| 1998 - AN OVERVIEW |
| 1998 DRIVERS LINE-UP | 1998 FIA Formula One World Championship Calendar |
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The next showdown between Canadian Jacques Villeneuve and German Michael Schumacher, Scotsman David Coulthard returning to defend his Qantas Australian Grand Prix mantle, new stars emerging, and new technical rules to add spice...the new Formula One season starting in Melbourne in March promises to be grander than any before it.
A new world champion, six different drivers winning races, almost 60 per cent of drivers on the podium throughout the year, a record ninth constructors' title for the Williams team...1997 has been a stellar season of Formula One.
And 1998 promises to be just as great, even better.
It all starts in Melbourne on March 5-8 with the Qantas Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park.
It will be Canadian Jacques Villeneuve's first race as world champion, at the circuit on which he made his stunning F1 debut two years earlier.
The 26-year-old Villeneuve has won 11 GPs since then from only 33 starts. His win-rate of one-in-three ranks him with the greats already.
He withstood everything Ferrari's $30-million-a-year man Michael Schumacher could throw at him in '97 to become Canada's first F1 champion, an honor that eluded his late and legendary father, Gilles, and one which the young Villeneuve just missed out on in 1996.
Villeneuve won seven GPs this year to Schumacher's five. The only time Villeneuve was on the podium when he didn't win was at the final race, the European GP at Jerez in Spain, where he settled for third behind the McLarens of Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard.
Schumacher also had eight podiums and finished in the top six at 13 of the season's 17 GPs, while Villeneuve finished in the top six, and thus scored world championship points, in 11 races.
Crucially, though, Schumacher missed out on points in the deciding race after his infamous move on the 48th lap of the European GP at Jerez. Indeed, on November 11 Schumacher was stripped of his second place in the championship for having caused the collision at Jerez.
Villeneuve outscored him heavily on pole positions - 10 for the season to the German's three.
While the pair have 38 GP victories between them - Schumacher has won 27, as many as Jackie Stewart and fewer only than Alain Prost (51), the late Ayrton Senna (41) and Nigel Mansell (31) - neither Villeneuve nor Schumacher has yet won an Australian GP.
Schumacher has twice been second in Australia, including in Melbourne last March, while Villeneuve has been unlucky not to win at both his Australian starts.
He led most of Melbourne's first world championship GP in 1996 but had to settle for second behind Damon Hill because of an oil leak, and after dominating qualifying at Albert Park in 1997 he was eliminated at the first corner of the race.
That was David Coulthard's day, as the Scotsman broke McLaren's three-year victory drought and gave the team's engine supplier, Mercedes-Benz, its first GP success for half a century.
Coulthard also was victorious at the Italian GP and was unlucky not to win another race or two, while his Finnish teammate Hakkinen's triumph at Jerez was long overdue and warmly welcomed. With Coulthard finishing hot on his heels, it also was McLaren's first one-two result since 1991 and the team is now clearly back on terms with Williams and Ferrari.
Benetton was the other team to make it to the winner's circle in 1997, with Austrian veteran Gerhard Berger storming to success in the German GP on his return after missing three races mid-season through sickness and the death of his father.
Berger, a two-time winner of the Australian GP, will take a break from F1 in 1998 but has not ruled out a comeback. Ukyo Katayama, one of the finest drivers Japan has produced, also has hung up his helmet.
The 1997 season saw the emergence of several bright new stars in F1, especially Italians Giancarlo Fisichella and Jarno Trulli and Austrian Alexander Wurz - who scored a third place from only three starts and now becomes a full-time Benetton driver alongside Fisichella in '98.
After starting the season with Minardi and then switching to the Prost team for several races when Olivier Panis was injured, Trulli led the Austrian GP in his first season, was robbed of second place in that race by engine failure, and finished fourth in Germany.
The controversial, but immensely popular, Eddie Irvine also led a GP for the first time in 1997 - at the penultimate race of the season in Japan.
While Villeneuve's team-mate, German Heinz-Harald Frentzen, was widely considered to have been disappointing in his first season with Williams, he set the fastest race lap at six GPs this year - twice as often as either Villeneuve or Schumacher. Frentzen was in the points nine times, while French veteran Jean Alesi scored points at 10 GPs.
Of the 26 drivers who started GPs this year, 15 scored podium finishes.
F1 cars will be narrower and will have treaded tyres under rule changes for 1998. The tyre "war" will heat up, with Bridgestone entering its second season of F1 and chasing its first victory after years of Goodyear dominance.
The "Big Three" teams - Williams, Ferrari and McLaren - have retained the same drivers for next season, while Benetton will have two young "guns" - Fisichella and Wurz.
Jordan, which has been "knocking on the door" for its first GP win after seven years without the ultimate success, has recruited 1996 world champion Damon Hill for '98. It will be Hill's third team in three seasons and he will be paired with Michael Schumacher's younger brother Ralf, who will be having his second year in F1. They will have the benefit of Mugen-Honda engines.
The Prost team, formerly Ligier, has made significant progress under the ownership and direction of the great Alain Prost and his cars will have Peugeot engines in 1998, providing an even stronger French influence. Prost retains Panis, who has come back well from his serious leg injuries in mid-1997, and has signed Trulli on a two year contract.
Swiss-based Sauber has a very experienced line-up for 1998, with Englishman Johnny Herbert being joined by Alesi, who is sure to relish having a Ferrari-based engine behind him again after two seasons with Benetton.
Arrows has made headway under Tom Walkinshaw and, despite having lost Damon Hill after just one year, gains the highly-regarded Finn Mika Salo for 1998 and retains Brazilian Pedro Diniz, who put in some very creditable performances this year as Hill's teammate.
Jackie Stewart's team, having made its debut in Melbourne last March, will enter its second season with a stable driver line-up - Brazilian Rubens Barrichello and Dane Jan Magnussen - and a second place at the Monaco GP, as well as some excellent qualifying performances behind it.
Tyrrell may keep Dutchman Jos Verstappen, although a young Spaniard, Pedro de La Rosa, has been linked to the team, which already has announced Japanese rookie Tora Takagi as part of its 1998 plans.
Minardi also may have a Japanese driver, Shinji Nakano, who spent the 1997 season with Prost, while it could retain Brazilian Tarso Marques, or perhaps introduce a young Argentinian, Esteban Teuro.
It all adds up to another fabulous season of F1, starting in Melbourne at the Qantas Australian GP.
| Date | Grand Prix | Circuit | |
| March 8 | Australia | Albert Park, Melbourne | |
| March 29 | Brazil | Interlagos | |
| April 12 | Argentina | Buenos Aires | |
| April 26 | San Marino | Imola | |
| May 10 | Spain | Catalunya | |
| May 24 | Monte Carlo | Monaco (Sorry! no update here!) | |
| June 7 | Canada | Montreal | |
| July 12 | Great Britain | Silverstone | |
| July 26 | Austria | A-1 Ring (Oops, missed this one too!) | |
| August 2 | Germany | Hockenheim | |
| August 16 | Hungary | Hungaroring | |
| August 30 | Belgium | Spa Francorchamps | |
| September 13 | Italy | Monza | |
| September 27 | Luxembourg | Nurburgring, Germany | |
| October 11 | Portugal | Estoril | |
| November 1 | Japan | Suzuka | |