The 1998 French Grand Prix
Magny-Cours, 26th-28th June

Sunday - Race

Johnny's comments:

"I decided to use the spare car right at the last moment because the clutch on my race chassis felt odd during the warm-up laps. But at the start of the race it was the throttle that felt funny and when I got away the engine bogged down momentarily. Once that happens it is really bad news. I eventually managed to overtake some people - which as we all know isn't easy here - and the car felt really good. My times were very consistent, but all through there was a hole at the bottom of the power curve, and on my first stop the engine stalled as I hit the rev limiter coming into the pit road

"We have moved forward on the chassis front, but we still have work to do with the engine."

Jean Alesi's comments:

"We were unlucky not to score points today. At one stage Fisichella hit the back of my car, but that just made me laugh because he was trying to pass where there was no possibility to do so. Later Frentzen hit me in the last corner1 for a similar reason. I thought I was going to score a point, but there was nothing I could do about Coulthard at the end. My car was suddenly oversteering more, and when I stopped in parc ferme there was oil on the rear tyres. I think maybe there was a leak of some kind; possibly that brush with Frentzen caused some damage.

"The good thing is that the car was very consistent. It was fast enough to have scored points. Last week I was very happy after the test here; today I confirmed that feeling."

Peter Sauber's comments:

"When you lose a World Championship point by less than two seconds, your first reaction is to be disappointed. On the other hand, the whole team, especially the drivers, fought a great fight and confirmed during the race the progress we have made and for which we have worked very hard in recent weeks."

Race results:

1 M Schumacher, Ferrari: 1hr 34mins 54.026s
2 Irvine, Ferrari: +19.575
3 Hakkinen, McLaren-Mercedes: +19.747
4 Villeneuve, Williams-Mecachrome: +66.965
5 Wurz, Benetton-Playlife: -1 lap
6 Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes: -1 lap
7 Alesi, Sauber-Petronas: -1 lap
8 Herbert, Sauber-Petronas: -1 lap

Johnny's race

When the race finally got under way, after the abortive first start, Johnny dropped a place down to 14th, even though (according to Louise Goodman of ITV) he was racing the T-car with Alesi's set-up. Alesi had the better start, once again and made up two places to 9th. Johnny began to make his way up through the field but had a problem on his first pitstop when his engine died as he pulled away, drooping him down the field again. The cameras caught him almost losing it several laps later but, by dint of a hard drive, he finally got back up to 8th, only one place behind Alesi.

Saturday - Qualifying

Johnny's comments:

"This morning we took some wing off and with the latest engine seems be getting back to the speed we had in the test here last week. We tried reducing the wing again but that wasn't the right way to go, and then the engine blew so I missed the second half of free practice. My boys were brilliant in getting my race car ready for me to use this afternoon. It felt much better than it had in testing, and it had been pretty good then. It was more stable, and very quick in the chicane. The problem is that we had to change the aerodynamic set-up because we were so slow in a straight line, and unlike Jean I wasn't able to get a tow on my quickest lap."

Jean Alesi's comments:

"This afternoon was a victory for the team, after the engine failure that I suffered after only four laps this morning. I missed all of free practice as a result, but my crew did a fantastic job to get my car ready for qualifying.
We are still lacking the power we had in the test and the car is slow on the straight. I also had to change the set-up completely to cater for the new tyres. So in the circumstances to qualify 11th is not so bad."

Peter Sauber's comments:

"Both Jean and Johnny did a very good job under difficult circumstances. This morning Jean did only one quick lap before his engine had to be changed, while Johnny's programme was similarly interrupted halfway through. Each thus had to use the older engine for qualifying, and for sure this cost us a few positions on the grid. Though we went half a second quicker than we did in testing, some of our competitors improved even more."

Qualifying times

1 Hakkinen, McLaren-Mercedes: 1:14.929
2 M Schumacher, Ferrari: +0.230s
3 Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes: +0.404s
4 Irvine, Ferrari: +0.598s
5 Villeneuve, Williams-Mecachrome: +0.701s
6 R Schumacher, Jordan-Honda: +0.996s
7 Hill, Jordan-Honda: +1.316s
8 Frentzen, Williams-Mecachrome: +1.390s
9 Fisichella, Benetton-Playlife: +1.446s
10 Wurz, Benetton-Playlife: +1.531s
11 Alesi, Sauber-Petronas: +1.698s
12 Trulli, Prost-Peugeot: +1.963s
13 Herbert, Sauber-Petronas - 1:17.977

Johnny tells ITV what he thinks of Magny-Cours

"It's quite a challenge - it's quite a difficult circuit - because the weather is a big, big factor and the wind can be a big factor as well so, technically, it's quite hard from that point of view."

Friday - Practice

"In relative terms it seems that I am about where I was during the test, as far as speed and lap time are concerned. Like Jean, I found the modified car much more to my liking last week, but today I had a little bit more understeer than I did then and the car didn't pull as strongly. We worked on the set-up all day, and by my last run the car was going better, but we still have some work to do on the balance."

Jean Alesi's comments:

"We had a very good test here at Magny-Cours last week, when we tried a longer wheelbase, revised rear suspension geometry and aerodynamic modifications. All of these made the car much better, and in particular took away understeer we have suffered so far this season.

"I came here expecting a lot, but I was disappointed to have a problem with my tyres and to find that my engine felt down on power today."

Times from first practice:

1 Hakkinen, McLaren-Mercedes - 1:16.515
2 Irvine, Ferrari - 1:16.597
3 Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes - 1:16.707
4 Frentzen, Williams-Mecachrome - 1:17.026
5 M Schumacher, Ferrari - 1:17.429
6 R Schumacher, Jordan-Honda - 1:17.505
7 Fisichella, Benetton-Playlife - 1:17.664
8 Wurz, Benetton-Playlife - 1:17.706
9 Hill, Jordan-Honda - 1:17.895
10 Herbert, Sauber-Petronas - 1:17.977

12 Alesi, Sauber-Petronas- 1:18.172

Every effort is made to ensure factual accuracy but
no responsibility is accepted for this information
Photos by kind permission of Sauber
Last updated 28th June 1998