Mika Hakkinen wins Austrian Grand Prix

   Copyright c 1998 Nando Media
   Copyright c 1998 Agence France-Presse

ZELTWEG, Austria (Jul 26, 1998 - 11:16 EDT) -- Mika Hakkinen of Finland led
virtually from start to finish to win Sunday's incident-packed Austrian
Formula One Grand Prix and increase his lead in the drivers' world
championship.

Hakkinen, driving a McLaren-Mercedes, finished more than five seconds ahead
of McLaren teammate David Coulthard of Scotland. Two-time world champion
Michael Schumacher of Germany was third in a Ferrari.

It was Hakkinen's fifth win of the season but broke a drought after he had
failed to win for three races.

The Finn clocked 1:30:44.086 to complete 71 laps of the 4.319-kilometer A-1
Ring circuit, a total of 306.649 kilometers

Schumacher's Irish teammate, Eddie Irvine, was fourth, with Ralf Schumacher
of Germany fifth in a Jordan and last year's winner, Jacques Villeneuve of
Canada, sixth in a Williams.

Britain's Damon Hill was just outside the points in seventh in his Jordan
with Johnny Herbert's Sauber in eighth.

After nine of the season's 15 races, Hakkinen has a lead of eight points
over Schumacher in the championship race. He has 66 to Schumacher's 58,
with Coulthard third at 36.

Hakkinen, starting from third on the grid, zipped between front row duo
Giancarlo Fisichella in his Benetton and the Sauber of Jean Alesi to grab
the lead going into the first bend.

Accidents at the first two turns then brought the safety car onto the A-1
Ring circuit, with Coulthard forced into the pits after being hit by Finn
Mika Salo in an Arrows.

Coulthard needed the nose cone replaced on his McLaren but then drove
superbly to fight his way back through the field.

After eight laps, Hakkinen was just managing to hold off the charging
Schumacher, who was chasing his fourth successive victory and looking to
overhaul Hakkinen.

Schumacher, though, ran wide on the 17th lap, plowing through the gravel
and destroying his nose cone. The damage forced him into the pits for
repairs.

The two-time world champion, not surprisingly with the field
tightly-bunched, dropped well down the order but then managed to fight his
way back, passing Irvine late in the race to take third.

Although the Ferrari pit was able to replace Schumacher's nose cone, he was
driving without barge boards -- the part of the car behind the front wing
and the side pods. That should have affected the aerodynamics, but
Schumacher drove like a man possessed.

Fisichella, who had his first Formula One pole position, was taken out by
fellow pole sitter Alesi, rashly attempting to overtake after 21 laps, and
both dropped out.

"I was very unlucky," said Fisichella. "At the end, I saw
him close the door, and I had nowhere to go."

It seemed an absurd move from Alesi, who has competed in 145 Grands Prix and won one.

Hakkinen pitted after 33 laps, leaving teammate Coulthard in the lead until
the Scot pitted two laps later, giving the advantage back to the Finn.

Hakkinen maintained his advantage over the Scot as Schumacher charged back to third.

Irvine's lap times over the closing stages were two and almost three
seconds slower than those of his teammate due to an apparent brake problem.

McLaren's first 1-2 finish since the Spanish Grand Prix saw them open up a
12-point lead over Ferrari in the constructors' championship.

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