1998 French Grand Prix

Championship standings

Schumacher won Canada, cutting into Häkkinen’s lead. The McLarens dominated the opening phase of the Canadian race but Coulthard retired with a transmission failure and Häkkinen’s gearbox jammed at the second start, removing both from contention.

Previous race

At Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the race required three starts. At the first attempt, a multi-car collision at turn one involving Wurz, Alesi, and Trulli caused a red flag. After the restart, a further pile-up triggered the safety car when Häkkinen’s gearbox jammed and Ralf Schumacher spun in avoidance. Coulthard led until a transmission failure on lap 20, leaving Schumacher to control the race from Fisichella. Schumacher received a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for an incident with Frentzen under yellow, but recovered to win. Jan Magnussen finished sixth — his only championship point — in what proved to be his final Formula One start.

Between-race developments

Jan Magnussen has been dropped by Stewart after a series of poor results, including a first-lap collision with his teammate Barrichello at Imola. Jos Verstappen, out of a race seat since leaving Tyrrell at the end of 1997, joins Stewart in his place for the remainder of the season.

Entrants

The French Grand Prix was originally dropped from the calendar due to a broadcasting rights dispute in France. TF1 held the rights, but rival channel France 3 obtained a court order allowing all channels to operate from the circuit. The race goes ahead as planned.