30 March 1998 Patrick Head said that Williams, which uses a braking system similar to McLaren's, is going to ask FIA for a unequivocal answer on the third pedal question. Williams will present recordings of Max Mosley stating that the system is legal.
30 March 1998 Ferrari said that the argument they are having about the braking system is not with McLaren, but with FIA itself. Presenting an official complaint against another team is the only way to bring a matter in front of FIA. Ferrari and several other teams are accusing FIA of not being clear about its position on several issues, so that teams do not dare to spend lots of money developing new designs, in case they are later found to be irregular. After the FIA representatives banned McLaren from using the third pedal until FIA takes an official position on the matter, Ron Dennis had criticised the FIA representatives saying that they do not have the power to make this sort of decision.
29 March 1998 Damon Hill has been disqualified from the Brazilian GP after the race marshalls found irregularities with his Jordan. Hill had finished tenth. Magnussen on Stewart, who had finished eleventh, moves on one position.
29 March 1998 Hakkinen started from pole position and maintained an unchallanged lead throughout the whole race to win his third GP in a row and the first one which was not actually handed out to him by someone else. The Flying Finn lead the whole race in front of team mate Coulthard, who was second. Irvine managed a better start than M. Schumacher and, despite having started from third row while his team mate had started from the second row, was in front of the German for 11 laps. R. Schumacher committed an error and was out of the race in the first lap, while Trulli and Salo retired on lap 17. Takagi's Tyrrell suffered a blow up on lap 18. M. Schumacher got stuck behind Frentzen and, unable to overtake, opted for a strategic pit stop followed by Frentzen and Irvine on the following lap. Frentzen rejoined behind M. Schumacher. In the meantime McLaren had been building up a massive lead, due to obvious superiority and aided by being on a one-stop strategy. On lap 26 Diniz was forced out of the race by gearbox problems. Challanged by Frentzen, M. Schumacher managed to put Fisichella in between himself and the Williams driver but an error from the Italian, who went wide on a bend, allowed Frentzen to overtake him and resume his battle with M. Schumacher. Reigning World Champion Villeneuve stopped for his first pit stop on lap 30. On lap 31 Herbert's engine started producing smoke, but he decided to carry on and managed to reach lap 70 before he was forced to retire. On lap 36 Coulthard went for his only pit stop, followed by Hakkinen on lap 38. Hakkinen had mantained a good lead over his team mate and rejoined in the lead with plenty of manouvering space. Wurz held up M. Schumacher, allowing Frentzen to reach up and restart the battle for fourth position. At this point Wurz had not yet stopped at the pits. For a few laps Wurz held up M. Schumacher and Frentzen, without either the Ferrari driver managing to overtake him, or the Williams driver managing to gain a position. Given the traffic, Frentzen decided to go for an early second pit stop on lap 45, but Wurz pitted immediately afterwards giving M. Schumacher (who decided to postpone his pit stop) a free run to build up a margin before going into the pits. Sure enough, after the pit stop M. Schumacher rejoined in front of Wurz, who had just overtaken Frentzen, despite the Ferrari engine stopping and having to be restarted by the mechanics (pit stop time: over 13 seconds). On lap 66 Panis went out, possibly with transmission problems. On the very last lap race leader Hakkinen started slowing down, arousing suspicions that he might have wanted to return Coulthard's favour in the first GP of the season. This type of agreement has now been outlawed by FIA and Hakkinen just wanted to give team mate Coulthard the chance to reach up with him to make another dramatic one-two finish. Third was M. schumacher, about one minute behind the McLarens, followed by Wurz, Frentzen and Fisichella. Reigning World Champion Villeneuve finished just outside the points in seventh position. One of the highlights of the GP was the performance of young Benetton driver Alexander Wurz, who ran a suberb race. Also interesting is the fact that this time the McLarens did not manage to lap all the other cars, like they had done in Australia (M. Schumacher and Wurz were the only two to finish without being lapped). This might mean that the other teams are "reaching up" to McLaren's standard, or it might be the fact that McLaren was not allowed to use its much talked about braking system.
