The Alternate F1 reality - 1998 onwards

[HawkAussie]

This is an alternate reality which will start in late 1997 and hopefully will go all the way until this year. I hope

November 11, 1997 - After the drama filled final race of the season held at Jerez, it has been decided that Michael Schumacher will be DSQ from the season and will also have to miss the first two races of the 1998 season.

November 19, 1997 - Gerhard Berger has called time on his career with the ten-time race winner officially calling it quits. No news has come out in who will replace him.

November 25, 1997 - The calendar for the 1998 season has been revealed with the noticeable change being the dropping of Jerez from the calendar. The only other change is Monaco swapping with Spain on the calendar.

December 3, 1997 - Despite rumours that Renault could be withdrawing from the sport, it has been shot down with Benetton keeping Renault engines for the upcoming season.

December 6, 1997 - The entry list for the 1998 season has also been revealed with the teams from last year staying together for yet another season. But the big news come from Ferrari with Badoer set to race in the first two races as he replaces Schumacher who will be out because of the Spain incident.

Williams - Villeneuve, Frentzen
Ferrari - Badoer, Irvine
Benetton - Alesi, TBA
McLaren - Coulthard, Hakkinen
Jordan - Hill, R. Schumacher
Prost - Panis, Trulli
Sauber - Herbert, TBA
Arrows - Diniz, TBA
Stewart - Barrichello, TBA
Tyrrell - Zonta, Salo
Minardi - Nakano, TBA

OOC: I am using xkoranate so get ready for some crazy results.

[andrew]

I love these kinds of things, so will be following, I bet Badoer wins both of the opening races,

[HawkAussie]

December 15, 1997 - In a bold move, the South African Grand Prix could be making a bid with problems of the French Grand Prix with the Tobacco ban in Europe leading to France denying that if its not removed, they will withdraw support for the GP.

January 10, 1998 - The cars for the 1998 season are starting to be revealed with Stewart being the latest team to reveal the car. Most of the remaining cars will be revealed in the first test which will be held in Kyalami.

January 14, 1998 - Norberto Fontana will be seated as the number two driver for Minardi after the Tuero deal didn't go through as he wasn't qualified for a Super License. The hope is that with another season in F3000 will give him the requirments to give him a spot.

January 17, 1998 - Testing at Kylami has begun today with 21 drivers heading over to South Africa for the first official pre-season test. The three day test will see the drivers testing out will be as follows:

Williams - Villeneuve, Frentzen
Ferrari - Badoer, Irvine
Benetton - Alesi, Wurz
McLaren - Coulthard, Hakkinen
Jordan - Hill, R. Schumacher
Prost - Panis, Trulli
Sauber - Herbert, Fisichella
Arrows - Diniz
Stewart - Barrichello, Magnussen
Tyrrell - Zonta, Salo
Minardi - Nakano, Fontana

January 20, 1998 - Testing is over for the first pre-season test and the news is that Williams will be the team to beat this season as they go 1 and 3 in the first test. But hot on the toes will be McLaren who after finishing 2nd and 5th in the first test was happy how it panned out. On the other end of the scale, Minardi and Tyrrell will need to fix something for the next test which will be in Barcelona

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 1 Jacques Villeneuve (Williams)     1:18.985
 2 David Coulthard (McLaren)         1:19.252
 3 Heinz-Harald Frenzten (Williams)  1:19.318
 4 Eddie Irvine (Ferrari)            1:19.350
 5 Mika Hakkinen (McLaren)           1:19.450
 6 Jean Alesi (Benetton)             1:19.470
 7 Johnny Herbert (Sauber)           1:19.475
 8 Ralf Schumacher (Jordan)          1:19.484
 9 Damon Hill (Jordan)               1:19.567
10 Luca Badoer (Ferrari)             1:19.590
11 Jarno Trulli (Prost)              1:19.605
12 Alexander Wurz (Benetton)         1:19.749
13 Jan Magnussen (Stewart)           1:19.766
14 Rubens Barrichello (Stewart)      1:19.814
15 Mika Salo (Tyrrell)               1:19.888
16 Giancarlo Fisichella (Sauber)     1:19.954
17 Olivier Panis (Prost)             1:20.125
18 Pedro Diniz (Arrows)              1:20.201
19 Ricardo Zonta (Tyrrell)           1:20.328
20 Norberto Fontana (Minardi)        1:20.587
21 Shinji Nakano (Minardi)           1:21.255

February 3, 1998 - The final seat for the 1998 season have been filled with Toranosuke Takagi taking the seat in the Arrows. This now means we have the whole 22 seats filled.

