Who won the 1998 F1 World Championship?

Mika Häkkinen won the 1998 Formula 1 drivers' championship driving the McLaren MP4/13.

Which team won the 1998 constructors' championship?

McLaren won the 1998 constructors' championship.

How many races were there in the 1998 F1 season?

The 1998 Formula 1 season had 16 Grands Prix.

F1 Legend Sim/Seasons/1998

1998 F1 Season

16 races · McLaren MP4/13

The 1998 season marked McLaren's return to the summit thanks to Adrian Newey's genius. The MP4/13, with its tight aerodynamic concept adapted to the new narrower-car, grooved-tyre rules, was the car to beat from the first race.

Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard locked out the front row for most of the year, but Michael Schumacher fought back with an ever-improving Ferrari, forcing an epic duel that ran all the way to Japan. The rivalry had memorable moments, like the Spa crash in the rain when Schumacher, leading, rammed the back of the lapped Coulthard.

Häkkinen was more consistent down the stretch and sealed his first world championship at Suzuka, launching the duel with Schumacher that would define the turn of the century.

Drivers’ Champion

Mika Häkkinen

McLaren MP4/13

Constructors’ Champion

McLaren

16 races

See the 1998 simulation Ver en español

Key moment

«Häkkinen breaks down in tears in the pit after a puncture at Silverstone, then comes back to win the title.»

The 1998 grid, car by car

The 11 teams that raced in 1998, ordered by how good we rate the car. It is our own judgement, not an official figure: what it is worth is that the same yardstick is applied to every season since 1988, so you can compare eras.

#	Team	Our rating	Drivers
1	McLaren	98	Mika Häkkinen · David Coulthard
2	Ferrari	96	Michael Schumacher · Eddie Irvine
3	Williams	88	Jacques Villeneuve · Heinz-Harald Frentzen
4	Benetton	86	Alexander Wurz · Giancarlo Fisichella
5	Jordan	84	Damon Hill · Ralf Schumacher
6	Sauber	82	Jean Alesi · Johnny Herbert
7	Prost	81	Olivier Panis · Jarno Trulli
8	Stewart	79	Rubens Barrichello · Jan Magnussen
9	Arrows	78	Mika Salo · Pedro Diniz
10	Tyrrell	74	Toranosuke Takagi · Riccardo Rosset
11	Minardi	72	Shinji Nakano · Esteban Tuero

How 1998 actually ended

The official final standings, from the Australian Grand Prix to the Japanese Grand Prix. This is the real result; the simulation is further down.

Driver	Points	Wins	Podiums	Poles
1Mika HäkkinenMcLaren	100	8	11	9
2Michael SchumacherFerrari	86	6	11	3
3David CoulthardMcLaren	56	1	9	3
4Eddie IrvineFerrari	47	0	8	0
5Jacques VilleneuveWilliams	21	0	2	0
6Damon HillJordan	20	1	1	0
7Heinz-Harald FrentzenWilliams	17	0	1	0
8Alexander WurzBenetton	17	0	0	0

Häkkinen took it by 14 points with 8 wins and 9 poles across 16 races. 4 different drivers won that season, and the last Grand Prix went to Mika Häkkinen.

Official FIA standings via Jolpica (formerly Ergast).

1998, race by race

All 16 races: who started first, who won and from where, and how many cars reached the flag.

4different drivers won: Häkkinen 8 · Schumacher 6 · Coulthard 1 · Hill 1.

3different teams won: McLaren 9 · Ferrari 6 · Jordan 1.

4different drivers took pole: Häkkinen 9 · Coulthard 3 · Schumacher 3 · Fisichella 1.

10different drivers stood on the podium.

8one-twos for a single team: McLaren 5 · Ferrari 2 · Jordan 1.

7 of 16races were won from pole position.

0first-ever wins: every winner had won before.

From 3rdthe win from furthest back: Michael Schumacher, Canadian Grand Prix.

27 years, 30 daysthe youngest winner of the year: David Coulthard, San Marino Grand Prix.

57%of starts reached the flag (196 of 343).

9 of 22cars finished the Australian Grand Prix, the race with fewest survivors.

#	Grand Prix	Pole	Winner	Started	Finished
1	Australian Grand Prix	Mika Häkkinen	Mika HäkkinenMcLaren	1st	9/22
2	Brazilian Grand Prix	Mika Häkkinen	Mika HäkkinenMcLaren	1st	10/22
3	Argentine Grand Prix	David Coulthard	Michael SchumacherFerrari	2nd	14/22
4	San Marino Grand Prix	David Coulthard	David CoulthardMcLaren	1st	10/22
5	Spanish Grand Prix	Mika Häkkinen	Mika HäkkinenMcLaren	1st	16/21
6	Monaco Grand Prix	Mika Häkkinen	Mika HäkkinenMcLaren	1st	11/21
7	Canadian Grand Prix	David Coulthard	Michael SchumacherFerrari	3rd	10/22
8	French Grand Prix	Mika Häkkinen	Michael SchumacherFerrari	2nd	15/22
9	British Grand Prix	Mika Häkkinen	Michael SchumacherFerrari	2nd	9/22
10	Austrian Grand Prix	Giancarlo Fisichella	Mika HäkkinenMcLaren	3rd	12/22
11	German Grand Prix	Mika Häkkinen	Mika HäkkinenMcLaren	1st	16/21
12	Hungarian Grand Prix	Mika Häkkinen	Michael SchumacherFerrari	3rd	15/21
13	Belgian Grand Prix	Mika Häkkinen	Damon HillJordan	3rd	8/18
14	Italian Grand Prix	Michael Schumacher	Michael SchumacherFerrari	1st	13/22
15	Luxembourg Grand Prix	Michael Schumacher	Mika HäkkinenMcLaren	3rd	16/22
16	Japanese Grand Prix	Michael Schumacher	Mika HäkkinenMcLaren	2nd	12/21

Pole goes to whoever started first, after penalties. «Finished» counts classified cars that took the flag. Our source has no fastest laps before 2004.

What if 1998 had been raced 100 times?

We took the real 1998 grid (every car with its performance and reliability, every driver with his rating) and re-ran the full 16-race championship 100 times.

Driver	Avg. finish	Titles
Mika Häkkinenreal championMcLaren	P1.4	65%
Michael SchumacherFerrari	P1.8	34%
David CoulthardMcLaren	P2.9	1%
Eddie IrvineFerrari	P4	0%
Jacques VilleneuveWilliams	P5.2	0%
Heinz-Harald FrentzenWilliams	P6.9	0%

Mika Häkkinen takes the title 65% of the time: one in every 3 simulated championships goes to somebody else, almost always Michael Schumacher. It was not a dominated year, it was a won one.

What if Senna, Hamilton or Alonso had driven the 1998 championship-winning car?

Build your own hypothesis