Feb 26, 2008
Finland had not produced a champion since Keke Rosberg in 1982 and over the past few seasons, Mika Hakkinen had promised much. But it would only be in 1998, after five years of loyalty with McLaren that the two would combine to win the title. 1998 brought about a number of rule changes. These included grooved tyres, narrower cars to reduce downforce and the clear leader of adapting these changes was McLaren. With Hakkinen in the car, they dominated the first part of the season winning five of the first six races. Of these five, Hakkinen won four while David Coulthard won one and only the Argentine GP was won by Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari. Typically, though, Schumacher bounced back winning three consecutive races: the Canadian GP, French GP and British GP to take the fight back to the McLaren camp. The two-way battle was interrupted only at the Belgian GP when Damon Hill, driving a Jordan scored a win but after the first six races, Schumacher had five wins to Hakkinen’s four giving him a total of six wins to Hakkinen’s eight. The final points difference was 14 and although this seems like a lot, in the context of the season, it wasn’t all that much. McLaren ran away with the Constructor’s title beating Ferrari comfortably, but they haven’t won it again since. The season, though, wasn’t without its share of controversies. The biggest of these was the Coulthard-Schumacher spat that is now part of F1 legend. At the Belgian GP, a very wet race that year, Schumacher was leading by almost 40 seconds. David Coulthard was almost a lap behind in his McLaren and when Schumacher came around to pass him, he made way to let him pass but instead, the two collided and Schumacher had to retire. After the race, Schumi rushed to McLaren’s garage and accused Coulthard of trying to kill him. The other major controversy involved Schumacher as well at the British GP. He was leading on the last lap and turned into the pit lane to cross the start-finish line and stopped for a ten-second penalty. There was doubt whether this counted but the win was upheld and Schumacher added another one to his kitty. The final race of the season in Japan was the true display of Hakkinen’s might as a driver. Under immense pressure to win for the title, he beat Schumacher comfortably when the Ferrari stalled on the starting grid. But despite the stall, Hakkinen never let up and his speed under pressure was the highlight of his season.