February 9, 1998 - China could be holding a GP next year with the Zhuhai International Circuit being the track named to host the GP.

February 14, 1998 - In a shock move Mika Salo has been dropped from Tyrrell and been replaced by Ricardo Rosset who will be bring in vaulable money to the team.

February 16, 1998 - The second test has begun today with two changes from the previous test held in Kyalami. The big one being Mika Salo being dropped for Ricardo Rosset which means Tyrrell will have a all Brazilian team for the first time in F1 history is in the Arrows garage with Toranosuke Takagi filling in the second seat.

Williams - Villeneuve, Frentzen
Ferrari - Badoer, Irvine
Benetton - Alesi, Wurz
McLaren - Coulthard, Hakkinen
Jordan - Hill, R. Schumacher
Prost - Panis, Trulli
Sauber - Herbert, Fisichella
Arrows - Diniz
Stewart - Barrichello, Magnussen
Tyrrell - Zonta, Rosset
Minardi - Nakano, Fontana

February 20, 1998 - Testing have been completed in Barcelona with Williams once again topping the time sheets. The biggest shock from this would be Sauber and Prost who after having shocking results last time out brought their A-game to have cars being in the top 5. McLaren on the other hand had a shocker with the car having issues which stopped them for a day. They only hope that this isn't signs of things to come.

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 1 Heinz-Harald Frenzten (Williams)  1:26.526
 2 Jean Alesi (Benetton)             1:26.592
 3 Eddie Irvine (Ferrari)            1:26.699
 4 Giancarlo Fisichella (Sauber)     1:26.892
 5 Olivier Panis (Prost)             1:26.917
 6 Johnny Herbert (Sauber)           1:26.931
 7 Jarno Trulli (Prost)              1:27.014
 8 Luca Badoer (Ferrari)             1:27.027
 9 Mika Hakkinen (McLaren)           1:27.075
10 Damon Hill (Jordan)               1:27.080
11 Jacques Villeneuve (Williams)     1:27.083
12 Rubens Barrichello (Stewart)      1:27.093
13 Alexander Wurz (Benetton)         1:27.102
14 David Coulthard (McLaren)         1:27.103
15 Jan Magnussen (Stewart)           1:27.118
16 Ralf Schumacher (Jordan)          1:27.288
17 Toranosuke Takagi (Arrows)        1:27.421
18 Pedro Diniz (Arrows)              1:27.489
19 Ricardo Zonta (Tyrrell)           1:27.553
20 Ricardo Rosset (Tyrrell)          1:27.640
21 Shinji Nakano (Minardi)           1:27.879
22 Norberto Fontana (Minardi)        1:27.927

[HawkAussie]

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1 Jean Alesi (Benetton)             1:32.617
 2 Jacques Villeneuve (Williams)     1:32.654
 3 David Coulthard (McLaren)         1:32.704
 4 Mika Hakkinen (McLaren)           1:32.718
 5 Heinz-Harald Frenzten (Williams)  1:32.753
 6 Jarno Trulli (Prost)              1:32.910
 7 Alexander Wurz (Benetton)         1:33.064
 8 Jan Magnussen (Stewart)           1:33.114
 9 Johnny Herbert (Sauber)           1:33.179
10 Giancarlo Fisichella (Sauber)     1:33.190
11 Ralf Schumacher (Jordan)          1:33.202
12 Pedro Diniz (Arrows)              1:33.264
13 Damon Hill (Jordan)               1:33.290
14 Ricardo Zonta (Tyrrell)           1:33.330
15 Ricardo Rosset (Tyrrell)          1:33.348
16 Eddie Irvine (Ferrari)            1:33.386
17 Luca Badoer (Ferrari)             1:33.388
18 Rubens Barrichello (Stewart)      1:33.596
19 Toranosuke Takagi (Arrows)        1:33.645
20 Norberto Fontana (Minardi)        1:33.870
21 Shinji Nakano (Minardi)           1:33.935
22 Olivier Panis (Prost)             1:34.153

