The images of Lewis Hamilton crossing the finish line at the 2020 British GP, with only three tires, went around the world. But that pales in comparison to the fact that marked the 1998 edition, also held at the Silverstone circuit.
On July 12, 1998, just a few hours before the World Cup final between Brazil and France kicked off, sports fans had their sights set on another hot spot: the Formula 1 British Grand Prix.
The weather did not invite great celebrations. The clouds had already cleared in the early hours of the morning and the pre-race warm-up was also carried out in the rain, with numerous spins. The track had time to drain quite a bit of water, but not to dry completely, so dry tires were ruled out.
But the British summer weather did not disappoint and the forecast suggested that conditions would worsen as the afternoon progressed.
Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher occupy the first line
After achieving two successes in Canada and France, two Grand Prix that McLaren wasted, since he could only add five points, Michael Schumacher wanted to add the third consecutive on English soil.
A win at McLaren’s hometown would be equal parts a blow to the world championship and to the morale of its rival, who knew that Ferrari hadn’t won at Silverstone since 1990 and that, depending on Mika Hakkinen’s result, it could allow Schumacher to lead the championship.
But the flying Finn seemed unbeatable at the old airfield. On Saturday he had achieved pole with almost half a second ahead of Schumacher, who had taken second place. What Hakkinen did not count on were the mixed conditions that would arrive on Sunday and that favored the German, who was used to standing out when the grip was low.
However, it was Hakkinen who led at the start of the race, while the Kaiser made a small mistake that saw him lose second place to David Coulthard. The distance between the silver arrows and the German pilot stagnated in a couple of seconds, until the clouds stopped their truce and altered the strategies.
Mika Häkkinen por fuera del trazado with his McLaren MP4-13
The moment of decision between choosing intermediate and wet tires arrived, but also the indecision of the drivers. Coulthard and Schumacher preferred to keep mixed tyres, putting on a fresh set between laps 19 and 21. Hakkinen, meanwhile, stopped on lap 23 and switched to wet tires with a deeper tread. It was a choice that surprised the paddock, but it paid off: the rain ended up intensifying and the championship leader went direct.
Coulthard’s retirement, caught in a puddle of water trying to overtake a lapped man, helped Schumacher gain a position, but in just 20 laps the Ferrari driver lost 30 seconds to Hakkinen, despite the start of track in Bridge and subsequent spin of the Finn.
Schumacher was saved from suffering the same fate thanks to the intervention of the safety car , which went out on track because of the huge downpour. Not only did he see Hakkinen’s lead disappear, but he also turned his tires around: in the second set of stops, at the start of the downpour, he changed his intermediates to wet ones, while his great rival did the opposite. .
Schumacher strikes at Hakkinen
The Finn was therefore in a difficult position when it came time to restart the race. Schumacher, glued to his diffuser, did not let go and made him fall under his pressure. Once again, Hakkinen went off the track, which the German took advantage of to overtake him and escape. With ten laps to go, nothing and no one seemed to be able to stop him.
Nothing and no one… except himself. An oversight on lap 43 , when some yellow flags appeared on a section of the circuit and the area was neutralized. Schumacher lapped Alexander Wurz and the action led to a penalty, notification of which came half an hour later, on the penultimate lap.
Race management sent a note to the Ferrari pit wall stating a ten second penalty. But confusion reigned in the box of those from Maranello: was it a penalty added to the race time, a stop and go of ten seconds or another type of sanction? In addition, it arrived late: the regulations required that decisions be made, at most, 25 minutes after the incident. The notification reached Ferrari 30 minutes later.
The inaccuracy of the penalty and the lack of procedure were taken advantage of by the Scuderia. Schumacher was called into the pits during the last lap of the race. He was forced to make a stop and go, but as the Silverstone circuit finish line was situated before the Prancing Horse garage, Michael Schumacher won before serving his penalty!
Michael Schumacher leaving the pits
When the Ferrari came out on the track again, Mika Hakkinen was already well ahead, in full deceleration phase. Confusion reigned in the paddock: Who had won? Was Ferrari right? Had the FIA made a serious mistake?
Ultimately, Schumacher was declared the winner. Not only was the stop and go penalty unnecessary , since such a penalty given in the last 12 laps meant that the ten seconds were automatically added to the final time, but the forms had not been correct.
The three stewards handling the case had photocopied the verdict incorrectly, making it difficult for Ferrari members to decipher, but they had also exceeded the 25-minute limit for notifications.
Even if the ten seconds had been added to his race time, Schumacher had enough of a lead not to miss out on victory, although the penalty was lifted a few days later.
That victory, the third in a row, took the German driver to just two points from the leadership of a world championship that, at the end of the year, he would lose to Mika Hakkinen.
