Spa Francorchamps welcomed the Formula 1 paddock for the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix. It was a race that will go down in history for a handful of reasons, first of which being the huge first lap crash that involved over half of the field.
It also included the infamous clash between Coulthard and Schumacher, along with it being the debut race win for the Jordan team. The title battle was closing in with Hakkinen leading Schumacher by just seven points going in to the round.
The race was the 13th of the season and with just three rounds of the season remaining, the race kept the title fight alive.
McLaren started the weekend off on the right foot by topping the first practice session on the Friday morning. Coulthard was the lead driver with Hakkinen remaining second despite crashing in the closing stages. Schumacher and Irvine finished in third and fifth for Ferrari, the two Williams cars completing the top six with Villeneuve ahead of Frentzen.
Schumacher set the pace in the second practice session with Hakkinen and Coulthard close behind in second and third. Damon Hill proved that Jordan were on good form by finishing in fourth. However the session was disrupted for 25 minutes after a heavy crash for Villeneuve. He described it as his “biggest crash in F1 so far” after losing control at over 180mph at the fearsome Eau Rouge corner.
He was sent to the medical centre but was released and given permission to complete the weekend. The Canadian finished the third practice session in fourth driving the spare Williams, behind Hakkinen, Coulthard and Hill. Mika Salo crashed heavily at the same place as Villeneuve and was taken to hospital. Fortunately he was uninjured and was cleared to take part in qualifying.
The 1998 qualifying session format saw drivers set up to 12 laps during a one hour session, with the fastest of those 12 being the lap that determined where they started on the grid. Hakkinen took his ninth pole of the season with a time of 1m48.682, Coulthard in second and just two tenths further back.
Hill gained his highest qualifying position of the season in third ahead of Schumacher, Irvine and Villeneuve. It could have been higher for the former had he not been penalised for not lifting off sufficiently through a yellow flag zone, meaning his previous best time was deleted.
Then it was on to the race. Rain welcomed the field of 22 cars with Michael Schumacher topping the drenched pre-race warm-up. Despite heavy downpours prior to the start it was decided that it would go ahead on schedule – unlike previous wet races.
The lights went out and the cars scrabbled for grip off the line. Hakkinen maintained his lead in to La Source with the fast-started Villeneuve moving in to second. Irvine and Coulthard followed in to the first turn with Schumacher dropping in to the clutches of Fisichella.
However it all kicked off on the run to Eau Rouge. Coulthard lost control of his McLaren MP4/13 and moved across the track, hitting the inside wall in a sea of spray before rebounding into the middle of the circuit.
With the wet conditions, visibility was terrible with cars braking in the hope of avoiding the chaos in front. However with the accident being so sudden, many had no way of avoiding the carnage as they ploughed in to the ailing pack with over half of the field being involved.
A number of cars were absolutely destroyed, including Coulthard’s after numerous cars hit the helpless Scot. Some drivers managed to avoid the chaos including Ralf Schumacher who hit the brakes hard and moved on to the grass, avoiding the uncontrollable racing machines by just centimetres.
Those involved were: Coulthard, Irvine, Wurz, Barrichello, Herbert, Panis, Trulli, Salo, Diniz, Takagi, Rosset, Nakano and Verstappen who managed to limp back to the pits but with too much damage to continue.
The race was red-flagged with cars littering the run to the formidable Eau Rouge. The regulations in 1998 stated that if a race was red flagged within the first one or two laps, it could be restarted with the full race distance and in grid order. All teams had spare cars but some outfits had both drivers involved in the first lap crash, meaning three drivers couldn’t restart.
Barrichello suffered a minor injury and also failed to make the restart which took place over an hour later and in similarly wet conditions. Hill had a stunning start with both McLaren’s dropping back and the two Ferraris slotting in behind Hill’s Jordan.
However that wasn’t before Schumacher’s car briefly touched Hakkinen’s, sending him spinning on the exit of the first corner with Johnny Herbert’s Sauber collecting him. Both cars retired and the safety car was deployed as Coulthard went off track, managing to continue shortly after.
After just one lap behind the safety car, Hill was released with a clear track ahead of him for the first time since the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix when he was racing for Arrows. However he wasn’t there for long after Schumacher seized a slow run through Blanchimont on lap eight to overtake him at the following chicane.
Irvine had a clumsy spin, losing his front wing and having to pit for repairs. Schumacher continued to eke out a large gap until lap 24 when the race turned on its head. The German had caught up to the struggling Coulthard and when the Scot lifted off to let the then double world champion pass on his left, Schumacher smashed right into his rear wing.
This caused race-ending damage to both cars with the McLaren losing its rear-wing and the Ferrari continuing to the pits with just three wheels. Schumacher was furious and went to confront Coulthard in his pit garage. Fortunately the two were swiftly separated before the heat intensified.
This put the two Jordan’s in first and second with Hill leading Ralf Schumacher. Irvine spun his Ferrari into the gravel trap to top off a torrid day of racing for the Italian team. The drama continued a lap later after Fisichella crashed into the back of Nakano’s Minardi, damaging his car heavily.
Hill pitted for the second time during the safety car that followed. Only six cars remained which meant Coulthard and Nakano re-joined the race after repairs, with points potentially on offer.
The two leaders continued to lap at a similar pace as they extended the gap on Alesi behind. After the drama of the first half of the race, it was all about counting down the laps to the chequered flag as Hill crossed the line to take Jordan’s first Formula 1 victory.
