[Race] The GROAT - Round 1 - 2019 Sakhir vs 1998 Spa-Francorchamps

[crmalcolm]

2019 Sakhir
Charles Leclerc started from pole position but lost two positions to his teammate Sebastian Vettel and the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, who managed to get ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton in the first corner. Romain Grosjean and Lance Stroll tangled on the first lap with Stroll hitting Grosjean, giving the Haas damage.

By the end of the first lap, Leclerc was on Bottas' tail and passed the Finn into turn 1 on lap 2, which also allowed Lewis Hamilton to take third place from Bottas. On lap 4, Carlos Sainz Jr. attacked Max Verstappen on the outside in turn 4 but the two collided, giving Sainz a puncture. On lap 6, Charles Leclerc overtook Vettel for the lead of the race into turn 1 and began to pull away quickly. Antonio Giovinazzi sent Daniil Kvyat into a spin at turn 11.

Hamilton was catching Vettel throughout the race and eventually caught up to him on lap 38, making a move around the outside at turn 4. Vettel went into a spin on corner exit, saying he got surprised and lost the rear of the car. In the process he flat-spotted his tires, causing severe vibration leading to a front wing failure. Pitting to replace the front wing dropped him to 9th place. The Renaults were running 6th and 7th and made contact while battling for position into turn 1, with Daniel Ricciardo left with front wing damage.

On lap 46, Leclerc was cruising in the lead but then reported an engine issue and slowed significantly, being several seconds slower than his immediate rivals, and being unlapped by cars he previously lapped. It was later revealed that one of his engine cylinders had stopped working. On lap 48 he was caught by Hamilton, who took the lead. On lap 54 Leclerc was passed by Bottas, dropping him to 3rd with Verstappen closing rapidly. However, with four laps remaining, the two Renaults retired with mechanical issues and brought out the safety car, which stayed out until the end of the race. As a result, Leclerc managed to hold on to 3rd place and claimed his first ever podium in Formula 1. Leclerc also had the fastest lap of the race, giving him and Ferrari one extra point for their respective championships.


1998 Spa-Francorchamps
Race day was very wet and Michael Schumacher was fastest in the morning warm-up session. Despite the heavy rain it was decided that the race would start at the scheduled time without a safety car, unlike the previous season's race. At the start Häkkinen led from a fast-starting Villeneuve, Michael Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella. Behind them, Coulthard suddenly emerged from the opaque spray at a right angle to the racing line and hit the trackside wall. At the time, Coulthard claimed he had made contact with Eddie Irvine, but has since said "the reality is I just dropped a wheel onto the metal grille". The McLaren rebounded directly into the path of the oncoming field, causing a chain reaction. Some drivers, including the Jordans of Hill and Ralf Schumacher and Esteban Tuero of Minardi, managed to get through unscathed. Hill was just a few metres ahead of the carnage while Ralf Schumacher was behind. Drivers involved in the crash along with Coulthard included Eddie Irvine (Ferrari), Alexander Wurz (Benetton), Rubens Barrichello (Stewart), Johnny Herbert (Sauber), Olivier Panis (Prost), Jarno Trulli (Prost), Mika Salo (Arrows), Pedro Diniz (Arrows), Toranosuke Takagi (Tyrrell), Ricardo Rosset (Tyrrell) and Shinji Nakano (Minardi). Jos Verstappen managed to get his Stewart back to the pits but it was too badly damaged to continue. The race was stopped before the end of the first lap, in order to allow the damaged cars to be recovered and the track to be cleared.

