1998 British Grand Prix

The 1998 British Grand Prix, officially known as the LI RAC British Grand Prix, was the ninth round of the 1998 Formula One World Championship, it held significance as being the first race that has been won by a driver from the pit-lane. Michael Schumacher took the race win when he came in to serve a stop/go penalty on the final lap of the race for overtaking under safety car conditions. Championship leader Mika Häkkinen was second with Eddie Irvine in the second Ferrari, third.
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==Background==
Heading into Britain, Mika Häkkinen maintained a six point advantage over Michael Schumacher. Häkkinen's teammate David Coulthard, who headed into his home race at Britain was a further 20 points down on Häkkinen.
Before the race there was a week of testing held at Silverstone, McLaren held the advantage in these tests. The big surprise was the performance of the 's who appeared to be very quick following a series of upgrades to their car during the tests. 
 had also brought an upgraded Zetec engine to the British Grand Prix in hope of moving them up the grid.
Following the French Grand Prix rumours continued to link Jacques Villeneuve to the newly formed team for which was being run by his former manager and friend Craig Pollock. To further enforce this theory, CART champion and former F1 racer Alessandro Zanardi was being linked as a replacement for Villeneuve in .
===Entry List===
The full entry list for the is outlined below:
No. 	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor 	Chassis 	Engine 	Model 	Tyre
1 	Jacques Villeneuve 	Winfield Williams 	 	FW20 	 	GC37-01 3.0 V10 	
2 	Heinz-Harald Frentzen 	Winfield Williams 	 	FW20 	 	GC37-01 3.0 V10 	
3 	Michael Schumacher 	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 	 	F300 	 	047 3.0 V10 	
4 	Eddie Irvine 	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 	 	F300 	 	047 3.0 V10 	
5 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	Mild Seven Benetton Playlife 	 	B198 	 	GC37-01 3.0 V10 	
6 	Alexander Wurz 	Mild Seven Benetton Playlife 	 	B198 	 	GC37-01 3.0 V10 	
7 	David Coulthard 	West McLaren Mercedes 	 	MP4/13 	 	FO 110G 3.0 V10 	
8 	Mika Häkkinen 	West McLaren Mercedes 	 	MP4/13 	 	FO 110G 3.0 V10 	
9 	Damon Hill 	Benson & Hedges Jordan 	 	198 	 	MF-301HC 3.0 V10 	
10 	Ralf Schumacher 	Benson & Hedges Jordan 	 	198 	 	MF-301HC 3.0 V10 	
11 	Olivier Panis 	Gauloises Prost Peugeot 	 	AP01 	 	A16 3.0 V10 	
12 	Jarno Trulli 	Gauloises Prost Peugeot 	 	AP01 	 	A16 3.0 V10 	
14 	Jean Alesi 	Red Bull Sauber Petronas 	 	C17 	 	SPE-01D 3.0 V10 	
15 	Johnny Herbert 	Red Bull Sauber Petronas 	 	C17 	 	SPE-01D 3.0 V10 	
16 	Pedro Diniz 	Danka Zepter Arrows 	 	A19 	 	T2-F1 3.0 V10 	
17 	Mika Salo 	Danka Zepter Arrows 	 	A19 	 	T2-F1 3.0 V10 	
18 	Rubens Barrichello 	HSBC Stewart Ford 	 	SF02 	 	VJ Zetec-R 3.0 V10 	
19 	Jos Verstappen 	HSBC Stewart Ford 	 	SF02 	 	VJ Zetec-R 3.0 V10 	
20 	Ricardo Rosset 	PIAA Tyrrell 	 	026 	 	JD Zetec-R 3.0 V10 	
21 	Tora Takagi 	PIAA Tyrrell 	 	026 	 	JD Zetec-R 3.0 V10 	
22 	Shinji Nakano 	Fondmetal Minardi Team 	 	M198 	 	JD Zetec-R 3.0 V10 	
23 	Esteban Tuero 	Fondmetal Minardi Team 	 	M198 	 	JD Zetec-R 3.0 V10 	
Source:'Britain 1998: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 11/05/2020)	Source:'Britain 1998: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 11/05/2020)	Source:'Britain 1998: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 11/05/2020)	Source:'Britain 1998: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 11/05/2020)	Source:'Britain 1998: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 11/05/2020)	Source:'Britain 1998: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 11/05/2020)	Source:'Britain 1998: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 11/05/2020)	Source:'Britain 1998: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/engages.aspx, (Accessed 11/05/2020)
==Practice Overview==
===FP1===
During the Friday practice sessions, it was David Coulthard who ran fastest throughout the day. Coulthard maintained his pace throughout the day ahead of teammate Häkkinen. Coulthard would however recieve a £8 000 fine for speeding in the pit-lane. Michael Schumacher was quiet throughout the day, focussing on set-ups doing only single flying laps before returning to the pits. He was seventh fastest at the end of the day. 
