Hakkinen stretches points lead with commanding victory

   Copyright c 1998 Nando Media
   Copyright c 1998 Reuters

SPIELBERG, Austria (Jul 26, 1998 - 11:22 EDT) -- World championship-leading
Finn Mika Hakkinen stretched his lead to eight points on Sunday, when he
drove to a commanding victory in the Austrian Grand Prix.

Hakkinen, in a McLaren, came home clear of his teammate, Briton David
Coulthard, who mounted a stirring charge through the field after starting
from 14th position on the grid.

Two-time world champion Michael Schumacher finished third for Ferrari after
an incident-packed race, thanks to the generosity of teammate Eddie Irvine,
who slowed down in the closing stages to allow Schumacher to grab a podium
position.

Irvine's actions, presumably following team orders, may, however, attract
the wrath of the authorities. Such interference with a race result was
banned following McLaren's manipulation of the season-opening Australian
Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Schumacher's younger brother, Ralf, put up a much tougher fight to resist
his brother's overtaking attempt before letting him get by. Ralf ended up
fifth for Jordan, ahead of defending world-champion Jacques Villeneuve of
Canada in a Williams.

Hakkinen's victory was his fifth this season and the sixth of his career,
and it ended Schumacher's hopes of extending his streak of Ferrari wins to
four.

But his feat was overshadowed on a hot dry afternoon by the brilliance of
Coulthard's late charge for the most spectacular race finish, if not the
best result, of his career.

Hakkinen leads the title race with 66 points. Schumacher has 58, Coulthard
36. There are six rounds of the 16-race calendar remaining.

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