Formula One 1998 World Championship
After the disappointing 1997 season, the new Championship seems better for
Damon. The Jordan is a good car, and the Mugen-Honda engine showed to be
very powerful. Hill's team-mate is Ralf Schumacher, Michael's brother.
08th March 1998 - Grand Prix of Melbourne, Australia
PRACTICE
The new season has begun, with a new engine and a new car for Damon.
Also, he debuted with the new clutch mounted on the steering wheel, which
he is now getting used to. On Friday Hill worked on tuning up the car, and
on Saturday he got a fair 10th place, in 1.32.399
RACE
The Red Lights went out, and Hill gained one position; two laps later
he was fighting with Frentzen and Irvine for the seventh place. At the 19th
lap Damon made his first pit-stop, followed on the 39th lap by his second
one. Between these two stops, Damon was always around the 8th place. During
the 46th lap Jordan no.9 went off the track, but the Brit drove it back
into the race. Damon got into 8th place, one lap behind the winner. About
the result, Damon said: "At the start I was trapped in 8th place, and
there I stayed also due to the track that didn't permit any overtaking."
- Practice: 10th Place (1.32.399)
- Race: 8th position - 1 lap
Final Standing G.P. of Melbourne, Australia
1) Mika Hakkinen 10 pts
2) David Coulthard 06 pts
3) H.H. Frentzen 04 pts
4) Eddie Irvine 03 pts
5) Jacques Villeneuve 02 pts
6) Johnny Herbert 01 pts
7) Alexander Wurz -
8) Damon Hill -
9) Olivier Panis -
29th March 1998 - Grand Prix of Interlagos, Brasil
PRACTICE
During Friday Damon made a mistake and hit the pit entrance wall. Saturday
was a little better, but at the end he was "only" 11th.
RACE
No Comment. Damon has had very few races like this one, luckily. On
the first lap he tried to gain a few places, but to avoid a
group of opponents, he went into the grass; back onto the track, but lost
three positions. After that, he remained at the back until the end of the
race, in tenth place.
But the race didn't stop here: after a few hours Hill was disqualified due
to the underweight of his Jordan. It couldn't have been any worse, and Damon
described his race in this way, "After the trouble at the start I tried
to take Hebert, but in reality I wasn't able to catch anyone. I'm very disappointed".
For the record, Damon made only one pit-stop, on the 37th lap.
- Practice: 11th Place (1.18.988)
- Race: Disqualified - underweight
Final Standing G.P. of Interlagos, Brasil
1) Mika Hakkinen 10 pts
2) David Coulthard 06 pts
3) Michael Schumacher 04 pts
4) Alexander Wurz 03 pts
5) H.H. Frentzen 02 pts
6) Giancarlo Fisichella 01 pts
7) Jacques Villeneuve -
8) Eddie Irvine -
9) Jean Alesi -
10) Jan Magnussen -
11) Johnny Herbert -
12nd April 1998 - Grand Prix of Buenos Aires, Argentina
PRACTICE
Ninth place on the starting grid, that didn't show the real power of
Damon. Because, if he hadn't made a tail-spin in the last curve before the
finish line, on his last lap, his starting position would definitely have
been better.
RACE
Great start, and Damon gained positions, but on the first lap he was
overtaken to fall back into ninth place. After that, it seemed a photocopy
of the last race: Damon stayed in his position, and on the 28th lap he made
his first pit-stop. Back onto the track, but at the 46th lap Hill tried
to overtake Herbert; result: the Jordan hit the Sauber, Herbert retired
and Damon back into the pits. At the end of the race, Hill took 8th place,
not so bad after all....
- Practice: 9th Place (1.27.483)
- Race: 8th place - 1 lap
Final Standing G.P. of Buenos Aires, Argentina
1) Michael Schumacher 10 pts
2) Mika Hakkinen 06 pts
3) Eddie Irvin 04 pts
4) Alexander Wurz 03 pts
5) Jean Alesi 02 pts
6) David Coulthard 01 pts
7) Giancarlo Fisichella -
8) Damon Hill -
9) H.H. Frentzen -
10) Rubens Barrichello -
11) Jarno Trulli -
12) Tora Takagi -
13) Shinji Nakano -
14) Ricardo Rosset -
15) Olivier Panis -
26th April 1998 - Grand Prix of Imola, San Marino
PRACTICE
With the debut of the new version of the car, now with a 10CM longer
wheelbase, his performance has increased. Hill got a very good seventh place
on the grid, and it could have been better if the engine hadn't blown up
during the last lap, when Hill's partial times were better than his fastest
lap.
