Qualifying: Hakkinen Takes Pole (Belgian Grand Prix)
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Saturday August 29, 1998

Summary


McLaren Again on the Front Row

Mika Hakkinen heads for 9th PoleIn a superb last lap battle between the two McLaren drivers it was once again Mika Hakkinen who finally got the pole for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix , his ninth of the season and the team's ninth one-two start.

"I thought I might have had the pole, but I got too greedy at the last chicane and used too much of the kerb going in. That threw the car off balance and that's where I lost all my time," said David. Hakkinen admitted he was surprised to get pole ,"because David had been so strong all day," the Finn's time almost a full second quicker than last year's pole winning time. The only other time this year where the cars have been quicker was at Hockenheim.

Hill heads the second row.

Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher had an equally exciting battle for the second row of the grid, Hill just managing to beat Schumacher's time to take third fastest time of the day. "It was great fun. Michael is the acknowledged expert around Spa, so it was very satisfying to beat his time," said Hill. "The team have done a great job of improving the car. I am delighted about today's performance, but tomorrow is going to be all about tyre performance," predicted Hill. Ralf Schumacher was unable to better eighth, the German losing out to Hill in the fast corners , but had no idea why.

Scuderia Ferrari fourth and fifth.

Damon Hill's best qualifying this yearMichael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine were both disappointed with fourth and fifth place on the grid for different reasons. Not so much the time, but the 1,1 secs gap between his best time and the pole time. In fact, his best time was later removed for having been set under a yellow flag because of a stationary car, but it did not alter his fourth place on the grid. "I lifted and lost time for the yellow flag on my third run, but it's hard to convince the marshals of that," said Michael. His chances of improving on his last run were spoiled by a flat spotted tyre at the first corner. Eddie Irvine was also upset with his time. "We improved the car, especially under braking, but my best lap was slowed by Rosset as he went into the pits. Looking at my split times, I could have been one or maybe two places higher," said the Irishman. "I have another thing to try for the warm up to try and improve the grip, but I do not know if it will work," he added.

Villeneuve on row three for Williams.

Although Jacques Villeneuve was unable to better sixth fastest time of the session, the Canadian was delighted with the fact that he had taken Eau Rouge corner flat-out, the corner he had crashed at on Friday. He had also done it with less rear wing than the start of the session, the team reducing the wing a little with every run to improve speed on the straight. "It was a bit too much on the last run , because the car was sliding around down the hill," explained Jacques. Heinz-Harald Frentzen did not better ninth fastest , his best final run spoiled by Takagi. "I don't understand why he did not look in his mirrors," said Frentzen who was forced to return to the pits.

In brief...

Both Benetton's stopped on the track. Wurz with a gearbox problem. He took the T-car, but it was not set-up. Fisichella stopped with suspected electrical problems after setting his best lap which was an improved seventh fastest overall.

Timing


   POS  DRIVER              NATION    TEAM                        TIME            

   1 Mika Hakkinen          FIN       McLaren-Mercedes MP4/13     1:48.682    230.809 kph
   2 David Coulthard        GBR       McLaren-Mercedes MP4/13     1:48.845    + 0.163    
   3 Damon Hill             GBR       Jordan-Mugen-Honda 198      1:49.728    + 1.046    
   4 Michael Schumacher     GER       Ferrari F300                1:50.027    + 1.345    
   5 Eddie Irvine           GBR       Ferrari F300                1:50.189    + 1.507    
   6 Jacques Villeneuve     CAN       Williams-Mecachrome FW20    1:50.204    + 1.522    
   7 Giancarlo Fisichella   ITA       Benetton-Mecachrome B198    1:50.462    + 1.780    
   8 Ralf Schumacher        GER       Jordan-Mugen-Honda 198      1:50.501    + 1.819    
   9 Heinz Harald Frentzen  GER       Williams-Mecachrome FW20    1:50.686    + 2.004    
  10 Jean Alesi             FRA       Sauber-Petronas C17         1:51.189    + 2.507    
  11 Alexander Wurz         AUT       Benetton-Mecachrome B198    1:51.648    + 2.966    
  12 Johnny Herbert         GBR       Sauber-Petronas C17         1:51.851    + 3.169    
  13 Jarno Trulli           ITA       Prost-Peugeot AP01          1:52.572    + 3.890    
  14 Rubens Barrichello     BRA       Stewart-Ford SF2            1:52.670    + 3.988    
  15 Olivier Panis          FRA       Prost-Peugeot AP01          1:52.784    + 4.102    
  16 Pedro Diniz            BRA       Arrows A19                  1:53.037    + 4.355    
  17 Jos Verstappen         NED       Stewart-Ford SF2            1:53.149    + 4.467    
  18 Mika Salo              FIN       Arrows A19                  1:53.207    + 4.525    
  19 Toranosuke Takagi      JPN       Tyrrell-Ford 026            1:53.237    + 4.555    
  20 Ricardo Rosset         BRA       Tyrrell-Ford 026            1:54.850    + 6.168    
  21 Sinji Nakano           JAP       Minardi-Ford M198           1:55.084    + 6.402    
  22 Esteban Tuero          ARG       Minardi-Ford M198           1:55.520    + 6.838    
                                                                                        
     Saturday Qualifying 107%                                     1:56.290    + 7.608  
                                                                                        
                                                                                        
                                                                   

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