When Michael Schumacher and Ferrari began title comeback at 1998 French GP

The year 1998 in Formula 1 is remembered for being the first installment in the classic rivalry between Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen. The subplot for the rivalry was simple – both teams wanted to be a world championship winning side again. McLaren’s last title came in 1991 with Ayrton Senna, whereas Ferrari’s last title came in 1979 with Jody Sheckter. The two drivers also had different motivations at the time. Schumacher was a two-time world champion who wanted to bring back Ferrari’s glory days. Hakkinen, on the other hand, felt he owed something to McLaren. Then-team principal Ron Dennis had nursed Hakkinen back to health after a bad crash a few years earlier. And now the Finn wanted to show his gratitude by winning championships. He would eventually go on to do that – but not without a big fight against Ferrari and Schumacher. Never was this fighting spirit more evident than in the French GP.

With 23 years having passed since the 1998 French GP, we look back on the day Schumacher and Ferrari finally fought back.

The background

McLaren were the dominant team at the start of the 1998 season by some margin. Their cars were seconds quicker than the Ferraris, who were expected to be their main rivals.

Schumacher and Ferrari did manage to win at Argentina and Canada, but McLaren had won 5 out of the first seven races. A competitive world title fight this did not make for, at least not until France rolled around.

The Grand Prix was preceeded by a three-week break that Ferrari took full advantage of. In that time, the Maranello-based team had done two rounds of testing on their car.

As a result, they entered the French GP with a vastly improved unit, sparking hopes of some competitiveness at Magny-Cours, the circuit where the race was held at the time.

However at the end of Saturday, it seemed a case of same old same old. Hakkinen took pole by 0.2 seconds over Schumacher, with Coulthard in third and Irvine in fourth.

The new car might have been better than the last, but it was clear Ferrari would have work to do in the race to claim a win.

Schumacher, Ferrari use early French GP chaos to advantage

The first start of the race, which saw Hakkinen get off to a good start, was aborted. Why? Because the Stewart of Jos Verstappen stalled on the start line.

The second start was not so kind to the Finn, with both Schumacher and Irvine getting the jump on him. Schumacher began to pull away at considerable pace, sometimes lapping a second faster than Hakkinen.

Irvine played the role of ‘number 2 driver’ to perfection, expertly blocking Hakkinen from finding his way past him. Up front, Schumacher continued to build a massive lead.

By lap 20, Hakkinen had clearly had enough and tried an adventurous pass on Irvine. He did manage to get past him but spun into the gravel trap shortly thereafter. He kept the car going but was now fourth.

However, there was more drama to come. McLaren messed up Coulthard’s race due to an issue in the pit lane with his refuelling. The Scot entered the pits and went out as normal, but there was an issue with adding fuel into the car.

Thus at the end of the lap, he went into the pits again. This did, however, help Hakkinen as he regained third place and looked to take the fight back to the two Ferraris.

Photo finish

Schumacher was some distance ahead, having built up a massive lead during all this time. However, Hakkinen reckoned he had a chance to catch Irvine.

Indeed, their battle for second place stretched onto the final lap. Hakkinen looked to overtake Irvine in the chicane before the final corner, where Irvine lacked a bit of pace.

The Ferrari held off, but only just – official timings had him just a hundredth of a second ahead of Hakkinen while crossing the chequered flag.

The race was notable for Ferrari for two reasons. First, the team took their first 1-2 in a Grand Prix since 1990, when Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell did the same in the Spanish GP.

Secondly, and most importantly, it showed that the Italian team were up for the fight and would not let McLaren win the title with ease.