The regulations in force at the time stated that should any race be stopped within the first two laps, the start would be null and void, and a full restart over the original distance would take place. Thus all those involved in the incident were eligible to take place in the second start. Both Irvine and Barrichello had sustained minor injuries, and while Irvine restarted, Barrichello did not. Three teams had both of their cars damaged, each only had one spare car available, which meant that Salo, Rosset, and Panis could not restart as their teams decided to provide the spare car to their teammates. In total, four drivers did not take the second start. The second attempt to start the race took place nearly an hour after the first. At the start, Hill took the lead of a Grand Prix for the first time since the 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix. Championship leaders Häkkinen and Michael Schumacher battled for position at the first corner, where Häkkinen lost control of his car, and was hit by Herbert's Sauber, forcing both Häkkinen and Herbert to retire from the race. Also during the first lap, Coulthard and Alex Wurz collided, the damage resulted in Wurz being out of the race while Coulthard rejoined in last position. The safety car was deployed to slow the competitors down and allow Häkkinen's car, which was stranded in the middle of the track, to be safely recovered. The safety car was withdrawn at the end of the second lap, with Hill continuing to lead from Michael Schumacher after the resumption of the race. Hill retained the lead until the eighth lap, when Schumacher overtook him at the Bus Stop. Irvine then lost his front wing in an off-track excursion, dropping him from third to eleventh place as he pitted for repairs.

As the race intensified, Villeneuve spun out having briefly taken the lead during the first round of pitstops. Michael Schumacher retained his lead and was nearly 40 seconds ahead of Hill when he came up to lap Coulthard. Jean Todt had already paid a visit to the McLaren pitwall to ensure that Coulthard would move over. Coulthard did not let Schumacher by immediately, causing the Ferrari driver to shake his fist at the Scot. As the cars came down the hill towards Pouhon, Coulthard attempted to let Schumacher through, by lifting off to reduce his speed. Crucially however, he had not moved off the racing line and in very poor visibility Schumacher slammed straight into the back of the McLaren, tearing off the right-front wheel of the Ferrari and removing the rear wing of the McLaren. Both cars made it back to the pits; Schumacher immediately got out of his car and made his way to the McLaren garage. Convinced that Coulthard was at fault, Schumacher confronted him, and according to Coulthard's version of events, Schumacher both accused Coulthard of "trying to ****ing kill me", and allegedly threatened to kill Coulthard. After Ferrari and McLaren team personnel separated the two drivers, Schumacher then went to the stewards' office to protest. As the race continued, the stewards considered Schumacher's protest. At the time, they found no case against Coulthard, and the stewards further requested an explanation for why the German had driven into Coulthard's spray in the first place after Coulthard had moved aside to let him through. Coulthard later rejoined the race after his rear wing was replaced.

As a result of Michael Schumacher's retirement, Hill had taken the lead of the Grand Prix ahead of his teammate Ralf Schumacher. On the same lap, Eddie Irvine spun out of the race, ending Ferrari's interest in the race. One lap later, Fisichella's Benetton hit the back of Nakano's Minardi, ripping both the front wheels from the Benetton and damaging the back of the Minardi. The Benetton brushed against the end of the pitwall and caught fire as it came to a stop, which was quickly extinguished. Both drivers were unharmed, but the incident resulted in the safety car again being deployed and Hill immediately made his second pitstop to take advantage, retaining his lead.

At this stage of the race, only six cars were running, meaning every car was in a position to score world championship points. This led to both Coulthard and Nakano rejoining the race after lengthy repairs to their cars, in a bid to get a world championship point should there be any further retirements. As the race resumed, Hill led teammate Ralf Schumacher with Jean Alesi close behind in third. It was then just a matter of counting down the laps to the finish for the Jordan team and it was Hill who took his 22nd and final Grand Prix victory, handing Jordan their first ever Grand Prix victory in the process at the circuit where they gained their first pole position in 1994 and finished second in 1997. It later emerged that team orders had been issued preventing Ralf Schumacher from overtaking Hill.

[S griffin]

Sakhir was more proof of how much a special talent Leclerc is. However for sheer drama, it has to be Spa 98

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Sakhir was more proof of how much a special talent Leclerc is. However for sheer drama, it has to be Spa 98

Definitely Spa. Brings back memories.....

[Gerard C]

Team orders you say? Are we sure…