Mika Hakkinen won his first Formula 1 World Championship title in 1998 after celebrating in the last race of the championship in Japan, defeating Michael Schumacher who stalled his Ferrari from pole position.
In 1998, Hakkinen led the championship from the first race of the season in Australia where he led 1-2 for McLaren in front of his teammate Coulthard who let him by before the finish line due to ‘gentleman’s agreement’ in which the driver who passes the first corner in the first lap has the advantage. Finn kept his lead until the end of the season despite being tied with Schumacher on points after Monza.
Hakkinen won the first two races of the season in Australia and Brazil, finished second in Argentina and after retiring in Imola thanks to gearbox failure, he again celebrated in the next two races in Spain and Monaco.
At that moment, after the first six races of the season, Hakkinen led with 17 points ahead of Schumacher, but the German was back with three consecutive victories in Canada, France and the United Kingdom which reduced Hakkinen’s advantage to just two points.
Hakkinen than responded with two consecutive victories in Austria and Germany before Schumacher’s brilliant victory in Hungary with three stops when he returned to seven points gap behind Hakkinen.
The controversial moment happened in Belgium where Schumacher stormed into Coulthard in the heavy rain, after which he suspected that Coulthard had deliberately slowed down to help his teammate, and after a 1-2 victory for Ferrari in Monza, Schumacher and Hakkinen were tied ahead of the last two races of the season with 80 points.
Hakkinen then won the next race at Nurburgring after pitstop battle with Schumacher and after Schumacher stalled on the grid from pole position in Japan, Hakkinen had no trouble securing the title with eight wins and 100 points.
“This is a very special day for me, it took a while for me to win the Formula 1 World Championship, but now it happened and I am very happy,” Hakkinen said after the race.
“The team as a whole achieved a lot this season and this is the perfect result for us. The two wrong starts meant I had to stay focused despite the disruptions and I must say that the team did a great job and kept the car in the optimum condition.”
“Of course the fact that Michael started from the start relieved the pressure a little bit, but I knew he would be quick and carve his way through the field. The team informed me about what was going on well and I could concentrate on the car, keep my head and stay cool.”
“Great day for the whole team, thank you!”
Hakkinen won eight times in 1998 (Schumacher six), won nine positions (Schumacher three), 11 podiums (like Schumacher) and set the six fastest laps (like Schumacher).
From 1015 laps in the 1998 F1 season, Hakkinen led at the end of 576 laps (56.75%) and Schumacher was second with 268 laps. Interestingly, Hakkinen did not end a single lap outside of the top six – he lad at the end of 576 laps, in 173 he was second, in 87 third, 12 in fourth, in one fifth and in seven laps he was sixth.
STARTING GRID
| 1 | 3 | M.Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:36.293 | – |
| 2 | 8 | Mika Häkkinen | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:36.471 | 0.178 |
| 3 | 7 | David Coulthard | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:37.496 | 1.203 |
| 4 | 4 | Eddie Irvine | Ferrari | 1:38.197 | 1.904 |
| 5 | 2 | H-H.Frentzen | Williams/Mecachrome | 1:38.272 | 1.979 |
| 6 | 1 | J.Villeneuve | Williams/Mecachrome | 1:38.448 | 2.155 |
| 7 | 10 | Ralf Schumacher | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 1:38.461 | 2.168 |
| 8 | 9 | Damon Hill | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 1:38.603 | 2.310 |
| 9 | 6 | Alexander Wurz | Benetton/Playlife | 1:38.959 | 2.666 |
| 10 | 5 | G.Fisichella | Benetton/Playlife | 1:39.080 | 2.787 |
| 11 | 15 | Johnny Herbert | Sauber/Petronas | 1:39.234 | 2.941 |
| 12 | 14 | Jean Alesi | Sauber/Petronas | 1:39.448 | 3.155 |
| 13 | 11 | Olivier Panis | Prost/Peugeot | 1:40.037 | 3.744 |
| 14 | 12 | Jarno Trulli | Prost/Peugeot | 1:40.111 | 3.818 |
| 15 | 17 | Mika Salo | Arrows | 1:40.387 | 4.094 |
| 16 | 18 | R.Barrichello | Stewart/Ford | 1:40.502 | 4.209 |
| 17 | 21 | T.Takagi | Tyrrell/Ford | 1:40.619 | 4.326 |
| 18 | 16 | Pedro Diniz | Arrows | 1:40.687 | 4.394 |
| 19 | 19 | Jos Verstappen | Stewart/Ford | 1:40.943 | 4.650 |
| 20 | 22 | Shinji Nakano | Minardi/Ford | 1:41.315 | 5.022 |
| 21 | 23 | Esteban Tuero | Minardi/Ford | 1:42.358 | 6.065 |
RACE RESULTS
| 1 | 8 | Mika Häkkinen | McLaren/Mercedes | 51 | 1:27:22.535 | |
