The 1998 Australian Grand Prix was highly controversial and saw the McLaren Mercedes team dominate the opening race weekend of the season.
But why was it so memorable? It was all thanks to team orders, which helped F1's 'Flying Finn' to reclaim the lead and eventually win the race.
The MP4-13's of Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard qualified first and second in the opening qualifying session of the year, with a seven tenth gap to their nearest challenger Michael Schumacher.
Both McLaren drivers made strong starts with Hakkinen leading into the first turn. Schumacher attempted to overtake Coulthard but failed to find a way through. Despite the large deficit in qualifying, the Ferrari driver managed to stick with the leading duo until his engine failed on lap six.
Villeneuve took over third position but was some way off the pace of the top two. The first round of pit stops failed to shake-up the order at the front, but Heinz-Harald Frentzen had moved up to the final podium position in the Jordan.
On lap 36, the race took an unexpected turn when Hakkinen dived into the pit lane. He apparently misheard a call over the radio and drove straight through without stopping (Ron Dennis later said in 2007 that someone tapped into the team's radio). This dropped him down to second place.
Coulthard held the lead until lap 56, when he pulled over to the side of the track and slowed. No, he wasn't retiring from the race. Instead, he was allowing Hakkinen back into the lead. The Finn duly crossed the line to win the race. The McLaren duo had - incredibly - lapped the entire field; such was the pace of the MP4-13.
It soon came to light that the team had made a pre-race agreement: the driver who led into the first corner would go on to win the race. It was a highly controversial but truly dominant display from the McLaren team, who later went on to win the 1998 constructors' championship and the drivers' title with Hakkinen.
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| Image source: eMercedesBenz |
The MP4-13's of Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard qualified first and second in the opening qualifying session of the year, with a seven tenth gap to their nearest challenger Michael Schumacher.
Both McLaren drivers made strong starts with Hakkinen leading into the first turn. Schumacher attempted to overtake Coulthard but failed to find a way through. Despite the large deficit in qualifying, the Ferrari driver managed to stick with the leading duo until his engine failed on lap six.
Villeneuve took over third position but was some way off the pace of the top two. The first round of pit stops failed to shake-up the order at the front, but Heinz-Harald Frentzen had moved up to the final podium position in the Jordan.
On lap 36, the race took an unexpected turn when Hakkinen dived into the pit lane. He apparently misheard a call over the radio and drove straight through without stopping (Ron Dennis later said in 2007 that someone tapped into the team's radio). This dropped him down to second place.
Coulthard held the lead until lap 56, when he pulled over to the side of the track and slowed. No, he wasn't retiring from the race. Instead, he was allowing Hakkinen back into the lead. The Finn duly crossed the line to win the race. The McLaren duo had - incredibly - lapped the entire field; such was the pace of the MP4-13.
It soon came to light that the team had made a pre-race agreement: the driver who led into the first corner would go on to win the race. It was a highly controversial but truly dominant display from the McLaren team, who later went on to win the 1998 constructors' championship and the drivers' title with Hakkinen.
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