Ralf Schumacher finished second to make it a 1-2 for the striking yellow-liveried team. Alesi finished third for Sauber with Frentzen next up for Williams. Diniz and Trulli rounded out the top six and the points finishers with Coulthard and Nakano finishing five laps down in seventh and eighth.
The battle at the front was maintained with both title protagonists failing to score. In fact, none of the top five in the championship scored a point after Villeneuve spun early on in his Williams. A dramatic race and one that we never want to see repeated, but a very memorable one indeed.
It also included the infamous clash between Coulthard and Schumacher, along with it being the debut race win for the Jordan team. The title battle was closing in with Hakkinen leading Schumacher by just seven points going in to the round.
The race was the 13th of the season and with just three rounds of the season remaining, the race kept the title fight alive.
McLaren started the weekend off on the right foot by topping the first practice session on the Friday morning. Coulthard was the lead driver with Hakkinen remaining second despite crashing in the closing stages. Schumacher and Irvine finished in third and fifth for Ferrari, the two Williams cars completing the top six with Villeneuve ahead of Frentzen.
Schumacher set the pace in the second practice session with Hakkinen and Coulthard close behind in second and third. Damon Hill proved that Jordan were on good form by finishing in fourth. However the session was disrupted for 25 minutes after a heavy crash for Villeneuve. He described it as his “biggest crash in F1 so far” after losing control at over 180mph at the fearsome Eau Rouge corner.
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The 1998 qualifying session format saw drivers set up to 12 laps during a one hour session, with the fastest of those 12 being the lap that determined where they started on the grid. Hakkinen took his ninth pole of the season with a time of 1m48.682, Coulthard in second and just two tenths further back.
Hill gained his highest qualifying position of the season in third ahead of Schumacher, Irvine and Villeneuve. It could have been higher for the former had he not been penalised for not lifting off sufficiently through a yellow flag zone, meaning his previous best time was deleted.
Then it was on to the race. Rain welcomed the field of 22 cars with Michael Schumacher topping the drenched pre-race warm-up. Despite heavy downpours prior to the start it was decided that it would go ahead on schedule – unlike previous wet races.
The lights went out and the cars scrabbled for grip off the line. Hakkinen maintained his lead in to La Source with the fast-started Villeneuve moving in to second. Irvine and Coulthard followed in to the first turn with Schumacher dropping in to the clutches of Fisichella.
However it all kicked off on the run to Eau Rouge. Coulthard lost control of his McLaren MP4/13 and moved across the track, hitting the inside wall in a sea of spray before rebounding into the middle of the circuit. With the wet conditions, visibility was terrible with cars braking in the hope of avoiding the chaos in front. However with the accident being so sudden, many had no way of avoiding the carnage as they ploughed in to the ailing pack with over half of the field being involved.
A number of cars were absolutely destroyed, including Coulthard’s after numerous cars hit the helpless Scot. Some drivers managed to avoid the chaos including Ralf Schumacher who hit the brakes hard and moved on to the grass, avoiding the uncontrollable racing machines by just centimetres.
Those involved were: Coulthard, Irvine, Wurz, Barrichello, Herbert, Panis, Trulli, Salo, Diniz, Takagi, Rosset, Nakano and Verstappen who managed to limp back to the pits but with too much damage to continue.
The race was red-flagged with cars littering the run to the formidable Eau Rouge. The regulations in 1998 stated that if a race was red flagged within the first one or two laps, it could be restarted with the full race distance and in grid order. All teams had spare cars but some outfits had both drivers involved in the first lap crash, meaning three drivers couldn’t restart.
Barrichello suffered a minor injury and also failed to make the restart which took place over an hour later and in similarly wet conditions. Hill had a stunning start with both McLaren’s dropping back and the two Ferraris slotting in behind Hill’s Jordan.
However that wasn’t before Schumacher’s car briefly touched Hakkinen’s, sending him spinning on the exit of the first corner with Johnny Herbert’s Sauber collecting him. Both cars retired and the safety car was deployed as Coulthard went off track, managing to continue shortly after.
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After just one lap behind the safety car, Hill was released with a clear track ahead of him for the first time since the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix when he was racing for Arrows. However he wasn’t there for long after Schumacher seized a slow run through Blanchimont on lap eight to overtake him at the following chicane.
Irvine had a clumsy spin, losing his front wing and having to pit for repairs. Schumacher continued to eke out a large gap until lap 24 when the race turned on its head. The German had caught up to the struggling Coulthard and when the Scot lifted off to let the then double world champion pass on his left, Schumacher smashed right into his rear wing.
This caused race-ending damage to both cars with the McLaren losing its rear-wing and the Ferrari continuing to the pits with just three wheels. Schumacher was furious and went to confront Coulthard in his pit garage. Fortunately the two were swiftly separated before the heat intensified.
This put the two Jordan’s in first and second with Hill leading Ralf Schumacher. Irvine spun his Ferrari into the gravel trap to top off a torrid day of racing for the Italian team. The drama continued a lap later after Fisichella crashed into the back of Nakano’s Minardi, damaging his car heavily.
Hill pitted for the second time during the safety car that followed. Only six cars remained which meant Coulthard and Nakano re-joined the race after repairs, with points potentially on offer.
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Ralf Schumacher finished second to make it a 1-2 for the striking yellow-liveried team. Alesi finished third for Sauber with Frentzen next up for Williams. Diniz and Trulli rounded out the top six and the points finishers with Coulthard and Nakano finishing five laps down in seventh and eighth.
The battle at the front was maintained with both title protagonists failing to score. In fact, none of the top five in the championship scored a point after Villeneuve spun early on in his Williams. A dramatic race and one that we never want to see repeated, but a very memorable one indeed.
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