Alesi gets shock pole
As the teams head to Melbourne for the first round, Williams and McLaren were expected to dominate qualifying. What they didn't expect was a certain Jean Alesi to take pole for the opening race of the season after sealing almost a perfect lap to give Benetton pole. The defending champion in Villeneuve came in 2nd place with the two McLaren sealing the 2nd row. For Ferrari, a mechnaicial issue force the Ferraris to be down on power as they could only finish in 16th and 17th place.

They weren't the only one to have problems with Olivier Panis having engines issues at turn 4 with the engine stalling in the middle of the circuit which would cause Panis to run back to pit lane while the session was red flagged. The other Prost had no such trouble with Trulli finishing in 6th place.

[HawkAussie]

OOC: Seems to not like me all of a sudden with my simulator

1. Eddie Irvine (Ferrari) - 10 points
2. Jacques Villeneuve (Williams) - 6 points
3. Jan Magnussen (Stewart) - 4 points
4. Jean Alesi (Benetton) - 3 points
5. Ricardo Zonta (Tyrrell) - 2 points
6. Olivier Panis (Prost) - 1 point
7. Damon Hill (Jordan)
8. Pedro Diniz (Arrows)
9. Heinz-Harald Frenzten (Williams)
10. Ricardo Rosset (Tyrrell)
11. Ralf Schumacher (Jordan)
12. Jarno Trulli (Prost)
13. Alexander Wurz (Benetton)
14. Johnny Herbert (Sauber)
15. Shinji Nakano (Minardi)
16. Mika Hakkinen (McLaren)
17. Luca Badoer (Ferrari)
Rest are DNF

[HawkAussie]

March 8, 1998 - The F1 calendar could be seeing a massive change in the calendar with the final calendar for the rest of the season. This is because of the five week break between Luxembourg and Japan with South Africa possibly being that spot.

March 9, 1998 - With Ferrari taking out the first win of the new season, Eddie Irvine said he was happy with the car and could be a contender for the WCC.

March 13, 1998 - Honda has today confirmed that they will be entering the 1999 Formula One season with the last GP that the team entered being the 1968 Mexican Grand Prix.

March 18, 1998 - The French GP has been dropped for the 1998 Formula One calendar with the GP date being around the time of the FIFA World Cup which is being held in France at the time. They are hoping though that they will come back next year.

March 20, 1998 - With France dropped, this now leaves a six week gap between the Canadian and British GP's with some suggesting that the calendar might have a reshuffle to bring China and South Africa which are currently on the reserve list.

March 25, 1998 - With teams being in Brazil for the second round of the season, everyone is predicting that the McLaren's will bounce back after the shocking result in the opening race at Melbourne.

[HawkAussie]

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1 Jacques Villeneuve (Williams)     1:22.445
 2 Jean Alesi (Benetton)             1:22.653
 3 Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Williams)  1:22.802
 4 Damon Hill (Jordan)               1:22.861
 5 Jarno Trulli (Prost)              1:22.999
 6 Mika Hakkinen (McLaren)           1:23.080
 7 Luca Badoer (Ferrari)             1:23.198
 8 David Coulthard (McLaren)         1:23.289
 9 Jan Magnussen (Stewart)           1:23.303
10 Eddie Irvine (Ferrari)            1:23.379
11 Giancarlo Fisichella (Sauber)     1:23.481
12 Ralf Schumacher (Jordan)          1:23.626
13 Toranosuke Takagi (Arrows)        1:23.639
14 Ricardo Rosset (Tyrrell)          1:23.649
15 Ricardo Zonta (Tyrrell)           1:23.649
16 Olivier Panis (Prost)             1:23.999
17 Shinji Nakano (Minardi)           1:24.196
18 Johnny Herbert (Sauber)           1:24.202
19 Rubens Barrichello (Stewart)      1:25.523
20 Alexander Wurz (Benetton)         1:25.641
21 Pedro Diniz (Arrows)              1:25.721
DNQ Norberto Fontana (Minardi)       1:28.647

