The seven-time Formula 1 world champion is 53 years old today. And one of his little-known masterpieces remains the 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Summer 1998. Michael Schumacher was engaged in a duel for the title of world champion with the Finnish Mika Häkkinen. And at the start of the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix, things looked bad for the Ferrari driver. He was 16 points behind in the championship. And on the tortuous Hungaroring, the two McLaren Mercedes Häkkinen and David Coulthard monopolized the first row of the starting grid.
When the lights went out, Schumacher failed to fit between the two silver arrows. Worse, Coulthard protected the advance of his teammate, who took off in the lead …
For Ferrari, there remains the strategic map. Ross Brawn, mastermind of the Scuderia, took a chance. The F300 is then “switched” to a three-stop strategy, against two at McLarens. Theoretical advantage: shorter stints, with a lighter petrol car (at that time, we refueled during races) and cooler tires. Disadvantage: the loss of about twenty seconds during the third passage in the pit lane.
A priori, things were going badly. After his first stop (on lap 25 of 77), Michael Schumacher was stuck six laps behind Jacques Villeneuve’s Williams-Mecachrome – who ended up stopping a few kilometers later – losing precious seconds. The McLarens in turn passed through the pits, retaining their first two places.
Tour 31 :
- Caged
- Coulthard +3,5 s.
- Schumacher + 7,0 s.
At this moment, Schumacher attacked, gaining 6 tenths per lap from the McLarens by “typing” in his Goodyear. Soon Kerpen’s man found himself in Coulthard’s exhausts. But overtaking on the Hungarian track was impossible …
Schumacher was called back to the pits on lap 43, revealing his strategy to McLaren: the 7.7 seconds stoppage indicated that the German had not loaded enough gasoline to go to the checkered flag.
Scuderia master strategist Ross Brawn called his pilot over the radio:
“Michael, you have 19 laps to take 25 seconds. You have to give us 19 qualifying laps ”. – Ross Brawn
“Thank you,” Michael Schumacher replied laconically.
Suddenly, Schumacher’s partials lit up purple on the Tag Heuer screens. The German went all the way back to the McLarens. Coulthard refueled a lap after Schumacher, but the higher fuel load – to get to the end – made him lose his second place. Häkkinen also returned to the pits for his second stop, losing the lead in the race to Ferrari.
Could Schumacher dig a 19-second hole in 22 laps, to come back to Häkkinen after his third stop?
We’ll never know. Because the Finn’s McLaren suffered a damage to an anti-roll bar, making his car nervous. McLaren took ten minutes to ask Häkkinen to let Coulthard pass… While he could still beat Schumacher. Despite this, the Ferrari still had to take 14 seconds in 10 laps at the McLaren to hope to set off again in front of the Scotsman.
At the limit everywhere – he even made an expedition in the gravel trap of the last corner – the German widened the gap at an insane rate of almost 2 seconds per lap. Coulthard couldn’t keep up, despite his “soft” Bridgestones.
On lap 62, Schumacher returned to the pit lane for his third stop. He took the lead again, ahead of Coulthard. He couldn’t be beaten anymore.
The next day, the British daily The Independant headlined: “Schumacher proves sublime”.
Photo : Icon Sport
To read on auto-moto.com:
Why is creating a new F1 team (almost) impossible?
F1 – Mechanics on the verge of failure
F1: our top 10 drivers this season
24H of Le Mans: what we already know about the future Porsche LMDh
The F1 race you’ve never heard of – VIDEO
Sébastien Loeb returns to the WRC
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion is 53 years old today. And one of his little-known masterpieces remains the 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Summer 1998. Michael Schumacher was engaged in a duel for the title of world champion with the Finnish Mika Häkkinen. And at the start of the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix, things looked bad for the Ferrari driver. He was 16 points behind in the championship. And on the tortuous Hungaroring, the two McLaren Mercedes Häkkinen and David Coulthard monopolized the first row of the starting grid.
When the lights went out, Schumacher failed to fit between the two silver arrows. Worse, Coulthard protected the advance of his teammate, who took off in the lead …
For Ferrari, there remains the strategic map. Ross Brawn, mastermind of the Scuderia, took a chance. The F300 is then “switched” to a three-stop strategy, against two at McLarens. Theoretical advantage: shorter stints, with a lighter petrol car (at that time, we refueled during races) and cooler tires. Disadvantage: the loss of about twenty seconds during the third passage in the pit lane.
A priori, things were going badly. After his first stop (on lap 25 of 77), Michael Schumacher was stuck six laps behind Jacques Villeneuve’s Williams-Mecachrome – who ended up stopping a few kilometers later – losing precious seconds. The McLarens in turn passed through the pits, retaining their first two places.
Tour 31 :
- Caged
- Coulthard +3,5 s.
- Schumacher + 7,0 s.
At this moment, Schumacher attacked, gaining 6 tenths per lap from the McLarens by “typing” in his Goodyear. Soon Kerpen’s man found himself in Coulthard’s exhausts. But overtaking on the Hungarian track was impossible …
Schumacher was called back to the pits on lap 43, revealing his strategy to McLaren: the 7.7 seconds stoppage indicated that the German had not loaded enough gasoline to go to the checkered flag.
Scuderia master strategist Ross Brawn called his pilot over the radio:
“Michael, you have 19 laps to take 25 seconds. You have to give us 19 qualifying laps ”. – Ross Brawn
“Thank you,” Michael Schumacher replied laconically.
Suddenly, Schumacher’s partials lit up purple on the Tag Heuer screens. The German went all the way back to the McLarens. Coulthard refueled a lap after Schumacher, but the higher fuel load – to get to the end – made him lose his second place. Häkkinen also returned to the pits for his second stop, losing the lead in the race to Ferrari.
Could Schumacher dig a 19-second hole in 22 laps, to come back to Häkkinen after his third stop?
We’ll never know. Because the Finn’s McLaren suffered a damage to an anti-roll bar, making his car nervous. McLaren took ten minutes to ask Häkkinen to let Coulthard pass… While he could still beat Schumacher. Despite this, the Ferrari still had to take 14 seconds in 10 laps at the McLaren to hope to set off again in front of the Scotsman.
At the limit everywhere – he even made an expedition in the gravel trap of the last corner – the German widened the gap at an insane rate of almost 2 seconds per lap. Coulthard couldn’t keep up, despite his “soft” Bridgestones.
On lap 62, Schumacher returned to the pit lane for his third stop. He took the lead again, ahead of Coulthard. He couldn’t be beaten anymore.
The next day, the British daily The Independant headlined: “Schumacher proves sublime”.
Photo : Icon Sport
To read on auto-moto.com:
Why is creating a new F1 team (almost) impossible?
F1 – Mechanics on the verge of failure
F1: our top 10 drivers this season
24H of Le Mans: what we already know about the future Porsche LMDh
The F1 race you’ve never heard of – VIDEO
Sébastien Loeb returns to the WRC