The cars were running well with Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jacques Villeneuve third and fourth on the grid. Eddie Irvine was fifth fastest despite a spin into the gravel trap during the morning session.
===Practice Results===
The full practice results for the are outlined below:
No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	FP1 	 	FP2 	 	Warm-Up 	
No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Time 	Pos. 	Time 	Pos. 	Time 	Pos.
1 	Jacques Villeneuve 	 	1:26.114 	4 	1:24.791 	6 	1:42.133 	11
2 	Heinz-Harald Frentzen 	 	1:26.107 	3 	1:25.187 	8 	1:41.620 	8
3 	Michael Schumacher 	 	1:26.884 	7 	1:24.260 	3 	1:40.296 	5
4 	Eddie Irvine 	 	1:26.791 	5 	1:24.834 	7 	1:40.127 	4
5 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	 	1:26.840 	6 	1:25.822 	10 	1:39.802 	3
6 	Alexander Wurz 	 	1:27.121 	8 	1:25.904 	11 	1:40.917 	6
7 	David Coulthard 	 	1:25.640 	1 	1:24.233 	2 	1:37.910 	1
8 	Mika Häkkinen 	 	1:25.764 	2 	1:23.639 	1 	1:37.921 	2
9 	Damon Hill 	 	1:27.667 	10 	1:24.683 	5 	1:43.797 	19
10 	Ralf Schumacher 	 	1:27.460 	9 	1:24.496 	4 	1:43.738 	18
11 	Olivier Panis 	 	1:29.193 	17 	1:26.881 	14 	1:41.762 	9
12 	Jarno Trulli 	 	1:28.685 	15 	1:27.002 	17 	1:44.526 	20
14 	Jean Alesi 	 	1:28.136 	12 	1:25.769 	9 	1:42.369 	12
15 	Johnny Herbert 	 	1:27.978 	11 	1:25.949 	12 	1:42.908 	16
16 	Pedro Diniz 	 	1:29.375 	19 	1:26.929 	15 	1:41.938 	10
17 	Mika Salo 	 	1:29.262 	18 	1:26.947 	16 	1:41.582 	7
18 	Rubens Barrichello 	 	1:28.339 	14 	1:27.323 	18 	1:42.530 	14
19 	Jos Verstappen 	 	1:28.983 	16 	1:27.690 	19 	1:43.305 	17
20 	Ricardo Rosset 	 	1:29.664 	20 	1:28.650 	22 	1:48.865 	22
21 	Tora Takagi 	 	1:28.258 	13 	1:26.521 	13 	1:46.189 	21
22 	Shinji Nakano 	 	1:30.090 	21 	1:28.317 	21 	1:42.510 	13
23 	Esteban Tuero 	 	1:30.266 	22 	1:28.224 	20 	1:42.779 	15
Source:'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - PRACTICE 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-1.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - PRACTICE 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-2.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - WARM UP', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-0.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - PRACTICE 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-1.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - PRACTICE 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-2.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - WARM UP', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-0.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - PRACTICE 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-1.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - PRACTICE 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-2.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - WARM UP', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-0.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - PRACTICE 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-1.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - PRACTICE 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-2.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - WARM UP', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-0.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - PRACTICE 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-1.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - PRACTICE 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-2.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - WARM UP', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-0.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - PRACTICE 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-1.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - PRACTICE 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-2.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - WARM UP', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-0.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - PRACTICE 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-1.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - PRACTICE 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-2.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - WARM UP', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-0.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - PRACTICE 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-1.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - PRACTICE 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-2.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - WARM UP', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-0.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - PRACTICE 1', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-1.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - PRACTICE 2', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-2.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - WARM UP', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/practice-0.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)
*Bold indicates a driver's fastest practice time.
==Qualifying==
Before the qualifying session began, it was announced Ralf Schumacher would lose his fastest time during qualifying for failing to slow down during a yellow flag period following Giancarlo Fisichella's accident in the Saturday practice session.
The session started with the two cars and Esteban Tuero's going onto track almost immediately. They were then followed by Johnny Herbert's . It was Jacques Villeneuve to set the first competitive lap time amongst the front runners taking the provisional pole time.
Michael Schumacher's was not impressive on his first run, although he took the fastest time he was almost immediately bettered by Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Williams car. However on his second run, he was much more competitive going a full second faster than Frentzen's time. Schumacher's time did not last long at the top as Mika Häkkinen then took the provisional pole time.
Eddie Irvine then came round to set the third fastest time, right behind teammate Schumacher. David Coulthard managed to set only the third fastest time following his first lap time. More bad news occured for Ralf Schumacher when he spun his car on his second flying lap and stalled the car, forcing him to jog back to the pits for the spare car.
Häkkinen then came round to improve his pole position time despite making a mistake during his lap. Frentzen then did well to improve his time to go third fastest in the session. 
Schumacher managed to close the gap to Häkkinen but still was not able to overtake the Finn who was dominating the session. Coulthard was still struggling to compete with Häkkinen and Schumacher ahead of him, one of his flying laps being held up by Eddie Irvine's Ferrari. Irvine who was lingering in a disappointing seventh managed to improve his time to go fourth fastest. 
However Villeneuve was able to put in a searing lap to bring his Williams up to third. Häkkinen came close to bettering his best time but messed up the final sector of the circuit. Schumacher and Coulthard tried to better their times but it was to no avail. The session ended with Häkkinen taking pole ahead of Schumacher, Villeneuve, Coulthard, Irvine and Frentzen.
Following the session, Ralf Schumacher and Olivier Panis had their times to deleted meaning they would start from the back of the grid. The pair were disqualified the session for failing to exit their car in the neccessary time period following the pair stopping their cars out on track.
===Qualifying Results===
The full qualifying results for the are outlined below:
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Time 	Gap 	Ave. Speed
1 	8 	Mika Häkkinen 	 	1:23.271 	— 	222.214 km/h
2 	3 	Michael Schumacher 	 	1:23.720 	+0.449s 	221.022 km/h
3 	1 	Jacques Villeneuve 	 	1:24.102 	+0.831s 	220.019 km/h
4 	7 	David Coulthard 	 	1:24.310 	+1.039s 	219.476 km/h
5 	4 	Eddie Irvine 	 	1:24.436 	+1.165s 	219.148 km/h
6 	2 	Heinz-Harald Frentzen 	 	1:24.442 	+1.171s 	219.133 km/h
7 	9 	Damon Hill 	 	1:24.542 	+1.271s 	218.873 km/h
8 	14 	Jean Alesi 	 	1:25.081 	+1.810s 	217.487 km/h
9 	15 	Johnny Herbert 	 	1:25.084 	+1.813s 	217.479 km/h
10 	5 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	 	1:25.654 	+2.383s 	216.032 km/h
11 	6 	Alexander Wurz 	 	1:25.760 	+2.489s 	215.765 km/h
12 	16 	Pedro Diniz 	 	1:26.376 	+3.105s 	214.226 km/h
13 	17 	Mika Salo 	 	1:26.487 	+3.216s 	213.951 km/h
14 	12 	Jarno Trulli 	 	1:26.808 	+3.537s 	213.160 km/h
15 	19 	Jos Verstappen 	 	1:26.948 	+3.677s 	212.817 km/h
16 	18 	Rubens Barrichello 	 	1:26.990 	+3.719s 	212.714 km/h
17 	21 	Tora Takagi 	 	1:27.061 	+3.790s 	212.541 km/h
18 	23 	Esteban Tuero 	 	1:28.051 	+4.780s 	210.151 km/h
19 	22 	Shinji Nakano 	 	1:28.123 	+4.852s 	209.979 km/h
20 	20 	Ricardo Rosset 	 	1:28.608 	+5.337s 	208.830 km/h
107% Time: 1:29.100'Britain 1998: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 01/06/2020) 	107% Time: 1:29.100'Britain 1998: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 01/06/2020) 	107% Time: 1:29.100'Britain 1998: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 01/06/2020) 	107% Time: 1:29.100'Britain 1998: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 01/06/2020) 	107% Time: 1:29.100'Britain 1998: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 01/06/2020) 	107% Time: 1:29.100'Britain 1998: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 01/06/2020) 	107% Time: 1:29.100'Britain 1998: Qualifications', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/qualification.aspx, (Accessed 01/06/2020)
EXC* 	10 	Ralf Schumacher 	 	1:25.461 	+2.190s 	216.520 km/h
EXC* 	11 	Olivier Panis 	 	1:26.847 	+3.576s 	213.064 km/h
Source:'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'The 1998 RAC British Grand Prix - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Ltd., 2020), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/1998/races/679/great-britain/qualifying-0.html, (Accessed 01/06/2020)
*Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.
** Ralf Schumacher and Panis were excluded from the results of qualifying for failing a safety drill.
===Grid===
The full grid for the is shown below:
==Race==
===Report===
Rain had afflicted the track throughout the day, although the rain had subsided before the start got underway, the track remained quite damp. Mika Häkkinen kept his lead into the first corner, with Michael Schumacher in tow. Jacques Villeneuve made a poor getaway dropping behind David Coulthard and Jean Alesi who had made a phenomenal start from eighth on the grid to climb to fourth. Eddie Irvine made an appaling start dropping down to tenth position. On the second lap Irvine managed to reclaim ninth from Alexander Wurz.
Lap three saw Irvine reclaim eighth from Johnny Herbert as the order at the front stabilised. Ralf Schumacher had made a strong start climbing up to thirteenth by lap four. The same lap the older Schumacher made a mistake whilst chasing Häkkinen for the lead of the race meaning he fell right back into the clutches of the second McLaren of Coulthard. The following lap Coulthard managed to make his overtake on Schumacher's Ferrari for second position.
On lap five the rain returned providing further challenges for the drivers. At the front Häkkinen then began to establish a lead as Coulthard began to pull away from Schumacher in second. Irvine further advanced his recovery drive on lap 7 by overtaking the of Damon Hill around the outside of stowe. The following lap Jacques Villeneuve went wide losing two places to teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Eddie Irvine. 
Michael Schumacher then began to find some pace setting the fastest lap on lap 9 as he set out to catch the McLaren's. Ralf Schumacher, meanwhile had began to apply heavy pressure to Giancarlo Fisichella's who was running in eleventh place. 
Lap eleven saw Irvine take fifth place from Frentzen's Williams. The other Ferrari of Michael Schumacher then set the fastest lap of the race the following lap with a 1:35.704. Ralf Schumacher then pitted on the following lap for a new set of intermediate tyres. The two 's meanwhile fitted dry tyres, a critical error as the two cars struggled around the track.
Lap 15 saw the first retirement when Damon Hill spun at Brooklands corner and stalled the engine. Hill angrily beat the steering wheel as he retired from his home grand prix. Two laps later Frentzen also spun off the circuit in the wet conditions ending his race as well. The Stewarts meanwhile realising their error returned to the pits for intermediates.
The rain had began to intensify yet despite this Michael Schumacher came into the pits for a new set of intermediate tyres on lap 19. The following lap saw Villeneuve and Wurz pit also fitting intermediates. 
A couple of laps later Coulthard then came into the pits for new intermediates. Two laps after Coulthard, Alesi and Irvine came into the pits. Alesi however made a poor pit-stop and Irvine was able to gain fourth position from the Sauber despite being several seconds behind Alesi as he entered the pits. One lap later Häkkinen came into the pits for wet tyres, becoming the first driver to come in for the full wet compound. 
Irvine was then able to take fourth position from Johnny Herbert on-track. Herbert was the only driver of the front-runners who had yet to make a stop. Ralf Schumacher had managed to climb up to seventh position following the pit-stop phase. 
Lap 27 saw two retirements, first being Mika Salo with throttle failure then Johnny Herbert who was struggling on old tyres spinning into the gravel and being bogged down. Herbert managed to get a push-start by the marshalls to get him out of the gravel but immediately retired from the race due to the illegality of a push-start. Two laps later there was more victims in the rain with the backmarkers of Esteban Tuero and Ricardo Rosset spinning into the gravel.
As the track became increasingly wet, Häkkinen on wet tyres was able to extend his advantage over teammate Coulthard. However when Häkkinen caught up to traffic, Coulthard then began to catch the leading McLaren beginning to apply the pressure on teammate Häkkinen. However soon enough Coulthard caught the same traffic and as he attempted to weave his way through the backmarkers he made a critical error in getting caught out on some standing water where he spun violently into the gravel trap and out of the race. 
Shortly afterwards Irvine came into the pits for a set of full wet tyres. The following lap Häkkinen and Schumacher made their pit-stops, both fitting the full wet tyre. Jarno Trulli then spun his car into retirement whilst the same lap Jos Verstappen suffered an engine failure, spinning his car as he pulled off the circuit. As the race intensified those that were on the intermediate were forced to come in for full wets.
Race leader Häkkinen then spun his car entering bridge corner but luckily for him he was able to continue without losing his lead. Rubens Barrichello was the next retirement when he spun into the barriers. Barrichello was followed by Olivier Panis into retirement with the Prost driver spinning into the gravel trap. Shinji Nakano also had a moment off track but luckily for him was able to continue driving. 
With the conditions continuing to worsen, the safety car was brought out on lap 41. With the safety car coming out, Häkkinen's 40 second lead was wiped out as the cars bunched up behind the safety car.
At the end of lap 49, the safety car came into the pits and the race resumed. Within a lap of the safety car entering the pits Pedro Diniz spun out of the race. Esteban Tuero then spun but resumed the race. Schumacher, meanwhile began to apply pressure to race leader Häkkinen. Under the pressure Häkkinen ran wide and onto the grass allowing Schumacher to take the lead from the McLaren  driver. Schumacher immediately began to pull away from Häkkinen at a vast rate opening up a comfortable lead in the race. 
There was disappointment for Alesi, whilst running in a competitive fourth Alesi pulled off the circuit and into retirement with electrical failure.
Ralf Schumacher who was running in sixth began a great battle with the Benetton of Alexander Wurz, coming close several times to overtaking in attempt to gain Jordan's first points of the season. Häkkinen began to struggle with Irvine coming up behind him and beginning to threaten his second position.
There was drama in the final laps, Schumacher was given a stop and go penalty by the stewards for overtaking Wurz under yellow flag conditions. Schumacher would not serve his penalty until the final lap of the race. Coming into the pits Schumacher crossed the line before pulling into his pit box to serve his penalty. This technality meant that Schumacher would take the race win ahead of Häkkinen, Irvine, the two Benetton's of Fisichella and Wurz and Ralf Schumacher, who gained Jordan's first points of the season.
Post-race, there was debate on the last lap drama. Ferrari claimed that they were issued the penalty too late and were unsure which kind of penalty should they serve, a stop/go or post-race time penalty. McLaren however demanded a harsher time penalty equivalent to how long an average stop/go penalty would take. After a meeting, it was decided that no further action was taken. Schumacher's win was allowed to stand while the stewards involved in deciding the penalty had their licenses revoked.
===Results===
The full results for the are outlined below:
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Laps 	Time/Retired 	Grid 	Points
1* 	3 	Michael Schumacher 	 	60 	1:47:02.450 	2 	10
2 	8 	Mika Häkkinen 	 	60 	+22.465s 	1 	6
3 	4 	Eddie Irvine 	 	60 	+29.199s 	5 	4
4 	6 	Alexander Wurz 	 	59 	+1 lap 	11 	3
5 	5 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	 	59 	+1 lap 	10 	2
6 	10 	Ralf Schumacher 	 	59 	+1 lap 	21 	1
7 	1 	Jacques Villeneuve 	 	59 	+1 lap 	3 	
8 	22 	Shinji Nakano 	 	58 	+2 laps 	19 	
9 	21 	Tora Takagi 	 	56 	+4 laps 	17 	
Ret 	14 	Jean Alesi 	 	53 	Electrical 	8 	
Ret 	16 	Pedro Diniz 	 	45 	Spin 	12 	
Ret 	11 	Olivier Panis 	 	40 	Spin 	22 	
Ret 	18 	Rubens Barrichello 	 	39 	Spin 	16 	
Ret 	19 	Jos Verstappen 	 	38 	Engine 	15 	
Ret 	7 	David Coulthard 	 	37 	Spin 	4 	
Ret 	12 	Jarno Trulli 	 	37 	Spin 	14 	
Ret 	20 	Ricardo Rosset 	 	29 	Spin 	20 	
Ret 	23 	Esteban Tuero 	 	29 	Spin 	18 	
Ret 	15 	Johnny Herbert 	 	27 	Spin 	9 	
Ret 	17 	Mika Salo 	 	27 	Throttle 	13 	
Ret 	2 	Heinz-Harald Frentzen 	 	15 	Spin 	6 	
Ret 	9 	Damon Hill 	 	13 	Spin 	7 	
Source:'Britain 1998: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'Britain 1998: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'Britain 1998: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'Britain 1998: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'Britain 1998: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'Britain 1998: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'Britain 1998: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx, (Accessed 01/06/2020)	Source:'Britain 1998: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1998/grande-bretagne/classement.aspx, (Accessed 01/06/2020)
** Michael Schumacher's 10-second penalty had not been received because it was delayed as he had won the British Grand Prix.
==Milestones==
* Ralf Schumacher gave Jordan their first point of 1998.
==Standings==
World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts.
1 	Mika Häkkinen 	56
2 	Michael Schumacher 	54
3 	David Coulthard 	30
4 	Eddie Irvine 	29
5 	Alexander Wurz 	17
6 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	15
7 	Jacques Villeneuve 	11
8 	Heinz-Harald Frentzen 	8
9 	Rubens Barrichello 	4
10 	Jean Alesi 	3
= 	Mika Salo 	3
12 	Johnny Herbert 	1
= 	Pedro Diniz 	1
= 	Jan Magnussen 	1
= 	Ralf Schumacher 	1
International Cup for Manufacturers	International Cup for Manufacturers	International Cup for Manufacturers
Pos. 	Team 	Pts.
1 	 	86
2 	 	83
3 	 	32
4 	 	19
5 	 	5
6 	 	4
= 	 	4
8 	 	1
Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.
==References==
Images and Videos:
*
References:
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:British Grand Prix
Category:1998 Grands Prix
Category:Formula One races in the United Kingdom