Villeneuve pole in Brazil
On a wet track, defending champion Jacques Villeneuve has set pole for the 1998 Brazilian Grand Prix to give Williams their first pole for the season. Jean Alesi will start beside him after having pole for most of the session, he was pipped in the final minutes. Frentzen finished in 3rd to finish the Williams sandwich.

Ferrari had a much better qualifying session than Australia with the cars being in 7th and 10th place while McLaren didn't have the speed in the wet as they struggle to finish in 6th and 8th. For Minardi, they will only have one car racing in the GP with the home support not helping Norberto Fontana to get out of qualifying above the 107% rule which is in place.

[HawkAussie]

Coulthard wins in Brazil
For the first time this year, a McLaren has taken out the win with David Coulthard getting his first win at the expense of Villeneuve who ran out of fuel on the final lap of the race.

The race got off on a damp circuit and it was Villeneuve who got the jump on Alesi leading into the first corner.
Despite the dampness was the bad start from Damon Hill as he lost three spots at the start. Another driver who got off a good start was Ricardo Zonta who from 15th place got up to 11th.

On lap 15, Barrichello car started to have problems with the suspension before retiring on lap 18 when it gave way to end his race for the second time in a row. After the first pits was done, Coulthard held the lead by seven seconds from Hakkinen and Irvine and for most of the middle section, it was those three on the top with the final remaining points changing around.

That would be until lap 31 when Badoer spun at Larandja as the car went off track and into the wall to end his race and a safety car to bunch up the field. On the restart, it was Zonta who was in seventh got the brilliant start as he put in contetion for the win and with the home support with him it was clear why. On lap 44, the second round of pit stops started with Villeneuve coming in first. This was where the mistake happen with the pit crew not putting enough fuel to get the car to the end as they were hoping to take the win with a lighter fuel load then what was indeed.

Alexander Wurz was the next car to retire with a transmission issue ending his race on lap 53. With ten laps to go Villeneuve move to pit earlier than the rest was starting to pay off with the car now in position 4 but with fuel starting to run low, the pit crew was telling him to slow down to conserve enough fuel for the rest of the race. But the rest of history would say he ran out of fuel on the final lap despite his conserve approach to surviving.

The race winner though would be David Coulthard with Ricardo Zonta taking 2nd place and showing that he could be a driver for the future with a 2nd place finish. Hakkinen finished in 3rd to give McLaren the constructor championship lead over Ferrari with Irvine finishing in 5th and Badoer retiring. For Badoer this would be the last race of his two race contract with M. Schumacher coming back into the team to replace him.

ROTR: The pit crew of Villeneuve car for not putting enough fuel for the rest of the race
DOTR: David Coulthard

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1 David Coulthard (McLaren)           1:55:24.124
2 Ricardo Zonta (Tyrrell)             +11.673
3 Mika Hakkinen (McLaren)             +16.723
4 Ralf Schumacher (Jordan)            +17.774
5 Eddie Irvine (Ferrari)              +37.188
6 Jean Alesi (Benetton)               +47.559
7 Jarno Trulli (Prost)                +48.264
8 Toranosuke Takagi (Arrows)          +1:04.034
9 Jacques Villeneuve (Williams)        DNF lap 72
10 Heinz-Harald Frenzten (Williams)    +1 lap
11 Johnny Herbert (Sauber)                 +1 lap
12 Olivier Panis (Prost)                   +1 lap
13 Jan Magnussen (Stewart)                 +1 lap
14 Damon Hill (Jordan)                     +1 lap
15 Giancarlo Fisichella (Sauber)           +1 lap
16 Shinji Nakano (Minardi)                 +1 lap
17 Pedro Diniz (Arrows)                    +1 lap
18 Ricardo Rosset (Tyrrell)                +2 laps
 - Alexander Wurz (Benetton)            DNF lap 53
  Luca Badoer (Ferrari)                DNF lap 31
  Rubens Barrichello (Stewart)         DNF lap 18

