1998 Belgian Grand Prix : 1998 Belgian Grand Prix: A Win on Order
By Jeremy McMullen'I'm going to put something to you here, and I think you'd better listen to this…' In a moment the Jordan Grand Prix would be thrust into an uncomfortable, and yet, enthralling position. However, amidst swirling emotions and deplorable conditions cooler heads needed to prevail. And what Damon Hill would offer would be an opportunity for Eddie Jordan to order up a win.
The great drivers throughout the history of motorsport have always been highly competitive individuals. An inability to just move over and get out of the way would be the one distinct character feature in every single one. This is highly desirable as such an individual helps to drive the car and the team to the absolute limits and produces the results necessary to be the best. However, with every strength there is a weakness, and on the 30th of August in 1998 Damon Hill would recognize just such a danger that lay ahead.
The danger presented itself when, heading into Pouhon, Michael Schumacher ran over the back of David Coulthard's McLaren sheering off the right front wheel and suspension of the Ferrari. This would send Schumacher limping around the circuit until he made it back to the pits when he would storm down to the McLaren garage to go after Coulthard. There could really be no blame laid at the feet of Coulthard, the appalling weather conditions made it nearly impossible for any driver to see even a foot ahead when following another car. Yet, it seemed a fitting moment in what had already been one of the most chaotic and berserk races in modern memory.
However, the collision between Schumacher and Coulthard was still something of a culmination. The events that would transpire at the end of the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix would actually be set in motion much earlier, even before the start of the race.
Events that would transpire in the Belgian Grand Prix in 1998 would actually begin in 1996 when Damon Hill achieved his aim of becoming World Champion but had been dropped by Williams at the end of the season nonetheless. The late announcement would leave the reigning World Champion scrambling to find a positive drive for the 1997 season. It would seem he had failed when he made the decision to move to the Arrows team, a team that had never won a race in Formula One. However, there would be one very important draw for Hill to Arrows and that would be Tom Walkinshaw.
Walkinshaw would waste no time in doing his best to turn the Arrows team around and this would be evidenced by the near miss of the team's first win in the Hungarian Grand Prix. Behind the wheel of the A18 that day would be Damon Hill. Hill would prove himself as a worthy World Champion that day as many would consider the performance one of the best of his career.
Hill knew he still had the talent and the drive to challenge, not merely for wins, but for another World Championship. Still, the opportunities were surprisingly drying up. There was no room at Ferrari or McLaren, though McLaren had been a heavy option heading into 1997. This meant there were fewer smart options for Hill in 1998. He still had the drive. If he even got a whiff of a chance of taking victory there was going to be no way he was going to let it slip through his fingers.
The other competitor in this drama would already be at Jordan in 1997. Ralf Schumacher had proven himself in the lower formulas and would be offered a seat alongside Giancarlo Fisichella. The team would be impressed with his raw speed and he would perform well right out of the box. However, the relationship between himself and the team would sour terribly when he made contact with Fisichella in the Argentine Grand Prix. At the time, Fisichella had been running in 2nd place. It had been since 1995 that Jordan had reached the second step on the podium. The team needed the result. But when Schumacher took his teammate out of the race, suddenly the German was in the dog house and would never really get out of it.
When Hill joined the team the following year, Schumacher would struggle throughout the first half of the year and the relationship only become further strained. Though he would put together a string of points-scoring finishes, Hill would put together a string of his own seemingly keeping the German constantly in check. Therefore, by the time the Belgian Grand Prix rolled around it was already well known and confirmed Schumacher would be leaving the team at the end of the season.
So heading into the Belgian Grand Prix Jordan had two drivers on his hands that were ripe for a potential catastrophic reaction. And it would all come to a head with just a handful of laps remaining in the race.
At the start of the race, the mere mention of the end result and all that would transpire to get there would have been deemed as delusional and crazy talk. In fact, given the usual unpredictable conditions in the Ardennes, the Jordan team would be focused more on making it through the 44 lap race then with any tactical maneuvering within the team. It was Spa. The circuit was fast and, in the wet, extremely dangerous. Even the slightest misstep in the present conditions could have spelled disaster.
