1998 Belgian Grand Prix

Championship standings

Heading into Spa-Francorchamps, Häkkinen leads with 77 points. Schumacher is seven points behind in second. Coulthard is third on 48 points, making these three the only drivers still mathematically able to win the title. With a maximum of 40 points available across the remaining four races, Eddie Irvine in fourth is 45 points behind Häkkinen and cannot catch him.

In the Constructors’ Championship, McLaren lead on 125 points, with Ferrari on 102. Benetton are third with 32 points and cannot catch either of the top two.

Previous race

At the Hungaroring, Schumacher recovered ground on Häkkinen. Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn opted for a three-stop strategy against the McLarens’ two stops. Schumacher took the lead after his second stop and built enough advantage to hold it through his third. Häkkinen, who had led the first 46 laps from pole, dropped to sixth with shock absorber problems in the closing stages. The result trimmed the championship gap from further back to seven points with four races remaining.

Between-race developments

All teams except Tyrrell have conducted testing since Hungary. McLaren ran at both Monza and Silverstone. Ferrari tested at Monza and their Fiorano facility. Jordan also ran at Monza, with Coulthard setting the fastest time there for McLaren. Williams, Arrows, and Stewart tested at Silverstone, where Williams test driver Juan Pablo Montoya set the fastest time among those present. Benetton went to Magny-Cours and Prost to Barcelona.

Weather

Race day is expected to be very wet. The previous season’s Belgian Grand Prix was also run in heavy rain.

Practice

In the first practice session, Coulthard was fastest with Häkkinen second, despite Häkkinen crashing late in the session. The Ferraris and Williams cars occupied the remaining top six positions. Schumacher led the second session with the McLarens second and third; Villeneuve crashed heavily at Eau Rouge at 290 km/h, described by the team as his biggest crash in Formula One to date. He was taken to the medical centre but was not injured and is fit to race.

In Saturday’s third session, Häkkinen and Coulthard again filled the top two places. Mika Salo crashed at Eau Rouge and was taken to hospital as a precaution, but has been cleared to take part in qualifying.