Standings after Round 2/16
Drivers
1. Eddie Irvine (GBR) 12
2. David Coulthard (GBR) 10
3. Ricardo Zonta (BRA) 8
4. Jacques Villeneuve (CAN) 6
5. Jan Magnussen (DEN) 4 (Countback: 3rd, 13th)
6. Mika Hakkinen (FIN) 4 (Countback: 3rd, 16th)
7. Jean Alesi (FRA) 4 (Countback: 4th, 6th)
8. Ralf Schumacher (GER) 3
9. Olivier Panis (FRA) 1

Teams
1. McLaren 14
2. Ferrari 12
3. Tyrrell 8
4. Williams 6
5. Stewart 4 (Best Result: 3rd)
6. Benetton 4 (Best Result: 4th)
7. Jordan 3
8. Prost 1
9. Arrows 0 (Best Result: 8th x2)
10. Sauber 0 (Best Result: 11th)
11. Minardi 0 (Best Result: 15th)

[HawkAussie]

March 30, 1998 - Damon Hill has been DSQ from the Brazilian Grand Prix after his car weighed 8 kilos under the minimum limit.

April 2, 1998 - With one week to go until the brand new season of the International Formula 3000 all eyes are on the new Colombian driver named Juan Pablo Montoya who after finishing 2nd last season is determined to take the title.

April 5, 1998 - China has been confirmed as the replacement for the French GP with it being held before the Japanese GP which will be the last GP for the season. This will be the first time that China has held a GP while for France, this is the first time since 1955 that it won't be holding an GP.

April 8, 1998 - Talks are starting to appear that Goodyear could be leaving the sport at the end of the season with Bridgestone people hoping that this isn't true as they want to be competitive in the tyre deals.

April 10, 1998 - As teams start to hit practice for the third round of the Formula One season, the big talking point was that of Michael Schumacher return to Ferrari as he replaces Badoer in the number 3 car.

OOC: Here is the revised schedule for the 1998 season coming up
3. Argentine Grand Prix (12 April)
4. San Marino Grand Prix (26 April)
5. Spanish Grand Prix (10 May)
6. Monaco Grand Prix (24 May)
7. Canadian Grand Prix (7 June)
8. British Grand Prix (5 July)
9. Austrian Grand Prix (19 July)
10. German Grand Prix (26 July)
11. Hungarian Grand Prix (9 August)
12. Belgian Grand Prix (23 August)
13. Italian Grand Prix (6 September)
14. Luxembourg Grand Prix (13 September)
15. Chinese Grand Prix (17 October) - Zhuhai International Circuit
16. Japanese Grand Prix (24 October)

All the other races are the same track.

[HawkAussie]

M. Schumacher poles in Argentina
Heading into his first race of the season, Michael Schumacher showed that he still has the pace as he went top of the qualifying sheet to get the pole position in the third round of the Argentine GP. On the other end of the scale, the championship leader in Irvine didn't have the best of runs as he will start 9th on the grid.

The session wasn't without its problems with Hakkinen car not functioning to its full potential with only a single lap early in the session before the car died. He will be allowed to start the race though. The other McLaren in Coulthard almost got to Schumacher but will beside him in 2nd. The Williams duo will be on the second row of the grid while Herbert and Panis will be on the third row.