RACE
Looking only at the standing, it seemed like one of last year's races....
Instead it was a great race by Damon: he got a good start, but Wurz, the
Benetton driver thatt was in front of Hill on the grid, had trouble with
his gearbox and didn't gain speed; so, Hill couldn't avoid Wurz, and the
front wing got damaged. Because of that, his first lap was slow and he made
a pit stop; when he came back out of the pits he was 19th. Ok, from there
Hill rocketed and started a great comeback that took him , with two
pit-stops at the 24th and 41st lap, into seventh place when, at 4 laps to
the end, he had to retire due to hydraulics trouble. Damon was anyhow classified
10th. Note that, before retiring, Hill was even in front of his team-matte
Ralf Schumacher.
All in all, a good race by Hill, that showed grit and skill; also, the new
version of the Jordan seems more competitive. Hope for the rest of the season.
- Practice: 7th Place (1.27.592)
- Race: 10th place - 5 laps
Final Standing G.P. of Imola, San Marino
1) David Coulthard 10 pts
2) Michael Schumacher 06 pts
3) Eddie Irvine 04 pts
4) Jacques Villeneuve 03 pts
5) H.H. Frentzen 02 pts
6) Jean Alesi 01 pts
7) Ralf Schumacher -
8) Esteban Tuero -
9) Mika Salo -
10) Damon Hill -
11) Olivier Panis -
10th May 1998 - Grand Prix Of Barcelona, Spain
PRACTICE
The Jordan follow to grow, also thanks to the practice made on this same
track by Damon during the week previous the GP. At the end of the qualify,
Damon got the fourth row, eight position.
RACE
It could have gone better: A couple of places lost at the start, followed
by a fight for the 9th place with Panis, until Damon's first pit-stop att
the 22nd lap. Went back onto the track, and at the 42nd lap, during an attempt
to overtake Frentzen, Hill went off the track but skilfully recovered. At
the 44th lap second pit stop, and a couple of laps later the engine blew,
when Damon was 9th.
- Practice: 8th Position (1.22.835)
- Race: dnf (retired 46th lap - engine)
Final Standing G.P. of Barcelona, Spain
1) Mika Hakkinen 10 pts
2) David Coulthard 06 pts
3) Michael Schumacher 04 pts
4) Alexander Wurz 03 pts
5) Rubens Barrichello 02 pts
6) Jacques Villeneuve 01 pts
7) Johnny Herbert -
8) H.H. Frentzen -
9) Jarno Trulli -
10) Jean Alesi -
11) Ralf Schumacher -
12) Jan Magnussen -
13) Toranosuke Takagi -
14) Shinji Nakano -
15) Esteban Tuero -
16) Olivier Panis -
24th May 1998 - Grand Prix of Monaco, Montecarlo
PRACTICE
With the return, only for this circuit, of the single-seater with a
short wheelbase his performance became worse: Damon was 17th after Thursday,
and 15th after the official hour.
RACE
It wasn't a race, it was torture: the Jordan was never competitive,
and Damon remained at the back from start to end. On that track the Irish
car revealed to be a real disaster; let's hope well for the next GPs. Well,
at this point it is hard to think that Damon could be on the McLaren instead
of the Jordan....
- Practice: 15th Place (1.23.151)
- Race: 8th place - 2 laps
Final Standing G.P. of Monaco, Montecarlo
1) Mika Hakkinen 10 pts
2) Giancarlo Fisichella 06 pts
3) Eddie Irvine 04 pts
4) Mika Salo 03 pts
5) Jacques Villeneuve 02 pts
6) Pedro Diniz 01 pts
7) Johnny Herbert -
8) Damon Hill -
9) Shinji Nakano -
10) Michael Schumacher -
11) Toranosuke Takagi -
12) Jean Alesi -
07th June 1998 - Grand Prix of Montreal , Canada
PRACTICE
Unhappy practice for Damon, that qualify his car only at the 10th place,
against the 5th of the team mate Ralph Schummy.
RACE
A spectacular, exciting and at last, for Damon, a beautiful race: after
the first start stopped for an accident at the first curve, again at the
second go an accident happened, and the safety car came onto the track.
