petronas 1'23"327 + 0'03"065
15. 16 DINIZ Arrows TWR 1'23"704 + 0'03"442
16. 12 TRULLI Prost Peugeot 1'23"748 + 0'03"486
17. 17 SALO Arrows TWR 1'23"887 + 0'03"625
18. 19 MAGNUSSEN Stewart Ford 1'24"112 + 0'03"850
19. 23 TUERO Minardi Ford 1'24"265 + 0'04"003
20. 22 NAKANO Minardi Ford 1'24"538 + 0'04"276
21. 21 TAKAGI Tyrrell Ford 1'24"722 + 0'04"460
22. 20 ROSSET Tyrrell Ford 1'25"946 + 0'05"684
Warm-up
Najviac kôl na trati : TAKAGI, 16
P. Č. Jazdec Tým Čas
1. 8 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1'22"460 206.413 km/h
2. 7 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1'23"270 + 0'00"810
3. 5 FISICHELLA Benetton Mecachro 1'24"107 + 0'01"647
4. 11 PANIS Prost Peugeot 1'24"677 + 0'02"217
5. 3 M.SCHUM' Ferrari 1'24"852 + 0'02"392
6. 4 IRVINE Ferrari 1'25"176 + 0'02"716
7. 6 WURZ Benetton Mecachro 1'25"382 + 0'02"922
8. 2 FRENTZEN Williams Mecachro 1'25"536 + 0'03"076
9. 12 TRULLI Prost Peugeot 1'25"541 + 0'03"081
10. 15 HERBERT Sauber Petronas 1'25"630 + 0'03"170
11. 18 BARRICHELLO Stewart Ford 1'25"702 + 0'03"242
12. 10 R.SCHUM' Jordan Mugen-Hond 1'25"925 + 0'03"465
13. 23 TUERO Minardi Ford 1'25"991 + 0'03"531
14. 17 SALO Arrows TWR 1'26"087 + 0'03"627
15. 16 DINIZ Arrows TWR 1'26"278 + 0'03"818
16. 1 VILLENEUVE Williams Mecachro 1'26"370 + 0'03"910
17. 19 MAGNUSSEN Stewart Ford 1'26"425 + 0'03"965
18. 21 TAKAGI Tyrrell Ford 1'26"452 + 0'03"992
19. 14 ALESI Sauber Petronas 1'26"698 + 0'04"238
20. 9 HILL Jordan Mugen-Hond 1'26"730 + 0'04"270
21. 22 NAKANO Minardi Ford 1'27"226 + 0'04"766
Veľká cena Španielska
Maximálna rýchlosť: PANIS 318,7 km/h
P. Č. Jazdec Tým Čas
1. 8 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1h33'37"621 196.811 km/h
2. 7 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes + 0'09"439 196.481 km/h
3. 3 M.SCHUM' Ferrari + 0'47"094 195.175 km/h
4. 6 WURZ Benetton Mecachrom + 1'02"538 194.644 km/h
5. 18 BARRICHELLO Stewart Ford 1 lap(s)
6. 1 VILLENEUVE Williams Mecachrom 1 lap(s)
7. 15 HERBERT Sauber Petronas 1 lap(s)
8. 2 FRENTZEN Williams Mecachrom 2 lap(s)
9. 12 TRULLI Prost Peugeot 2 lap(s)
10. 14 ALESI Sauber Petronas 2 lap(s)
11. 10 R.SCHUM' Jordan Mugen-Honda 2 lap(s)
12. 19 MAGNUSSEN Stewart Ford 2 lap(s)
13. 21 TAKAGI Tyrrell Ford 2 lap(s)
14. 22 NAKANO Minardi Ford 2 lap(s)
15. 23 TUERO Minardi Ford 2 lap(s)
16. 11 PANIS Prost Peugeot 5 lap(s)
17. 9 HILL Jordan Mugen-Honda 19 lap(s)
18. 5 FISICHELLA Benetton Mecachrom 37 lap(s)
19. 4 IRVINE Ferrari 37 lap(s)
20. 17 SALO Arrows TWR 44 lap(s)
21. 16 DINIZ Arrows TWR 45 lap(s)
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