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 1 Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)      1:25.688
 2 David Coulthard (McLaren)         1:25.880
 3 Heinz-Harald Frenzten (Williams)  1:25.927
 4 Jacques Villeneuve (Williams)     1:25.953
 5 Johnny Herbert (Sauber)           1:26.086
 6 Olivier Panis (Prost)             1:26.119
 7 Alexander Wurz (Benetton)         1:26.412
 8 Damon Hill (Jordan)               1:26.434
 9 Eddie Irvine (Ferrari)            1:26.469
10 Ralf Schumacher (Jordan)          1:26.534
11 Rubens Barrichello (Stewart)      1:26.740
12 Shinji Nakano (Minardi)           1:26.825
13 Jarno Trulli (Prost)              1:26.885
14 Giancarlo Fisichella (Sauber)     1:26.912
15 Ricardo Rosset (Tyrrell)          1:26.945
16 Toranosuke Takagi (Arrows)        1:27.111
17 Jean Alesi (Benetton)             1:27.654
18 Norberto Fontana (Minardi)        1:27.803
19 Pedro Diniz (Arrows)              1:27.866
20 Jan Magnussen (Stewart)           1:28.144
21 Ricardo Zonta (Tyrrell)           1:28.257
22 Mika Hakkinen (McLaren)           1:32.217

[Ciaran]

What a rough couple of races for Badoer, not even a Ferrari could get him some points.

[HawkAussie]

Alesi wins in Argentina
Starting from a low rank of 17th, Jean Alesi battled through the pack to record his first win since the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix as he took out the Argentine Grand Prix to be within two points of championship leader Irvine who finished 3rd.

Before the start of the GP, the track got damp as rain hit the track. But just before the start of the GP, it cleared and all of the drivers went with dry tyres to start. The opening few laps saw changes from all across the grid with David Coulthard getting the lead after the first lap. After eight laps it was Coulthard, Frentzen, Villeneuve, Wurz from the top 4.

On lap 12, Wurz's gearbox failed as his car had to go into the pit box and retire from the race. Then as the first pit stops starting to come around, Herbert fuel cap got caught on fire and despite the attempts from the pit crew, they had to retire the car on lap 21.

The next incident would happen on lap 32 when Shinji Nakano lost control on turn 16 and went into the gravel trap to cause the first safety car of the race. This safety car will be only for two laps before it came back into the pits and the race restarted. The racing would see a tough battle for first and second with Alesi and Irvine with Frentzen twenty seconds behind the two.

As the second round of pitstops was happening, Toranosuke Takagi engine died on lap 49 to end the Arrows race before six lap later Fisichella and Rosset crashed into each other to cause another safety car. After that SC period was over, Villeneuve and Hakkinen battled for position and with six laps to go they both collided as they lost their wings and retired.

But it was Alesi who would take the victory followed by Frentzen and Irvine.

ROTR: Sauber for problems with the brakes
DOTR: Jean Alesi

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1 Jean Alesi (Benetton)               1:59:12.207
2 Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Williams)        +31.909 
3 Eddie Irvine (Ferrari)                  +43.158
4 Jan Magnussen (Stewart)                 +49.156 
5 Ricardo Zonta (Tyrrell)                 +54.644 
6 Ralf Schumacher (Jordan)              +1:03.193
7 David Coulthard (McLaren)                -1 lap
8 Jarno Trulli (Prost)                     -1 lap
9 Olivier Panis (Prost)                    -1 lap
10 Pedro Diniz (Arrows)                    -1 lap
11 Rubens Barrichello (Stewart)            -1 lap
12 Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)            -1 lap
13 Damon Hill (Jordan)                     -1 lap
14 Norberto Fontana (Minardi)              -1 lap
-- Jacques Villeneuve (Williams)        DNF lap 66
  Mika Hakkinen (McLaren)              DNF lap 66
  Giancarlo Fisichella (Sauber)        DNF lap 55
  Ricardo Rosset (Tyrrell)             DNF lap 55
  Toranosuke Takagi (Arrows)           DNF lap 49
  Shinji Nakano (Minardi)              DNF lap 32
  Johnny Herbert (Sauber)              DNF lap 21 
  Alexander Wurz (Benetton)            DNF lap 12