At the 6th lap the SC went out and the race restarted, with Hill in seventh
place. Damon programmed only one pit stop, and thanks to that he climbed
the standings until he gained a wondeful second place at the 33rd lap. Here
he stayed till the 38th lap, when he was overtaken by Schumacher, who was
later to accuse Damon of disturbing him in trying to prevent him from passing....
Anyway, one lap later the British Champion made his pit stop, but after
that his Jordan started to slow down, forcing Damon to enter the pits at
the 42nd lap for a check up and the following one saw him retire due to
elecric troubles.
- Practice: 10th Position (1.19.717)
- Race: dnf (retired 42nd lap - electric troubles)
Final Standing G.P. of Montreal , Canada
1) Michael Schumacher 10 pts
2) Giancarlo Fisichella 06 pts
3) Eddie Irvine 04 pts
4) Alexander Wurz 03 pts
5) Rubens Barrichello 02 pts
6) Jan Magnussen 01 pts
7) Shinji Nakano -
8) Ricardo Rosset -
9) Pedro Diniz -
10) Jacques Villeneuve -
28th June 1998 - Grand Prix of Magny Cours, France
PRACTICE
Qualify went not bad : Damon got seventh fastest time. Good place, but Damon
waited some more.
RACE
Again, a race ended too early: Damon mantained his start place until the
19th lap, when his Hydraulics system stopped him. Two laps before, Hill
made his pit stop.
- Practice: 7a Posizione (1.16.245)
- Race: dnf (retired 19th lap - Hydraulics)
Final Standing G.P. of Magny Cours, France
1) Michael Schumacher 10 pts
2) Eddie Irvine 06 pts
3) Mika Hakkinen 04 pts
4) Jacques Villeneuve 03 pts
5) Alexander Wurz 02 pts
6) David Coulthard 01 pts
7) Jean Alesi -
8) Johnny Herbert -
9) Giancarlo Fisichella -
10) Rubens Barrichello -
11) Olivier Panis -
12) Jos Verstappen -
13) Mika Salo -
14) Pedro Diniz -
15) H.H.Frentzen -
16) Ralf Schumacher -
17) Shinji Nakano -
12th July 1998 - Grand Prix of Silverstone, Great Britain
PRACTICE
On the Home track Damon gained again seventh place, that didn't satisfy
him completely: Hill hoped to qualify into the first three rows.
RACE
A big mess: that's the only way to describe Damon's race. The GP started
with a wet track, and the heavens about to open. Hill went well and
maintained his position for some laps, until he was overtaken by Irvine.
At the 12tth lap rain fell again and, a lap later, Damon went out with a
tailspin at the Brooklands; a greenhorn's mistake.
Looking to the rest of the race, if Damon had gone on to the end of the
GP he would have definitely got some points. This needs to be said: Damon,
this is no good!
The only beautiful thing of that weekend:..
- Practice: 7th Place (1.24.542)
- Race: dnf (retired 13rd lap - tailspin)
Final Standing G.P. of Silverstone, Great Britain
1) Michael Schumacher 10 pts
2) Mika Hakkinen 06 pts
3) Eddie Irvine 04 pts
4) Alexander Wurz 03 pts
5) Giancarlo Fisichella 02 pts
6) Ralf Schumacher 01 pts
7) Jacques Villeneuve -
8) Shinji Nakano -
9) Toranosuke Takagi -
26th July 1998 - G.P. of Zeltweg, Austria
PRACTICE
...
RACE
......
- Practice: 15th Place (1.32.718)
- Race: 7th Place
Final Standing G.P. of Zeltweg, Austria
1) Mika Hakkinen 10 pts
2) David Coulthard 06 pts
3) Michael Schumacher 04 pts
4) Eddie Irvine 03 pts
5) Ralf Schumacher 02 pts
6) Jacques Villeneuve 01 pts
7) Damon Hill -
8) Johnny Herbert -
9) Alexander Wurz -
10) Jarno Trulli -
11) Shinji Nakano -
12) Ricardo Rosset -
2nd August 1998 - G.P. of Hockenheim, Germany
PRACTICE
...
RACE
......
- Practice: 5th Place (1.43.183)
- Race: 4th Place
Final Standing G.P. of Hockenheim, Germany
1) Mika Hakkinen 10 pts
2) David Coulthard 06 pts
3) Jacques Villeneuve 04 pts
4) Damon Hill 03 pts
5) Michael Schumacher 02 pts
6) Ralf Schumacher 01 pts
7) Giancarlo Fisichella -
8) Eddie Irvine -
9) H.H. Frentzen -
10) Jean Alesi -
11) Alexander Wurz -
12) Jarno Trulli -
13) Tora Takagi -
14) Mika Salo -
15) Olivier Panis -
16) Esteban Tuero -
16th August 1998 - G.P. of Budapest, Hungary
PRACTICE
...
