1998 Monaco Grand Prix

The 1998 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One held at Monaco on May 24, 1998. The race was won by Mika Häkkinen, his fourth win of the season.

Qualifying Summary

The biggest surprise in qualifying on the Saturday was Giancarlo Fisichella. He managed to put his car up into third place, behind only the two McLaren-Mercedes. At one stage Fisichella was the fastest driver. Michael Schumacher, who was for the world championship qualified fourth which was a big disappointment for the thousand of Italian fans who travelled to Monaco for the race.

Race Summary

A perfect start from both McLaren-Mercedes saw them lead through the first corner, with Häkkinen ahead of Coulthard. Fisichella and Schumacher were running 3rd and 4th. In the early stages the two McLaren-Mercedes pulled ahead, netting 12 fastest laps between them from laps 4 to 12. The pack stretched out behind them, while Heinz-Harald Frentzen succumbed to pressure from Eddie Irvine. On lap 18 David Coulthard retired with engine problems.

Michael Schumacher was first to pit for fuel on lap 30. One lap later Giancarlo Fisichella went in, although he came out of the pits behind the Ferrari. Soon Michael came up behind Alexander Wurz and tried to get past him at all costs. When the two came to the Lowes corner, Michael went down the inside but the Austrian did not give way. The two cars touched and the Ferrari was damaged. Michael went in to pit for repairs, and he eventually came out three laps down on the leader Mika Häkkinen.

Wurz appeared unaffected by the contact, but his suspension broke due to damage from the collision and he had a huge accident coming out of the tunnel, finally stopping at the Nouvelle chicane. After Wurz's second accident on lap 42, the order was Mika Häkkinen followed by Giancarlo Fisichella, Eddie Irvine, Jean Alesi, and Mika Salo. However five laps from the end Jean Alesi experienced gearbox problems, and he was forced to pull out of the race, promoting Pedro Diniz to sixth. Michael Schumacher attempted to pass Diniz in the chicane, but they made contact. This second accident broke his front wing, and Michael finally ended up two laps down in tenth place, out of the points.

Classification

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	8	Template:Country flagicon Mika Häkkinen	McLaren-Mercedes	78	1:51:23.595	1	10
2	5	Template:Country flagicon Giancarlo Fisichella	Benetton-Playlife	78	+11.475	3	6
3	4	Template:Country flagicon Eddie Irvine	Ferrari	78	+41.378	7	4
4	17	Template:Country flagicon Mika Salo	Arrows	78	+1:00.363	8	3
5	1	Template:Country flagicon Jacques Villeneuve	Williams-Mecachrome	77	+1 Lap	13	2
6	16	Template:Country flagicon Pedro Diniz	Arrows	77	+1 Lap	12	1
7	15	Template:Country flagicon Johnny Herbert	Sauber-Petronas	77	+1 Lap	9
8	9	Template:Country flagicon Damon Hill	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	76	+2 Laps	15
9	22	Template:Country flagicon Shinji Nakano	Minardi-Ford	76	+2 Laps	19
10	3	Template:Country flagicon Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	76	+2 Laps	4
11	21	Template:Country flagicon Toranosuke Takagi	Tyrrell-Ford	76	+2 Laps	20
12	14	Template:Country flagicon Jean Alesi	Sauber-Petronas	72	Gearbox	11
Ret	12	Template:Country flagicon Jarno Trulli	Prost-Peugeot	56	Gearbox	10
Ret	11	Template:Country flagicon Olivier Panis	Prost-Peugeot	49	Wheel	18
Ret	10	Template:Country flagicon Ralf Schumacher	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	44	Suspension	16
Ret	6	Template:Country flagicon Alexander Wurz	Benetton-Playlife	42	Spun off	6
Ret	19	Template:Country flagicon Jan Magnussen	Stewart-Ford	30	Suspension	17
Ret	7	Template:Country flagicon David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	17	Engine	2
Ret	18	Template:Country flagicon Rubens Barrichello	Stewart-Ford	11	Suspension	14
Ret	2	Template:Country flagicon Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Williams-Mecachrome	5	Collision	5
Ret	23	Template:Country flagicon Esteban Tuero	Minardi-Ford	0	Spun off	21
DNQ	20	Template:Country flagicon Riccardo Rosset	Tyrrell-Ford	0	Did Not Qualify	DNQ

Standings after Grand Prix

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Template:Country flagicon Mika Häkkinen	46
2	Template:Country flagicon David Coulthard	29
3	Template:Country flagicon Michael Schumacher	24
4	Template:Country flagicon Eddie Irvine	15
5	Template:Country flagicon Alexander Wurz	9

Constructors' Championship standings

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Template:Country flagicon McLaren-Mercedes	75
2	Template:Country flagicon Ferrari	39
3	Template:Country flagicon Williams-Mecachrome	16
4	Template:Country flagicon Benetton-Playlife	16
5	Template:Country flagicon Sauber-Petronas	4

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.