‘This is quite appalling. This is the worst start to a Grand Prix that I have ever seen in the whole of my life.’
These words, memorably exclaimed by a shocked Murray Walker marked the beginning of what was to be one of the most eventful and unpredictable Formula 1 races in history. Six hours of preceding rainfall made track conditions at Spa-Francorchamps horrendously challenging, and all cars were forced to opt for full wet tyres, with the exception of Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher who decided to run the risk of racing with a set of intermediates.
McLaren dominated qualifying, with Championship leader Mika Hakkinen edging out David Coulthard by 0.16 seconds. Damon Hill squeezed his Jordan into third (over a second behind) after Michael Schumacher’s final hot-lap was nullified by a parked Sauber. Yet, qualifying would count for nothing by Sunday evening.
The five red lights were extinguished and the field of 22 cars bunched into La Source and proceeded to tentatively ascend the hill towards Eau Rouge. However, many didn’t make it. Coulthard, who had been jumped by Jacques Villeneuve at the start, careered into the concrete wall and skidded across the track, straight into the path of the rest of the field. The ensuing carnage was inevitable. At least ten cars were completely destroyed as wheels were sent flying across the track. Once the carnage had died down drivers were seen jogging back to the pits to resume the race in their underprepared spare cars.
Coulthard was largely blamed for causing the accident, although the weather heightened its gravity. A mix of poor visibility and the wet conditions meant that most drivers couldn’t stop, therefore attributing to the severity of the crash.
Nevertheless, the grid re-assembled itself and the race was restarted, with the crowd nervously expecting another first lap melee. Damon Hill started well and dove into La Source ahead of the Ferraris to take the lead. Hakkinen then had his race abruptly ended as he spun while putting the throttle down coming out of La Source. On closer inspection it was revealed that Schumacher had in fact touched the McLaren as he attempted to sweep around the outside. The move was audacious from Schumacher at the least, but the combination of cold tyres on a slippery circuit meant that Hakkinen had no chance to save his car before it was ploughed into by Johnny Herbert’s Sauber.
At the time it was hugely significant in terms of the championship. Hakkinen had a reasonable point’s gap over Schumacher, but if the German won and the Finn failed to finish then their roles would be reversed.
But, the defining moment of the race was undoubtedly Michael Schumacher’s incident with Coulthard on lap 25. The German was delivering one of the greatest drives of his career (and was even likened to Ayrton Senna by Walker), especially since he was maintaining a fast pace on tyres that had inferior grip compared to the rest of the field – a near impossible feat. Coulthard had spun at the re-start and was soon to be lapped. The McLaren garage encouraged him to move over to let Schumacher past, while Schumacher was encouraged by the Ferrari camp to make a move on the Scot.
Coulthard moved over. Schumacher ploughed into the back of him. A tyre went flying as Schumacher’s suspension decimated upon impact. In a matter of seconds the championship had fallen back into Mika Hakkinen’s hands. Who was at fault?
Coulthard did move over and slow for Schumacher to get past, but the spray created by his McLaren impaired Schumacher’s vision. Effectively, Schumacher was driving blindfold.
Yet, if Schumacher had stayed a reasonable distance away from Coulthard until they reached a clearer part of the circuit then perhaps the accident would have been avoided. After all, Schumacher had increased the gap between himself and Hill to 30 seconds prior to the incident.
Nevertheless, Damon Hill had inherited the lead. Aside from his short spell in front at the restart he hadn’t led a race since the Hungarian Grand Prix of the previous year. When Giancarlo Fisichella’s Benetton struck the back of Shinji Nakano’s Minardi on lap 26, Hill saw his opportunity and dove into the pits under safety car conditions, believing that he could emerge ahead of his team-mate Ralf Schumacher and Sauber’s Jean Alesi, who was now third.
Hill held on to record a landmark victory for both himself and his team. It marked the first ever win for Jordan; their first one-two result, and the 22nd time that Hill had climbed the top step. It would also prove to be his final win, as the Briton would endure a testing retirement season with Jordan in 1999.
What made Hill’s victory particularly outstanding was the demeanour in which he achieved it. Despite being a World Champion he was living up to the ‘plucky Brit’ moniker as the two Ferraris bore down on him in the opening laps. The attrition rate was so severe that only six drivers finished, and despite locking up at the Bus-Stop Hill remained focused and determined to prove to any critics that his world class ability hadn’t left him when he departed Williams for Arrows at the end of his championship winning year.
Spa has always been predictably unpredictable. Nobody forecasted the levels of carnage, shock and elation that were experienced on a biblically torrential race-day. It was a race that both defined a championship battle and re-ignited a previous hero. It’s for these reasons that the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix was a true epic, and will remain as one of the sport’s most gladiatorial and memorable weekends.
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