RACE
......
- Practice: 4th Place (1.18.214)
- Race: 4th Place
Final Standing G.P. of Budapest, Hungary
1) Michael Schumacher 10 pts
2) David Coulthard 06 pts
3) Jacques Villeneuve 04 pts
4) Damon Hill 03 pts
5) H.H. Frentzen 02 pts
6) Mika Hakkinen 01 pts
7) Jean Alesi -
8) Giancarlo Fisichella -
9) Ralf Schumacher -
10) Johnny Herbert -
11) Pedro P. Diniz -
12) Olivier Panis -
13) Jos Verstappen -
14) Tora Takagi -
15) Shinji Nakano -
16) Alexander Wurz -
30th August 1998 - Grand Prix of Spa-Francorchamps,
Belgium
PRACTICE
Jordan performances continue to grow, and Damon could finally come back
to the fight for the top places: On Friday he got fourth place, and on Saturday
the British ace took a great third place, overtaking at the last lap also
Michael Schumacher. After the qualify, Damon said that "... That performance
on an exceptional circuit as Spa is a great joy for me.... But, to tell
the truth, what makes me happy is the fact that Mister Schumacher, who for
two days followed to say that here he is at home, that Spa is tailor-made
for him, now is after me. Sure, the race is still to be run, and the third
place on the starting grid, unfortunately, didn't assure the same performance
for the race".
RACE
VICTORY!!! After two years and many empty races Damon Hill went back
to the highest step of the podium, and did it with a wonderful race in a
GP plagued by atmosferical events and lots of accidents. GP started with
the rain, and Damon chose the medium tyres. At the start, Hill started bad,
losing some positions; immediately after the first turn Coulthard accelerated
too much and ran off crossing the track to hit the wall, bouncing back into
the middle of the track, starting terrible havoc. The only "survivors"
were the very first drivers, among whom Hill. Luckily, no
one suffered physical harm, but four drivers weren't able to restart, due
to the lack of their t-car. Second start went well, and Hill took advantage
from Hakkinen's bad start and got the lead, while the Finn retired after
contact with Schumacher and the following accident with Herbert. Damon was
again - after more than a year - leader of a GP, and with realistic chances
of victory. But more rain fell, and Schumacher at the eighth lap
overtook Hill, also thanks to his more powerful engine and due to the wrong
aereodinamical settings of the Jordan.
Now, Damon kept second place, made his first pit stop at the 16th lap; but,
at the 25th lap Schumacher hit Coulthard trying to overtake him, due to
rain that made visibility virtually impossible. The Jordan car went back
into the lead, but at the 29th lap Fisichella hit Nakano's Minardi, causing
the entry of the Safety Car, which Hill promptly took advantage of to make
his second and last pit stop and went back onto the track first. At the
32nd lap the race started again, and Damon led the GP under the rain till
victory, followed by his team-mate Ralf Schumacher.
It was a spectacular race, that Damon deserved to win, apart from all the
things that happened. Also, it was the first victory of the Jordan team
in F.1. BRAVO Damon, finally!!! :-)
Later, some picture of the great Damon's Victory
- Practice: 3rd Place (1.49.728)
- Race: Victory (44 laps in 1.43'47"407)
Final Standing G.P. of Spa, Belgium
1) Damon Hill 10 pts
2) Ralf Schumacher 06 pts
3) Jean Alesi 04 pts
4) H.H. Frentzen 03 pts
5) P.P. Diniz 02 pts
6) Jarno Trulli 01 pts
7) David Coulthard -
8) Shinji Nakano -
13th September 1998 - Grand Prix of Monza, Italy
PRACTICE
On Friday under the rain Damon got ninth place, but showing that his Jordan
was a good competitive car. But all was bad in the official hour: the first
half vanished due to the wet track, and in the last thirty minutes traffic
let Hill gain only the 14th place.
RACE
Another great race by Damon!!! Due to his starting position Hill chose
a race strategy with two pit stops, and the advantage of a lighter car let
him make a wonderful start, and a lot of overtaking. So much that
by the 13th lap Damon was fourth!! After that, he stopped for his first
pit stop and went back onto the track in 13th place. The British ace climbed
back into 9th place, starting a fight with Frentzen, and after the pit-stops
Damon gained sixth position, until to the end. I repeat, a great race by
Damon in spite of his unlucky qualifying race, and this lets us hope for
the coming races, also because the Jordan car is now really competitive.
