The 1998 Monaco Grand Prix
Monaco, 21st-24th May

Sunday - Race

Johnny's comments:

"I thought I'd made a good start, but obviously it wasn't good enough and I got stuck for another race behind Trulli. I was very disappointed to find that my car still lacked the good balance that it had in qualifying, but which we had lost in the morning warm-up. It just wasn't there any more, which is very confusing. I just lacked speed.

"I was lucky not to get involved in Wurz's accident. It lust looked like he lost it in the tunnel, and there were bits everywhere. It could have been dodgy, but I wasn't hit by anything."

Jean Alesi's comments:

"I made a great start. as usual. I took a risk, and it paid off. You need to do that here. The car felt fine, and it was soon clear that the two-stop strategy that I wanted to use was working really well. Then, about 12 or so laps before the finish, I lost third gear, then immediately second. A couple of times I thought the car was going to stop, but I managed to keep going by using just fifth and sixth gears, although it was very difficult under braking.

"On the lap I stopped, I was in fifth gear round the Swimming Pool. When I lifted off the car went straight into neutral. and wouldn't engage any gears. I took the steering wheel off and put it back on again in an effort to make it work again, in case it was an electronic problem, but it was fruitless. My race was over. I'm very disappointed, because fifth place was easily ours this afternoon."

Johnny's race - 7th again

Johnny's poor 1998 starting form struck again at Monaco - when the red lights went out, team-mate Alesi got past him and Trulli and up into 9th. Johnny then lost 8th to Trulli but got back on to his tail and gave the Prost driver a hard time for several laps. 20 odd laps in, just after Mika Hakkinen lapped the two of them, Johnny saw an opportunity and tried to pass Trulli at Ste Devote but there wasn't enough room. Late rate attrition, including the demise of Jean Alesi from 5th with about 6 laps to go, left Johnny in the unluckiest spot of all once again - 7th and no points...

Race results

1 Hakkinen, McLaren-Mercedes: 1hr 51:23.995
2 Fisichella, Benetton-Playlife: +11.475s
3 Irvine, Ferrari: +41.378s
4 Salo, Arrows: +1:00.363
5 Villeneuve, Williams-Mecachrome: -1 lap
6 Diniz, Arrows : -1 lap
7 Herbert, Sauber-Petronas: -1 lap
8 Hill, Jordan Mugen-Honda: +2 laps

Saturday - Qualifying

Johnny's comments:

"I lost a lot of time this morning when new brake discs hadn't been catered for when I went out. I discovered that when I got to Ste Devote, and frantically had to pump the pedal. I had no alternative but to spin. I didn't hit anything, but when the engine stalled I lost the second half of the session.

"This afternoon I ran the set-up I'd intended to run then, and gradually we improved it to tune out some of the understeer. I lost one good lap when Eddie Irvine crashed at Rascasse, then came across Fisichella in Casino Square on my last one, which cost a wee bit of time. Otherwise I'm relatively happy, but I think we have a lot of aerodynamic work still to do before we get the best out of the Cl7 here."

Jean Alesi's comments:

"I like this circuit very much, so it is disappointing that my car was still understeering today so that I could not attack as much as I wanted to. This morning I made a small mistake when I pushed too hard, and spun into the wall at the Swimming Pool. But I had no problems of that sort this afternoon.

"On my last run the yellow flags were out at the Swimming Pool because of Rosset, but to be honest it did not matter too much - it wasn't a polo position lap!"

Peter Sauber's comments:

"Given the circumstances I am content. Both Jean and Johnny did a very good job and would have been able to go faster. During their last, and here often decisive, runs, they were hampered by an accident and traffic respectively."

Qualifying times:

1 Hakkinen, McLaren-Mercedes: 1:19.798
2 Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes: +0.339s
3 Fisichella, Benetton-Playlife: +0.570s
4 M Schumacher, Ferrari: +0.904s
5 Frentzen, Williams-Mecachrome: +0.931s
6 Wurz, Benetton-Playlife: +1.157s
7 Irvine, Ferrari: +1.914s
8 Salo, Arrows: +2.346s
9 Herbert, Sauber-Petronas: +2.358s
10 Trulli, Prost-Peugeot: +2.440s
11 Alesi, Sauber-Petronas: +2.459s
12 Diniz, Arrows: +2.557s
13 Villeneuve, Williams-Mecachrome: +2.670s
14 Barrichello, Stewart-Ford: +2.742s
15 Hill, Jordan Mugen-Honda: +3.353s

Life in Monaco

Johnny interviewed by the BBC and ITV on what it's like to bring a family up in Monaco.

Thursday - Practice

Johnny's comments:

"At one stage we tried similar settings to 1997 but they did not prove fruitful with the car in its narrow track specification. We reverted to our normal settings and improved it with each run, though it still has too much understeer. I lost a bit of time this morning with a cut tyre, but this afternoon the car was good enough for seventh place on new tyres."

Jean Alesi's comments:

"This has been an extremely difficult and disappointing day for me. We have to work hard to improve the car."

Weather: warm and sunny

Alesi loses his cool

From Thomas Gmuer: Jean Alesi heavily slammed his team after Thursday's practice session at Monaco: "I give everything and don't get anything back. This has to change, or..." Peter Sauber commented the day after "We all understand Jean's temper, but we cannot accept any longer when his emotions are going too high". Team-mate Johnny Herbert, who was 7th in Thursday's practice told Swiss Newspaper, Blick: "I don't have any problem with Jean, but I don't think it's correct when he swears at the mechanics on the radio".

Times from first practice:

1 Hakkinen, McLaren-Mercedes - 1:21.937
2 Fisichella, Benetton-Playlife - 1:22.205
3 Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes - 1:22.757
4 Frentzen, Williams-Mecachrome - 1:23.656
5 M Schumacher, Ferrari - 1:23.685
6 Irvine, Ferrari - :23.765
7 Herbert, Sauber-Petronas - 1:23.914
8 Wurz, Benetton-Playlife - 1:23.946
9 Villeneuve, Williams-Mecachrome - 1:24.081
10 Trulli, Prost-Peugeot - 1:24.191
11 Diniz, Arrows - 1:24.735
12 Alesi, Sauber-Petronas - 1:24.901

Every effort is made to ensure factual accuracy but
no responsibility is accepted for this information
Photos by kind permission of Sauber
Last updated 24th May 1998