27 March 1998 Even without the third pedal, McLaren was fastest in practice. Hakkinen was first followed by team mate Coulthard.
27 March 1998 Williams will use a Brazilian fuel for two years from the San Marino GP onwards. It is the first time Brazilain fuel is used in F1.
27 March 1998 McLaren, Williams and Jordan will have to remove the third pedal during today's practice. This decision was made by the three FIA representatives at Interlagos following the official complaint by Ferrari, Arrows, Tyrrell, Minardi and Jordan. The three teams will not be allowed to use the third pedal until FIA gives an official reply to the complaint.
27 March 1998 Several teams will compete in Brazil with cars sightly modified from the ones used in Australia. Prost will have brand new gear boxes. Williams has changed the aerodynamics and modified the engine, plus they have installed a braking system similar to McLaren's. McLaren has added side "ears" similar to Ferrari's. Minardi has improved the brakes. Benetton has modified the front suspensions to reduce understeering. Jordan has modified the aerodynamics of the back part of the car and has new front suspentions.
26 March 1998 Gerhard Berger is back. He will take up a job as ex team-mate Alesi's "track engineer".
26 March 1998 Ferrari said that if FIA finds McLaren's braking system regular after the official complaint, then the same system will be mounted on the Ferrari cars from the Argentinian GP. Other teams which are supporting Ferrari's official complaint are: Sauber, Arrows, Tyrrell, Stewart, Minardi and Prost.
25 March 1998 The owners of the Sao Paulo circuit said that some of the changes FIA imposed to be made to the circuit will make it dangerous. In particular the bend just before the finishing straight has not got a big enough escape route.
24 March 1998 McLaren said that Hakkinen and Coulthard did not use the much talked about braking system in Australia. Ferrari said that this statement will not make them change their mind about making an official complaint about it to FIA.
24 March 1998 Ferrari will present an official complaint against McLaren's braking system at the Brazilian GP. Ferrari's argument is that the braking system corresponds to having four steering wheels, which is against FIA's regulations. The complaint might be presented as early as Thursday night.
23 March 1998 Jos verstappen has been hired by Benetton as a test driver for 48 hours. He will test for Benetton on 1-2 April at Silverstone. After that the team might decide to hire him as a test driver permanently.
21 March 1998 German magazine Auto Sport says that McLaren's braking system is based on that of the Mercedes Class A, introduced to make the car stable after failing the "elk test". Based on the same principle, the braking system on the Class A is electronic, while McLaren's is mechanic. The system has two separate braking circuits, one for the front wheels and one for the back wheels. The one for the back wheels is connected to the steering, so that when the driver turns the steering wheel, more braking pressure is applied to the inside wheels. This reduces slipping of the wheels and compensate understeering. Since the system is mechanic, it should be in line with FIA's regulations, which only forbid electronic systems.
20 March 1998 Luciano Benetton said that in his opinion McLaren's third pedal is not irregular and the reason the car goes so well is because it is very well engineered. He also added that Coulthard was a real gentleman by keeping to his agreement with Hakkinen in Melbourne, when he was winning.
20 March 1998 M. Schumacher, referring to McLaren's third pedal, said that it is necessary for FIA to clarify what is allowed and what is not. He also added that the reason why Mclaren dominated the race in Melbourne is not the braking system, but rather the fact that the McLaren is a very good car. According to the German it will take at least 3 or 4 races for Ferrari to be competitive. In testing M. Schumacher suffered another blown engine after only 10 laps.
19 March 1998 Jean Todt said that the official position of Ferrari is that McLaren's third pedal corresponds to an automatic steering system. Ferrari will lodge an official complaint against anybody who will use it in Brazil.
19 March 1998 Yesterday FIA said that cases like the Hakkinen-Coulthard pre-race agreement in Melbourne will not be tolerated in future. They also said that next year's calendar will have 20 races (including China and South Africa and, possibly, USA) and that Friday practice will be abolished. No mention was made of McLaren's third pedal.
18 March 1998 FIA decided to reinstate the French GP in the 1998 F1 calendar. The French GP will be run at Magny-Cours on 28 June.
