1998 Spanish Grand Prix

Infobox Grand Prix race report
Type = F1
Country = Spain
Grand Prix = Spanish

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|220px
Caption = Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona
date = May 10
Year = 1998
Official name = XL Gran Premio Marlboro de España
Race_No = 5
Season_No = 16
Location = Circuit de Catalunya
Barcelona, Spain
Course = Permanent racing facility
Course_mi = 2.892
Course_km = 4.655
Distance_laps = 65
Distance_mi = 187.934
Distance_km = 302.449
Weather = Sunny and warm
Pole_Driver = Mika Häkkinen
Pole_Team = McLaren-Mercedes
Pole_Time = 1:20.262
Pole_Country = Finland
Fast_Driver = Mika Häkkinen
Fast_Team = McLaren-Mercedes
Fast_Time = 1m 24.275s
Fast_L

Fast_Country = Finland
First_Driver = Mika Häkkinen
First_Team = McLaren-Mercedes
First_Country = Finland
Second_Driver = David Coulthard
Second_Team = McLaren-Mercedes
Second_Country= UK
Third_Driver = Michael Schumacher
Third_Team = Ferrari
Third_Country = Germany|

The 1998 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on May 10, 1998 at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Race Summary

Mika Häkkinen qualified for pole. He was faster than team-mate David Coulthard by 0.7 seconds with Michael Schumacher a further 0.8 seconds back. The race proved to be a formality, with Häkkinen claiming the victory, with Coulthard second, and Schumacher third.Schumacher made a poor start and fell back to fifth behind Eddie Irvine and Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella. And this was how they ran until their first pit stops, when Irvine delayed Fisichella sufficiently for his team-mate Schumacher to emerge ahead, in third position.

Fisichella was not impressed by this act and set about Irvine. However his attempted passing manoeuvre around the outside failed when neither saw fit to back off, and they speared off into the gravel trap where they entered into a heated debate. This led to Alexander Wurz inheriting fourth place, which he held right until the end. Rubens Barrichello may have been disappointed that his Stewart had been lapped, but he was delighted with his drive nonetheless, bringing his car home in fifth place ahead of Jacques Villeneuve. While this emphasised that the Stewart team was making progress after a poor start to the season, it suggested that Williams was actually becoming less competitive by the race, struggling to get its chassis to behave. Add to the that the fact that the Bridgestone tyres used by McLaren and Benetton in particular seemed to have the edge, especially in hot conditions and you can imagine the despair setting in at Williams. Team morale was not what it had been when they were sweeping all before them in the early 1990s, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen was coming under increasing pressure after finishing eight, two laps behind Häkkinen. He had qualified 13th and Villeneuve 10th, but the Canadian got stuck in during the race, while Frentzen appeared out of sorts after colliding with Jean Alesi on the first lap, and was forced to make an extra stop.

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Classification

tandings After Grand Prix

Drivers
*1 Mika Häkkinen - McLaren-Mercedes - 36
*2 David Coulthard - McLaren-Mercedes - 29
*3 Michael Schumacher - Ferrari - 24
*4 Eddie Irvine - Ferrari - 11
*5 Alexander Wurz - Benetton-Playlife - 9
*6 Heinz-Harald Frentzen - Williams-Mecachrome - 8
*7 Jacques Villeneuve - Williams-Mecachrome - 6
*8 Jean Alesi - Sauber-Petronas - 3
*9 Rubens Barrichello - Stewart-Ford - 2
*10= Johnny Herbert - Sauber-Petronas - 1
*10= Giancarlo Fisichella - Benetton-Playlife - 1

Constructors
*1 McLaren-Mercedes - 65
*2 Ferrari - 35
*3 Williams-Mecachrome - 14
*4 Benetton-Playlife - 10
*5 Sauber-Petronas - 4
*6 Stewart-Ford - 2

Notes

*Fastest L

*This was the first race of the 1998 season in which a driver failed to qualify due to not completing a time inside 107% of the pole position time. The unfortunate driver was Ricardo Rosset

F1 race report
Name_of_race = Spanish Grand Prix
Year_of_race = 1998
Previous_race_in_season = 1998 San Marino Grand Prix
Next_race_in_season = 1998 Monaco Grand Prix
Previous_year's_race = 1997 Spanish Grand Prix
Next_year's_race = 1999 Spanish Grand Prix