- Practice: 14th Place (1.27.362)
- Race: 6th place
Final Standing G.P. of Monza, Italy
1) Michael Schumacher 10 pts
2) Eddie Irvine 06 pts
3) Ralf Schumacher 04 pts
4) Mika Hakkinen 03 pts
5) Jean Alesi 02 pts
6) Damon Hill 01 pts
7) H.H. Frentzen -
8) Giancarlo Fisichella -
9) Tora Takagi -
10) Rubens Barichello -
11) Esteban Tuero -
12) Ricardo Rosset -
13) Jarno Trulli -
27th September 1998 - Grand Prix of Nurburgring, Louxemburg
PRACTICE
An unhappy practice session for the British ace. Besides some trouble with
the car that was not suitable for this circuit, Damon was also affected
by a nasty bout of flu; at the end of the practice he qualified in 10th
place.
RACE
Damon started tenth and ended ninth, after two pit stops. At the start
of the GP he was fighting with Villeneuve for ninth place, but after a few
laps Damon went out at the chicane before the start. After that Damon followed
the race achieving, due to the pit stops circus, sixth place. But the Jordan
wasn't really competitive and the Hill's bad condition didn't help either.
It could have gone better...
- Practice: 10th Place (1.19.807)
- Race: 9th place
Final Standing G.P. of Nurburgring, Louxemburg
1) Mika Hakkinen 10 pts
2) Michael Schumacher 06 pts
3) David Coulthard 04 pts
4) Eddie Irvine 03 pts
5) H.H. Frentzen 02 pts
6) Giancarlo Fisichella 01 pts
7) Alexander Wurz -
8) Jacques Villeneuve -
9) Damon Hill -
10) Jean Alesi -
11) Rubens Barichello -
12) Olivier Panis -
13) Jos Verstappen -
14) Mika Salo -
15) Shinji Nakano -
16) Tora Takagi -
01st November 1998 - Grand Prix of Suzuka, Japan
PRACTICE
.....
RACE
........
- Practice: 8th Place (1.38.603)
- Race: 4th Place
Final Standing G.P. of Suzuka, Japan
1) Mika Hakkinen 10 pts
2) Michael Schumacher 06 pts
3) David Coulthard 04 pts
4) Eddie Irvine 03 pts
5) H.H. Frentzen 02 pts
6) Giancarlo Fisichella 01 pts
7) Alexander Wurz -
8) Jacques Villeneuve -
9) Damon Hill -
10) Jean Alesi -
11) Rubens Barichello -
12) Olivier Panis -
13) Jos Verstappen -
14) Mika Salo -
15) Shinji Nakano -
16) Tora Takagi -
F.1 World Championship - Standing
| Points |
Driver | | | Points | Constructor |
|---|
| 100 | Mika Hakkinen - WORLD CHAMPION | |
| 156 | McLaren-Mercedes - WORLD CHAMPION |
| 86 | Michael
Schumacher | | | 133 | Ferrari |
| 56 | David
Coulthard | | | 38 | Wiliams-Mechachrome |
| 47 | Eddie Irvine | | | 34 | Jordan-Mugen
Honda |
| 21 | Jacques Villeneuve | |
| 33 | Benetton-Mechachrome |
| 20 | Damon
Hill | | | 10 | Sauber-Petronas |
| 17 | Alexander Wurz | | | 6 | Arrows |
| 17 | H.H. Frentzen | | | 5 |
Stewart-Ford |
| 16 | Giancarlo Fisichella |
| | 1 | Prost-Peugeot |
| 14 | Ralf
Schumacher | | | - | - |
| 9 | Jean
Alesi | | | - | - |
| 4 | Rubens
Barrichello | | | - | - |
| 3 | Mika
Salo | | | - | - |
| 3 | Pedro
Diniz | | | - | - |
| 1 |
Johnny Herbert | | | - | - |
| 1 |
Jarno Trulli | | | - | - |
| 1 |
Jan Magnussen | | | - | | | |
|
| Grand Prix: |
99 |
|---|
| Victories: | 22 |
|---|
| Pole Position: | 20 |
|---|
| Fastest Laps: | 19 |
|---|
| Total Points: | 353 |
|---|
Updated at 01/11/98
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