18 March 1998 Today FIA will decide whether to reinstate the French GP into the 1998 calendar. A statement on McLAren's third pedal is also expected.
18 March 1998 A new engine for Ferrari? after completing yesterday's testing session at Mugello, Eddie Irvine told reporters that in Brazil Ferrari will have a new engine. Immediately a Ferrari spokeperson said that Irvine must have misunderstood something the mechanics told him and that in Brazil the Ferrari cars will run with exactly the same engine as in Australia. Yesterday Hakkinen managed to improve on his record, while Arrows sufered serious engine problems and Williams was seriously hindered by electronics problems.
17 March 1998 Siemens has become partner of FIA for information technology and will also sponsor the McLaren drivers.
17 March 1998 Villeneuve said that Frentzen used a "third pedal" based on the same principle of the McLaren's one in Melbourne and that he too would start using it if it is proved that it does give an advantage. The Canadian also said that after taking to M. Schumacher in Australia the two drivers found out that lots of the things that had allegedly been said by the two of them after the Jerez accident were exagerations of the media.
17 March 1998 Goodyear has sent to the two teams which are testing at Barcelona (Williams and Jordan) a very large number of tyres to try and find the "perfect" type of tyre to compete with Bridgestone. Since Prost Racing is also testing in Barcelona, Goodyear will be able to compare the performance of its own tyres against that of its competitor.
16 March 1998 The French Federation of Sport (FFSA) has officially asked FIA to include the French GP in the 1998 F1 calendar. The French GP would be run on the 28th of June. FIA will make a decision on the matter on Wednesday.
15 March 1998 The Ferrari team said that they have found out why M. Schumacher's engine blew up on lap 5 in the first GP of the season and why Irvine had to have his engine changed three times before the race. No details were given on the problem, but it is reported to be now solved.
12 March 1998 Ferrari has denied the rumour, published today by the German paper "Bind", that M. Schumacher has been offered 150 billion lire to extend his contract with the house of Maranello until the year 2002.
12 March 1998 Goodyear announced that before the Brazilian GP they will provide the teams with a new type of tyre which will close the gap with Bridgestone.
11 March 1998 After much speculation from all teams, FIA has finally confirmed that independent braking on all four wheels is allowed.
10 March 1998 FIA's sport tribunal will decide on the 18th of March whether to accept or reject the complaint against McLaren brought about by the organisers of the Australian GP.
9 March 1998 Following the complaint from the organisers of the Australian GP, FIA said that McLaren will not be punished.
9 March 1998 The organisers of the Australian GP have presented an official complaint to FIA about Coulthard slowing down to allow his team mate Hakkinen to overtake him and win the race.
9 March 1998 Nobuhiko Kawamoto, president of Honda Motor, said that his company wants to get back into F1 with its own team and car. They expect to have the project finalised by the end of the year.
