Sunday 12 July 1998
Race morning warm-up
WEATHER CONDITIONS: variable rain

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Coulthard and Hakkinen quickest
David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen set first and second fastest time in
their McLaren MP4/13s during this morning's variably wet half-hour warm-up
session, neither driver having any particular problems apart from the
conditions. All three MP4/13s were set for the wet and Hakkinen had a try
in the spare car.

Fisichella third for Benetton
Giancarlo Fisichella was very happy to be third fastest in the
Benetton-Playlife, trying both his race car and the spare B198 chassis with
different set-ups. Alexander Wurz set sixth fastest time in the second car.

Ferraris fourth and fifth
Eddie Irvine and Michael Schumacher set fourth and fifth fastest times in
their Ferrari F300s, Irvine trying both full rain tyres and intermediates.
Michael also tried the spare car which had a full wet set-up but took
things a little easy in the unpleasant conditions.

Salo seventh for Arrows
Mika Salo started in his race car before encountering a driveshaft problem
which meant he had to switch to the spare which still had the engine with
which he experienced some problems yesterday. He set seventh fastest time
with Pedro Diniz tenth despite a spin.

Williams struggling
Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jacques Villeneuve found themselves struggling in
eighth and 11th fastest times. "I don't think we have tyres which are
suitable for intermediate conditions." Said Frentzen, "only heavy
rain." Villeneuve had no specific technical problems, just the same
concerns as his team-mate.

Panis ninth for Prost
Olivier Panis set ninth fastest time in the Prost-Peugeot and was quite
satisfied with the feel of his car, but Jarno Trulli swapped from race car
to spare and could not work out a decent handling balance.

Briefly:
Both Jordan drivers got lost on set-up in the difficult conditions and the
team admits it will have to re-think its whole set-up for the race. Damon
Hill lost time changing a nose section after damaging it over a kerb_Jos
Verstappen spun in the Stewart-Ford while team-mate Rubens Barrichello
bemoaned poor visibility_Ricardo Rosset spun and damaged a wheel against a
guard rail_Minardi was very happy, reporting that its Bridgestone tyres
worked well.

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Sunday 12 July 1998
Sunday race
RACE FACTS

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At the start of the race Mika Hakkinen makes the fastest start with Michael
Schumacher and David Coulthard on his tail and Jean Alesi fourth after a
sensational start from eighth on the grid. The two Williams completed the
top six with Jacques Villeneuve ahead of Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Eddie
Irvine makes a very bad start and drops to 10th place. He begins to charge
back and in the early laps passes Alexander Wurz and Johnny Herbert.

On lap five Coulthard passes Schumacher at Abbey Corner to take second
place. On the same lap Frentzen passes Villeneuve to take fifth place.
Irvine continues his charge through the field and passes Damon Hill and
Jacques Villeneuve on lap 8. He then chases after Frentzen and passes the
German on lap 12. Up at the front the two McLarens are able to stay ahead
of Schumacher while Alesi runs a steady race in fourth.

On lap 14 the rain intensifies and Frentzen spins off and Hill makes a
mistake and also retires. Most of the field pits for new tyres but this
changes little except that Irvine is able to get past Alesi during his
stop. The only runner not to pit is Johnny Herbert who moves up to fourth
but is passed by Irvine and then comes under pressure from Alesi.

The conditions continue to deteriorate and on lap 26 Herbert spins out.
Mika Salo also retires and in the laps which follow Ricardo Rosset and
Esteban Tuero also spin off. Up at the front Hakkinen and Coulthard move
around 10secs ahead of Schumacher with Irvine a distant fourth. Alesi
continues in fifth while Ralf Schumacher has completed a remarkable drive
through the field to take sixth. Ralf has to pit again on lap 35 and drops
behind the two Benettons.

Hakkinen continues to pull away and he and Coulthard have a lead of over
half a minute to Schumacher's Ferrari. Conditions deteriorate just before
the second pit stops and the first victim is Coulthard who spins out on lap
38. Also spinning out were Jos Verstappen and Jarno Trulli, followed by
Rubens Barrichello and Olivier Panis. On lap 42 Hakkinen goes off at
high-speed at Bridge Corner and damages the front wings of the car.

Two laps later the Safety Car is sent out. Schumacher is able to catch back
the 40 seconds he has lost to Hakkinen. The race restarts at the end of lap
49 and Schumacher is right behind Hakkinen. The Finn tries to defend his
position but goes off at Becketts and loses the lead. Schumacher pulls away
at the front but in the final laps is given a time penalty (overtaking
under a stationary yellow flag) by the stewards and pits on the very last
lap, winning the race in the pitlane.

Hakkinen struggles home second with Irvine third, while Wurz and Fisichella
give Benetton fourth and fifth places a lap down and Ralf Schumacher scores
Jordan's first point of the year in sixth position.

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