Coulthard & Schumacher Turn Tables On Hakkinen.

David Coulthard finally won his first grand prix of the 1998 season, taking
a narrow victory over home favourite Michael Schumacher in San Marino. But
the Ferrari fans went home happy as Eddie Irvine joined his team-mate on
the podium after McLaren's Mika Hakkinen retired.


Coulthard made the best of his second pole position of the year, leading
Hakkinen away from the start. The McLaren duo then proceeded to extend
their advantage over the field, with only Schumacher showing any signs of
being able to follow them. Jacques Villeneuve made a flying start to pass
both the wheel-spinning Irvine and the unlucky Alex Wurz and move into
fourth place, but quickly found himself falling away from the McLarens and
Schumacher's Ferrari.


Behind him, Irvine and Heinz-Harald Frentzen held fifth and sixth, as Wurz
tumbled down the order with his gearbox stuck in first. His slow progress
caught out a charging Damon Hill, the Englishman's Jordan clipping the back
of the Benetton and requiring a new nose. The two combatants were not the
only casualties of a frantic first lap. Both Stewarts retired early,
Reubens Barrichello spinning wildly after losing his rear wing in a
separate collision with team-mate Jan Magnussen.


The main battle of the early stages saw Giancarlo Fisichella's Benetton all
over Frentzen's Williams, but unable to find a way past. After several
feints into Tamburello, Fisichella's frustration got the better of him, and
he spun into retirement on lap 17 - his second accident in a week after
wrecking his Porsche in a road accident.


This left the head of the field rather strung out until the first round of
pit-stops. Chief beneficiaries here would be Irvine and the fast starting
Jean Alesi, both recipients of slow Williams pit work to move past
Villeneuve and Frentzen respectively.


Hakkinen, however, failed to get as far as refuelling. His McLaren showed
signs of weakness for the first time this season, and retired with gearbox
failure after just 17 laps. The Finn joined the casualties of lap one, both
Benettons (for Wurz's engine expired on the same lap as his team-mate spun
out) and the luckless Johnny Herbert, whose Sauber punctured before
damaging suspension.


With the places at the front static, many eyes switched to the progress of
Damon Hill. Left at the back of the field by his early stop, Hill rapidly
carved his way back up the order, soon catching and passing Ralf Schumacher
in the sister car for eighth. With Olivier Panis' late retirement, this
would have become a season's best seventh, except for an engine problem
which left Damon on the sidelines with just five laps from home. Schumacher
plugged away, however, and secured the Jordan team's best placing of the
year by inheriting his team-mate seventh spot.


With Ferrari playing mind games, the second round of pit stops took on new
significance. The Italian team set its new tyres out early in the hope of
foxing McLaren and promptly withdrew them as Coulthard pulled in for his
second stop. The Woking boys were not fooled, however, and turned Coulthard
around quickly enough to prevent him from losing the lead.


The Tifosi were briefly animated as Schumacher appeared on his rival's
tail, but soon dropped back again as Ferrari admitted that a second stop
would be necessary after all. Both the German and team-mate Irvine received
quick service and held position, despite the latter losing time to
Villeneuve on the in-lap. Once again, however, the Williams team were
slower, and Irvine emerged with an enhanced advantage.


Williams spent less time on Frentzen, though, and the German emerged in
front of Alesi to hold fifth place to the flag. But, at the front, matters
looked slightly less clear cut.


Schumacher was suddenly taking chunks out of Coulthard's lead, eventually
whittling it down to just five seconds by the last lap. The Scot appeared
to have something in hand, however, despite his laps times varying
erratically. Behind them, Villeneuve had homed in on Irvine, who was racing
with pain killing injections in his back, but never got close enough to
challenge for the podium.


In the end, McLaren judged it perfectly. Coulthard was apparently suffering
from debris in the oil cooling system and had to back off in order to
prevent temperatures rising dangerously. With team boss Ron Dennis running
back and forth from pitwall to garage, the team were able to bring the Scot
home for a well deserved victory ahead of the home town favourites.


The result reflected the lone saltire among the massed ranks of scarlet on
the hill above Rivazza which, Coulthard said, had inspired him throughout
the race. (It is nice to win here in Italy,) said the Scot, (and especially
to beat Ferrari. It's important for the championship and a weight off my
shoulders.)


The result also made the world championship standings a lot closer. First
and second allowed Coulthard and Schumacher to turn the tables on Hakkinen,
and move to within three and six points respectively. With Ferrari set to
implement further revisions to its car, the year is far from over as a
contest.



RACE RESULT - SAN MARINO GRAND PRIX - 26 APRIL 1998 - 63 LAPS


1. David Coulthard Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1hr 34mins 24.593secs

2. Michael Schumacher Germany Ferrari-Ferrari + 4.554secs

3. Eddie Irvine Britain Ferrari-Ferrari + 51.776secs

4. Jacques Villeneuve Canada Williams-Mecachrome + 54.559secs

5. Heinz-Harald Frentzen Germany Williams-Mecachrome + 1min 17.477secs

6. Jean Alesi France Sauber-Petronas 1 lap down


7. Ralf Schumacher Germany Jordan-Mugen 2 laps down

8. Esteban Tuero Argentina Minardi-Ford 2 laps down

9. Mika Salo Finland Arrows-Arrows 2 laps down

10. Damon Hill Britain Jordan-Mugen 5 laps down

11. Olivier Panis France Prost-Peugeot 6 laps down


Ricardo Rosset Brazil Tyrrell-Ford 48 laps completed

Tora Takagi Japan Tyrrell-Ford 40 laps completed

Jarno Trulli Italy Prost-Peugeot 34 laps completed

Shinji Nakano Japan Minardi-Ford 27 laps completed

Pedro Diniz Brazil Arrows-Arrows 18 laps completed

Mika Hakkinen Finland McLaren-Mercedes 17 laps completed

Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Benetton-Playlife 17 laps completed

Alez Wurz Austria Benetton-Playlife 17 laps completed

Johnny Herbert Britain Sauber-Petronas 12 laps completed

Jan Magnussen Denmark Stewart-Ford 8 laps completed

Reubens Barrichello Brazil Stewart-Ford 0 laps completed