Standings after Round 3/16
Drivers
1. Eddie Irvine (GBR) 16
2. Jean Alesi (FRA) 14
3. David Coulthard (GBR) 10 (Countback: 1st)
4. Ricardo Zonta (BRA) 10 (Countback: 2nd)
5. Jan Magnussen (DEN) 7
6. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (GER) 6 (Countback: 2nd, 9th, 10th)
7. Jacques Villeneuve (CAN) 6 (Countback: 2nd, 9th, Ret)
8. Mika Hakkinen (FIN) 4 (Countback: 3rd)
9. Ralf Schumacher (GER) 4 (Countback: 4th)
10. Olivier Panis (FRA) 1

Teams
1. Ferrari 16
2. McLaren 14 (Countback: 1st, 3rd)
3. Benetton 14 (Countback: 1st, 4th)
4. Williams 12
5. Tyrrell 10
6. Stewart 7
7. Jordan 4
8. Prost 1
9. Arrows 0 (Best Result: 8th x2)
10. Sauber 0 (Best Result: 11th)
11. Minardi 0 (Best Result: 14th)

[HawkAussie]

April 14, 1998 - Rumours are starting to circulate that M. Schumacher could be heading to McLarenw with the manager of Schumacher saying that it will not happen.

April 17, 1998 - In-season testing has been disrupted with foul weather and even snow affecting testing all across Europe.

April 18, 1998 - Rumours are circulating that Don Panoz interest of hosting the United States GP as passed a major barrier with Ecclestone talking to Panoz about a possible contract which F1 for five years.

April 20, 1998 - After bad performances from Stewart, Verstappen could be the line to replace Barrichello in the first Stewart car to try and get points from both of their cars.

April 22, 1998 - Some rounds have been going with the young Colombian in Montoya already been signed for Williams despite finishing in 15th place at the opening race.

April 23, 1998 - Could be an all-Italian team affair in terms of the car with Minardi in talks with Ferrari in having the customer engine deal that Sauber has released.

April 24, 1998 - As the teams head to Imola for the next round of the Formula One season, most teams have got upgrades to the car in hope to get some better results in the upcoming rounds.

[HawkAussie]

Ferrari goes 1-2
In the first European GP of the season most teams attempting to improve on the car but Ferrari showed that they had the skills with no upgrades as they go 1-2 in qualifying for the 1998 San Marino GP with Schumacher going pole once again with his Ferrari number two driver in Irvine beside him for the San Marino GP.

Starting third on the grid would be David Coulthard in the McLaren as he couldn't string a perfect lap despite holding the provisional pole for about ten minutes. Beside him will be Frentzen in the Williams with his team mate in Villeneuve being way down the order in 19th

Code: Select all

1 Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)      1:27.230
 2 Eddie Irvine (Ferrari)            1:27.504
 3 David Coulthard (McLaren)         1:27.613
 4 Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Williams)  1:27.672
 5 Mika Hakkinen (McLaren)           1:27.678
 6 Olivier Panis (Prost)             1:27.884
 7 Rubens Barrichello (Stewart)      1:27.947
 8 Ralf Schumacher (Jordan)          1:28.268
 9 Jean Alesi (Benetton)             1:28.313
10 Ricardo Zonta (Tyrrell)           1:28.320
11 Johnny Herbert (Sauber)           1:28.320
12 Norberto Fontana (Minardi)        1:28.418
13 Ricardo Rosset (Tyrrell)          1:28.475
14 Jarno Trulli (Prost)              1:28.549
15 Damon Hill (Jordan)               1:28.572
16 Shinji Nakano (Minardi)           1:28.895
17 Jan Magnussen (Stewart)           1:29.157
18 Alexander Wurz (Benetton)         1:29.562
19 Jacques Villeneuve (Williams)     1:29.862
20 Giancarlo Fisichella (Sauber)     1:30.244
21 Pedro Diniz (Arrows)              1:30.403
22 Toranosuke Takagi (Arrows)        1:30.921