British GP McLaren Review

BRITISH GRAND PRIX 1998 - RACE DAY CHASSIS NUMBERS: David Coulthard: MP4-13 /03 Mika Hakkinen: MP4-13 / 06 T. Car: MP4 -13 /04 MIKA HAKKINEN 'We were looking really good until the heavy rain came down and I had a big spin. I damaged my front wing as I went off and that affected the down force of the car, which meant that I could not turn in on high speed corners. With the safety car coming out and closing down my time advantage over Schumacher, I knew that it would be very difficult to keep him behind me.' DAVID COULTHARD 'I made a good start and I was hopeful for a good finish, but a tyre situation, which saw me running intermediates as opposed to wet tyres when the rain became heavier, soon meant that I lost grip on the track. The rest, as they say is history, as I spun off whilst trying to pass a backmarker.' RON DENNIS 'The team are studying the results and have made a protest. Further comment will be forthcoming in due course.' NORBERT HAUG 'Mika looked really strong until the heavy rain started, during which time he spun damaging his front wing. The safety car, which was sent out in these difficult track conditions, took away his lead of almost 40 seconds. Owing to the damage sustained when Mika spun, he was unable to push as hard as he would have liked when the race resumed. When David made his stop the weather looked as though it was clearing which resulted in the decision for him to get a new set of intermediate tyres. Mika's stop took place a few laps later just as the weather changed for the worse meaning that he changed on to full wet tyres. We still have a very good potential to win more races and I am looking forward to the next race in Zeltweg.'