Heavy rain poured down all over the circuit. But it wasn't like this the day before when the cars headed out onto the grid for qualifying. In a tremendous duel it would be the two McLarens of Hakkinen and Coulthard starting from the front row of the grid. Damon Hill would show his growing confidence behind the wheel of the Jordan by coming through at the very end of the session to snatch 3rd place away from Michael Schumacher. Ralf Schumacher would end up in 8th place on the grid after losing out to his former Jordan teammate Giancarlo Fisichella.
Starting from the second row of the grid, Hill would be very competitive heading into the race knowing he was in the best position possible for a great result. He was not just going to move aside, not after providing himself such a great opportunity. Ralf, on the other hand, would not be willing to give in either knowing he was thoroughly beaten by his teammate in qualifying. He would know the car was capable of more and he would not be content with a mere top ten position. He knew he could do better. He too would not be willing to concede anything.
But things would change heading into the race. The rain would be pouring down all over the circuit. Thoughts would turn from all-out, ragged-edge performance, to careful driving. Unfortunately, at a circuit like Spa, where speed was an integral part of a lap, this would be easier said than done. The stage would be set then for what would end up being one of the strangest and bittersweet moments in Formula One history.
The cars would take their places on the grid. Amidst very dark overcast conditions and the screaming sound of twenty-two Formula One cars the race would get underway. The two McLarens would get away well while Hill would make a poor start from 3rd place and would be heading into the tight La Source hairpin fighting for 5th place. The field would stream through the hairpin without any problems, the usually chaotic beginning of the Belgian Grand Prix seemed to never materialize, but then there would be the run down to Eau Rouge.
Suddenly, and in one of the most uncharacteristic places, Coulthard's McLaren would swap ends and crash headlong into the inside retaining wall and then would be shot across the track into the outside Armco. This bouncing to either side of the track would set off a train reaction accident that would be truly mesmerizing to behold. Wheels, carbon-fiber and steam would shower the circuit. Amazingly, Hill would have Coulthard pirouette right in front of him but would manage to avoid hitting him with any kind of force and would carry on. Ralf Schumacher would be much more unfortunate. Hit by tires, debris and other pieces of machinery, the German would be smart by coming to a complete stop while the majority of the rest of the field plowed into the carnage and only created more.
Needless to say, the race would be stopped. Many of those caught up in the accident would run to the garage to either jump in the spare car or to have their car repaired. Still, there would be those that would not make it back to take part in the restart. In total, four teams would end up crashing both cars and it would result in just 18 cars making it back onto the grid for the second start.
The conditions would be much the same heading into the restart. The circuit would be wet and the conditions around the area seemed to suggest heavy rain would be on the way. The cars and drivers would try it all again. This time, the two McLarens would struggle away from the grid and would be swallowed up by the least likely of candidates. Unlike the first start, Hill would have an absolute cracker of a start and would lead the way into La Source ahead of Eddie Irvine. Mika Hakkinen would make contact with Michael Schumacher heading into the hairpin and would end up turned around in the middle of the road where it would be hit by Johnny Herbert in the Sauber. Hakkinen would be out of the race right then and there. Schumacher would be able to continue. Coulthard would collide with Alex Wurz causing more damage to the McLaren. The Scotsman would end up having to return to the pits to have the damage repaired. Meanwhile, Hill would be in the lead ahead of Schumacher and Irvine. Ralf Schumacher would make it through the first lap this time and would be in 7th place.
As a result of the McLaren being left in the road the safety car would be deployed. The safety car would be out for a couple of laps. When green conditions resumed, Hill would maintain his lead. He was beginning to get that whiff of a top result. His teammate, however, was stuck back in 7th place just looking for an opportunity to move forward. The two immovable forces would soon find themselves together with everything to play for.
Against the might of Michael and the Ferrari, Hill just could not contend. But though he would lose out on the lead, Hill would still be in a strong 2nd place position and not about believe that all was lost. However, Hill and the whole of the Jordan team would soon find themselves presented with an incredible dilemma.
Ralf Schumacher would remain mired behind four other cars through the first 10 laps of the race. The rain would be falling quite steadily and pitstops would begin to cycle through. As a result of trouble suffered by other competitors and through clever pit strategy, Ralf would suddenly vault up to 3rd place behind his brother and Damon.