8 March 1998 The 1998 F1 Championship started today at Melbourne. The whole race was completely dominated by the two McLaren cars, which started at the front, staid in front, lapped everybody else and, despite Hakkinen doing an unnecessary pit entry, finished first and second, one lap ahead of third classified Frentzen. Hakkinen was first at the start, followed by Coulthard and M. Schumacher. Magnusson was a bit too adventurous and took out R. Schumacher and Tagaki on the second lap, while his team-mate Barrichello had already stopped. On lap six a blown engine forced out M. Schumacher, who vented his frustration by throwing away his steering wheel. Tuero paid the price of his lack of experience by being given first a 10 second stop penalty for jump start and another one later for speeding in the pit lanes. He was taken out of the race on lap 24 when his engine blew up. Hill and Salo stopped at the pits at the same time while battling for position. Salo's stop was marginally shorter and overtook Hill in the pits just as the ex World Champion started moving. Irvine, on the only Ferrari left, suffered problems during a pit stop which forced him to give up trying to take the third position from Frentzen. Fisichella, who had been battling for points, suffered a collapsed rear wing and had to retire. Towards the end of the race Hakkinen appears to have received confusing information from his mechanics and went in for a pit stop. When he saw that nobody was there waiting for him he carried on back to the race, but the delay put him in second place behind team mate Coulthard. The Scot looked like the obvious winner but, with two laps to go, he slowed down and let his team mate through, giving Hakkinen his second ever F1 victory. Later the two McLaren drivers said that they had made an agreement that whoever was first at the first bend on the first lap would not be challanged for victory by the other driver. Coulthard honoured the pact and let Hakkinen win. The team spirit of the two McLaren drivers was also shown during the parade lap, when the two cars lapped side by side, not one in front of the other, as if to signify that the two drivers consider each other as equal. This is rare in the current F1 teams, where people like M. Schumacher and Villeneuve are obviously treated as first drivers by the team and Damon Hill vehemently demands to be treated as such. Frentzen took third position, Irvine fourth, Villeneuve fifth and Herbert sixth. This first race of the new Champioship also gave the chance to observe the behaviour of the new grooved tyres. Overall all drivers coped with them well, but it was evident that the Bridgestone tyres are superior to the Goodyear ones, which were blistered and worn out when changed at the pit stops, while the Japanese ones showed signs of wearing evenly and without blistering. It looks likely that the tyres will have an important part to play in this year's Championship, more so than last year.
7 March 1998 The qualifying session saw Hakkinen gain his second pole-position ever of his career, followed by team-mate Coulthard, rivals M. Schumacher and Villeneuve, Herbert and Frentzen.
6 March 1998 The very first free practice session of 1998 saw M. Schumacher the fastest, followed by Hakkinen, Villeneuve, Wurz, Coulthard and R. Schumacher.
6 March 1998 Max Mosley said that nobody is going to get disqualified because the grooves on the tyres wear out.
6 March 1998 McLaren has created a new two-seater F1 car to give paying passengers the trill to be driven around a race track by Hakkinen or Coulthard.
6 March 1998 It appers increasingly certain that a French GP will be introduced in the 1998 calendar for the 28th of June.
5 March 1998 The latest (unverified) rumour about the French GP is that Max Mosley said today that it has been included into the 1998 calendar.
5 March 1998 With a few hours to go before the start of the qualifying session for the first race of the 1998 F1 Championship, M. Schumacher said that he does not think he will win the Australian GP, but he expects the team to improve all the time throughout the season.
5 March 1998 Today in Melbourne Max Mosley said that tobacco advertising might be scrapped from F1 altogether from the year 2002, but only if it will be proved without doubt that addiction to smoking is linked to tobacco advertising. Apparently the governments of several countries have already said that they have the evidence to prove the existence of the link between tobacco advertising and smoking. FIA produced a press release on the subject today, in which it is stated that such a ban would be enforced for GPs outside Europe too, so that it would provide a powerful supplement to teh EC directive.
5 March 1998 A group of environmentalist broke into the Albert Park track yesterday and staged a protest against having the Australian GP there. A woman handcuffed herself to the Ferrari box. The police manged to control the situation, but nobody was arrested. Forecasting more trouble, the organisers of the GP have asked for increased police protection.
4 March 1998 So far Prost Grand Prix and Stewart Racing are the only two teams not to have passed the compulsory crash test. If they fail to pass the crash test before Friday, they will not be allowed to take part in the qualifying session.
4 March 1998 Montezemolo said that he would like FIA to clarify several points in the new regulations to avoid all the different interpretations which marred last year's championship.
3 March 1998 Flavio Briatore said that in his opinion the 1998 F1 championship will be won by M. Schumacher, who will then move to McLaren.
3 March 1998 All the cars have arrived in Melbourne and the teams have started getting ready for the start of the 1998 F1 Championship.
2 March 1998 J. Villeneuve said that he never forgave M. Schumacher for trying to force him out of the last race of 1997 to take the title. The Canadian added that he never really trusted the German before and he certainly never will after what happened in Jerez.
1 March 1998 Alain Prost said that due to problems with getting the gearbox ready his F1 team is behind schedule. He believes they will have to work very hard for about two months to get everything just right.
Last updated on 30 March 1998 by Federica Massagrande