McLaren Win 1-2, Ferrari 3-4 (Austrian Grand Prix)
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Sunday July 26, 1998

Summary


Mika Hakkinen won his first race since Monaco and McLaren scored their first 1-2 since the Spanish Grand Prix. "It was an excellent victory for me and the team," said Hakkinen.

Even though the current Drivers Championship leader qualified in the third slot, he moved up to first by passing Jean Alesi in the Sauber and Giancarlo Fisichella in the Benetton right after the lights went out. The Finn stated, "I was not sure how fast Giancarlo Fisichella and Jean Alesi would be at the start so I just concentrated on my own start."

David Coulthard had to pit early after Mika Salo in his Arrows collided with the Scot. In a great display of driving ability, Coulthard, in last place, moved up through the field to finish second.

Michael Schumacher found great pace in his Ferrari at the start and was quickly challenging Hakkinen. However, the German made a unusual mistake and made a trip through the gravel causing the front wing and body work to detach. Schumacher managed to battle back up the field from sixteen to third after a pit stop for repairs. In the final stage of the race, he gained positions by passing brother Ralf and teammate Eddie Irvine. Some controversy surrounded the position gained from Irvine as the Briton's lap times started to increase as Schumacher came near. Michael Schumacher, Eddie Irvine and Ross Brawn claim that both Ferrari cars were suffering from brake problems with Irvine's situation being more critical.

The Times


CLASSIFIED                                                                    

POS DRIVER                NATION    TEAM                      TIME         LAP
  1 Mika Hakkinen         FIN       McLaren Mercedes          1:33:44.086  71 
  2 David Coulthard       GB        McLaren Mercedes           + 0:05.289  71 
  3 Michael Schumacher    GER       Ferrari                    + 0:39.093  71 
  4 Eddie Irvine          GB        Ferrari                    + 0:43.977  71 
  5 Ralf Schumacher       GER       Jordan Mugen-Honda         + 0:50.655  71 
  6 Jacques Villeneuve    CAN       Williams Mecachrome        + 0:53.202  71 
  7 Damon Hill            GB        Jordan Mugen-Honda         + 1:13.624  71 
  8 Johnny Herbert        GB        Sauber Petronas            + 1 LAP     70 
  9 Alexander Wurz        AUT       Benetton Playlife          + 1 LAP     70 
 10 Jarno Trulli          ITA       Prost Peugeot              + 1 LAP     70 
 11 Sinji Nakano          JAP       Minardi Ford               + 1 LAP     70 
 12 Ricardo Rosset        BRA       Tyrrell Ford               + 3 LAPS    68 
                                                                              
NOT CLASSIFIED                                                                
                                                                              
    DRIVER                NATION    TEAM                    REASON         LAP
    Jos Verstappen        HOL       Stewart Ford            Engine         51 
    Esteban Tuero         ARG       Minardi Ford            Spin           30 
    Giancarlo Fisichella  ITA       Benetton Playlife       Crash          21 
    Jean Alesi            FRA       Sauber Petronas         Crash          21 
    Heinz-Harald Frentzen GER       Williams Mecachrome     Engine         16 
    Rubens Barrichello    BRA       Stewart Ford            Mechanical      8 
    Pedro Diniz           BRA       Arrows TWR              Crash           3 
    Mika Salo             FIN       Arrows TWR              Crash           1 
    Olivier Panis         FRA       Prost Peugeot           Mechanical      0 
    Toranosuke Takagi     JAP       Tyrrell Ford            Crash           0 
                                                                              
FL  David Coulthard       GB        McLaren Mercedes             1:12.878     
                                                                              
All Times Unofficial                                                          


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