Jordan would have its two cars in position for a podium but neither could do anything about the Ferrari out front that would be pulling away from Hill at a rate of about 3 seconds a lap. It would appear as if the Eddie Jordan could relax as both of his drivers had some distance between them and neither of them were able to fight with Michael. So the focus would shift to making it to the finish.
But just when everything seemed calm, everything would be upset all over again. Heading into Pouhon Michael would run over the back of David Coulthard. Both would be out of the race but that didn't mean an end to any incidents between the two as Michael would go storming off toward the McLaren garage. While the cameras and the attention of nearly all the world would be on the German going after the Scotsman, the Jordan team would be absolutely beside themselves, caught up in the euphoria of not only leading a grand prix but having its two cars running first and second.
However, Jordan would find itself thrust into an abhorred situation the team neither wanted nor shunned. Suddenly, Eddie Jordan would find himself having to be the team's principal and having to make a possibly unpopular decision. And that decision would be clearly presented to him by his former World Champion driver.
'I'm going to put something to you here, and I think you'd better listen to this. If we race, if we two race, we could end up with nothing, so it's up to Eddie.'
In that moment, the Jordan team would be presented with a scenario every team loves and hates. Course of events had transpired to bring these two competitors together into a possible moment of sheer brilliance or devastating chaos and bitterness. The events of the past couple of years had finally come to a head and it would be Damon Hill, the experienced World Champion that would bring to light the reality of the situation.
Both of the Jordan drivers had driven splendid races. Hill had been a number of laps in the lead and deserved to be up at the front of the field. Ralf had also driven a smart race not making any mistakes when those he had been chasing around the circuit did not keep their heads and ended up losing a great deal of time and positions. Neither one was going to give up what was potentially out there for both to grab. It well and truly was up to Eddie Jordan.
'If we don't race each other we've got an opportunity to get a first and second. It's your choice.'
The former World Champion would not go down without a fight even though Ralf had been faster over the previous couple of laps. Hill knew the situation and knew his nature as a competitor. In that moment it was going to be up to Eddie what he would allow to happen.
As it would turn out, Jordan would order up a win. Never a popular decision with the Formula One fan, Jordan realized the potential danger of not ordering the outcome. In such conditions, and with two highly-competitive drivers, Eddie Jordan knew full well what Damon was saying. At that juncture, Hill would demonstrate another typical trait of a World Champion—diplomat.
A bit of foreknowledge? Nobody will ever really know because Jordan would have enough imagination to realize he had two immovable forces coming together at a terribly significant moment in the race. He needed to step in and prevent the potentially cataclysmic episode from even taking shape.
The podium ceremony would say it all. It would be an utterly fantastic result for Jordan as their two cars would come away with a breath-taking one-two finishes in what had been a remarkably difficult, treacherous and tense race. But it would be clear what Jordan had ordered up.
Hill would be enthralled, leaping when atop the top step of the podium. It would be the former World Champion's 22nd victory and certainly one of his best as he handled the conditions and the threats to finally emerge on the top step again. He had come agonizingly close the year before with the Arrows team. Many believed then he had proven his abilities and rights as a World Champion. However, standing on the top step at Belgium would prove there was still more within Hill, still more fight.
Ralf, on the other hand, would show joy and would wave to the team showing his support, but he would be much more subdued in his actions. He was standing up on the podium for himself. His civility was for the team. In fact his greatest show of support for the team he would leave at the end of the season would exhibit itself through his simple obedience. Many expected him to ignore everything and charge after the victory when he drew closer and closer to Hill in the late stages of the race. But he would not, and for that reason alone he too would come out a winner.
The victory would belong to Hill. It would end up being his final victory in Formula One and it would be a truly exceptional performance that would earn it for the Brit. However, the day would really belong to Eddie Jordan and his team. Never was this more apparent than when both drivers drenched Jordan in champagne. Even at that moment all acrimony could disappear and credit given where it was due.
The team had reached the podium before since its debut in 1991, but this podium ceremony would eclipse them all. For not only had the team finally earned its first victory in Formula One, the team would come away with an impossible one-two finish for which not even Hollywood could have written the script. But on that day, in 1998, it would be exactly what Jordan ordered