| 2 | 4 | Eddie Irvine | Ferrari | 51 | 1:27:29.026 | 6.491 |
| 3 | 7 | David Coulthard | McLaren/Mercedes | 51 | 1:27:50.197 | 27.662 |
| 4 | 9 | Damon Hill | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 51 | 1:28:36.026 | 1:13.491 |
| 5 | 2 | H-H.Frentzen | Williams/Mecachrome | 51 | 1:28:36.392 | 1:13.857 |
| 6 | 1 | J.Villeneuve | Williams/Mecachrome | 51 | 1:28:38.402 | 1:15.867 |
| 7 | 14 | Jean Alesi | Sauber/Petronas | 51 | 1:28:58.588 | 1:36.053 |
| 8 | 5 | G.Fisichella | Benetton/Playlife | 51 | 1:29:03.837 | 1:41.302 |
| 9 | 6 | Alexander Wurz | Benetton/Playlife | 50 | 1:27:37.673 | 1 lap |
| 10 | 15 | Johnny Herbert | Sauber/Petronas | 50 | 1:27:43.035 | 1 lap |
| 11 | 11 | Olivier Panis | Prost/Peugeot | 50 | 1:28:20.327 | 1 lap |
| 12 | 12 | Jarno Trulli | Prost/Peugeot | 48 | 1:25:12.668 | Engine |
| (13) | 22 | Shinji Nakano | Minardi/Ford | 40 | 1:11:40.268 | Throttle |
| (3) | 3 | M.Schumacher | Ferrari | 31 | 53:17.744 | Tyre |
| (15) | 21 | T.Takagi | Tyrrell/Ford | 28 | 50:26.268 | Collision |
| (16) | 23 | Esteban Tuero | Minardi/Ford | 28 | 50:47.170 | Collision |
| (16) | 18 | R.Barrichello | Stewart/Ford | 25 | 45:01.383 | Hydraulics |
| (17) | 19 | Jos Verstappen | Stewart/Ford | 21 | 38:02.009 | Gearbox |
| (12) | 17 | Mika Salo | Arrows | 14 | 24:49.643 | Hydraulics |
| (8) | 10 | Ralf Schumacher | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 13 | 22:35.461 | Engine |
| (15) | 16 | Pedro Diniz | Arrows | 2 | 3:42.998 | Spun off |
Fastest lap: Michael Schumacher – 1:40.190 (lap 19)
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 16/16 RACES
| 1 | Mika Häkkinen | 100 | 10 | 10 | 6 | – | 10 | 10 | – | 4 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 1 | – | 3 | 10 | 10 |
| 2 | Michael Schumacher | 86 | – | 4 | 10 | 6 | 4 | – | 10 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 10 | – | 10 | 6 | – |
| 3 | David Coulthard | 56 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 6 | – | – | 1 | – | 6 | 6 | 6 | – | – | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | Eddie Irvine | 47 | 3 | – | 4 | 4 | – | 4 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – | 6 | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | Jacques Villeneuve | 21 | 2 | – | – | 3 | 1 | 2 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 4 | 4 | – | – | – | 1 |
| 6 | Damon Hill | 20 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | 10 | 1 | – | 3 |
| 7 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | 17 | 4 | 2 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 3 | – | 2 | 2 |
| 8 | Alexander Wurz | 17 | – | 3 | 3 | – | 3 | – | 3 | 2 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 9 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 16 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 6 | 6 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| 10 | Ralf Schumacher | 14 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | 6 | 4 | – | – |
| 11 | Jean Alesi | 9 | – | – | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | 2 | – | – |
| 12 | Rubens Barrichello | 4 | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 13 | Mika Salo | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 14 | Pedro Diniz | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| 15 | Johnny Herbert | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 16 | Jan Magnussen | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||||||||
| 17 | Jarno Trulli | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – |
CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
| 1 | McLaren/Mercedes | 156 | 16 | 16 | 7 | 10 | 16 | 10 | – | 5 | 6 | 16 | 16 | 7 | – | 3 | 14 | 14 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 133 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 16 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 10 | – | 16 | 9 | 6 |
| 3 | Williams/Mecachrome | 38 | 6 | 2 | – | 5 | 1 | 2 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 4 | 6 | 3 | – | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | Jordan/Mugen-Honda | 34 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 5 | – | 3 |
| 5 | Benetton/Playlife | 33 | – | 4 | 3 | – | 3 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| 6 | Sauber/Petronas | 10 | 1 | – | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | 2 | – | – |
| 7 | Arrows | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| 8 | Stewart/Ford | 5 | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 9 | Prost/Peugeot | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – |
