1998 Brazilian Grand Prix  |
| Date:27-29 Mar 1998, Weather Humid and overcast |
From this race…
Nakano, Shinji
On lap four Nakano spun out of sixteenth place into the gravel and into retirement from the race.
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Drivers Points
| Position |
|
Name |
Points |
| 1 |
|
Schumacher, Michael |
7 |
| 2 |
|
Nakano, Shinji |
4 |
| 3 |
|
Fisichella, Giancarlo |
4 |
| 4 |
|
Rosset, Ricardo |
4 |
| 5 |
|
Schumacher, Ralf |
2 |
| 6 |
|
Hill, Damon |
1 |
| 7 |
|
Diniz, Pedro |
1 |
| 8 |
|
Herbert, Johnny |
1 |
| 9 |
|
Hakkinen, Mika |
1 |
| 10 |
|
Villeneuve, Jacques |
1 |
| 11 |
|
Panis, Olivier |
1 |
|
Constructors Points
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Top 5 drivers before
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Top 5 drivers current
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| Who? |
What |
Points |
Action |
Lap |
| Misc |
|
Ferrari
|
 |
5 pts
|
Ferrari whipped up protest over the secondary braking system that McLaren were employing. At the centre of the objection was an argument that the system could be used a four wheel steering. Bother Jordan and Williams had implemented such systems as well and Ferrari did not bully them into writing to the FIA. The system had been declared legal and the feeling in the paddock was that Ferrari were protesting, as they could not design an effective system themselves.
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Villeneuve, Jacques (Williams)
|
 |
1 pts
|
Villeneuve was pursuing an ultra stiff set-up on his Williams. In the Saturday morning this was a large contributory factor to him losing control on a bump and slamming his FW20 into the barriers, damaging it seriously. “During the morning warm-up we were a little lost with set-up but we finally got the spare car working better on the last run of qualifying, although this was a little lat as Fisichella had gone off by that stage and there was dirt all over the circuit. Today has been very frustrating.”
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Herbert, Johnny (Sauber)
|
 |
1 pts
|
Herbert had a huge accident in the Saturday Morning practice session when the throttle on his Sauber stuck open and he flew into the tyre barriers.
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Hakkinen, Mika (McLaren)
|
 |
1 pts
|
Hakkinen was one of seven drivers called before the race stewards after the Saturday morning practice session to explain why he had set his fastest time of the session under yellow flags. It was announced that all the drivers who had offended would have their fastest time in qualifying disallowed. This was not upheld but Hakkinen’s second fastest time still would have taken pole.
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Rosset, Ricardo (Tyrrell)
|
 |
4 pts
|
Rosset started the qualifying session in the spare car. He spun that off and rushed back to the pits to take the spare car.
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Fisichella, Giancarlo (Benetton)
|
|
4 pts
|
Fisichella span his Benetton on what he believed could have been his fastest lap of the qualifying session. He sprinted back to the pits to take the spare for the balance of the session.
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Diniz, Pedro (Arrows)
|
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1 pts
|
Diniz was forced to take the spare mid way through qualifying after a high-speed trip through the gravel had damaged the under tray on his race car.
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Panis, Olivier (Prost)
|
|
1 pts
|
The morning race warm-up started in wet conditions. The session had to be red flagged after Panis crashed at over 130 mph. He put a rear wheel up on to the kerb at Ferra Dura and the wheel lost grip, sending the Prost into a series of terrifying spins before it slammed into a barrier, head-on. The impact tore a hole in the front of the monocoque. Panis was uninjured and made the start of the race.
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Schumacher, Ralf (Jordan)
|
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1 pts
|
Ralf crashed his Jordan in the wet race warm-up. The car was repaired in time for the race.
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Schumacher, Ralf (Jordan)
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1 pts
|
After the red lights went out Schumacher Jnr got it all wrong in the chase down to the fourth corner. He was trying to be too ambitious and he put his EJ198 way off the racing line under braking for the first corner. He lost control of the car and spun into the gravel trap, race over. “It was a really bad day for me. I was hoping for so much from the race as I have had a good weekend here. I had a quite good, start but then on turn four I got off line, picked up dirt on my tyres and went off. I am very, very disappointed.”
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Nakano, Shinji (Minardi)
|
|
4 pts
|
On lap four Nakano spun out of sixteenth place into the gravel and into retirement from the race.
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Schumacher, Michael (Ferrari)
|
 |
7 pts
|
Schumacher came in to make his second tyre stop on lap fifty-three. As he made his get away the engine on his Ferrari stalled.
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Hill, Damon (Jordan)
|
|
1 pts
|
At post race scrutineering it was found that Damon Hill’s Jordan was seven kilograms under weight. A mid race water leak and ballast miscalculation were to blame. Hill was disqualified fro the results. “It doesn’t get much worse than this,” rued Eddie Jordan.
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