[YT] 20 years since Spa 1998

[PTRACER]

In two weeks today (August 30th), it'll be 20 whole years - yes, TWENTY YEARS - since that amazing race in Spa where everybody crashed and Damon Hill took victory.

I'd like to gather people's thoughts about that race - what you remember of watching at the time, what you think now and what is the lasting legacy of that race. Also, where would you rank it in terms of the greatest races?

Over the next few posts, I'd like to offer you videos, photos and quotes from the event:

Links
1. Videos
2. Pictures
3. Contemporary Quotes
4. Later Quotes

[PTRACER]

Videos

The start crash in glorious broadcast quality, with Murray Walker's famous commentary:



The alternative DSF+ version, where you can see Coulthard actually hit the wall. Otherwise the German coverage totally missed the crash and it wasn't seen until a replay was shown:


And finally, rare onboard of the crash from Jos Verstappen's Stewart and Eddie Irvine's Ferrari, only shown on the alternative world feed in Europe:

[PTRACER]

Photos

The mighty Spa F1 crash of 1998 seen from afar. Those black thingies on the wall of the barrier are tyres, rolling neatly along...! The last 3 pics are Rubens Barrichello's Stewart wreck being removed:

Spa 1998

[PTRACER]

Contemporary Quotes

Damon Hill

I feel great. I said I wanted to give Jordan it’s first Grand Prix win and it is fantastic to have achieved that. We were strong all weekend here and knew we were in with a chance of winning. To finish first and second shows just how competitive we were. I think this is a greatly deserved victory. I went for a lower downforce set-up at the restart, but that worked against me and Michael Schumacher was able to get past because my car was acquaplaning on certain parts of the circuit. The conditions were very difficult – I touched a Prost at one point – it was raining very hard in some places, and there were lots of incidents. I am going to have a party tonight to celebrate this. This result is due to some incredibly hard work by everyone at Jordan, at Mugen-Honda and Goodyear. Now we have achieved it let’s go on to even greater things!

Ralf Schumacher

Obviously I would have liked to go for the win, but it was agreed by everyone in the team what our strategy would be, and I accept that. Damon was quicker than me all weekend, so he deserved to win. I went on intermediates at the start and for whatever reason I was not going at a good enough pace, so I stopped early. I started closing the gap after that. It was difficult because I couldn’t see anything. Then the Safety Car came out which made it an open race again, but we kept our 1-2 positions and finished the race with the best result possible for the team.

Jean Alesi

This is a fantastic result for the team! All season our performance has been getting better, but whenever we have been on the verge of a strong result something has always gone wrong up until now. The level of competition has been tougher than ever, and the disappointments have been difficult to take. This result makes up for all that.
I was lucky to avoid the problems at the first start, and when the race really got going I had to concentrate very hard because the conditions were so difficult. It was raining in a different way on different part of the circuit, and especially on the intermediates on which I started I had to be very careful. When we switched to full wets it was easier, but throughout the visibility was terrible.
To be honest I was surprised when the safety car pulled off again towards the end, because there were cars parked either side of the track and it was very easy to aquaplane in many places. Towards the end I could run at the same speed as the two Jordans just ahead of me, but it was absolutely impossible to try anything because the visibility was so bad. I was thinking of points, nothing else.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen

After the first start I was lucky to miss David following his crash. However I damaged my front wing on some debris from another car caught up in the incident. The second start was alright. I could maintain good lap times with my intermediates. When the rain got harder we decided to change to wet tyres but shortly before my first pitstop I lost my car and got into the gravel. After this the car was not as good as before but we do not know why yet. I changed my intermediates to the hard rain tyres which proved to be a wrong decision as the other teams appeared to have changed to the soft compound. We decided also to change to this compound on my second stop. Unfortunately we fitted another set of hard ones. Following this I had no change to keep up with Alesi's pace so I concentrated on maintaining my position and securing three points.

Pedro Diniz

It was a good result, especially after what happened after the first start. I had to deal with ever changing weather conditions, which made it a difficult race for me. It was a really good effort from our team, who started work at 2.30am this morning, to prepare a new spare race car, which in the end I used during the race, as my race car was damaged in the first pile-up. I am just happy that we have something to celebrate after a very traumatic weekend.

Jarno Trulli

I couldn't get into first gear and found myself stuck there on the starting grid. By the time I got going I was in last place as we headed into the Source chicane. It's hard to imagine a worse start to a race. The main priority in a situation like that is to make sure you don't make any silly mistakes. Half-way through the race, Alain advised me against trying to catch up with Diniz in his Arrow's car - and he was right. I stuck to the race strategy right up to the moment I crossed the finishing line, and it paid off.

David Coulthard

In the initial start of the race I was hit from behind after the hairpin which turned me violently right and into the wall. I was a passenger from then on as the car spun and was hit again in the ensuing mayhem. Fortunately the team was able to prepare the T car for me and I managed to get out onto the grid for the re-start. After a few laps following the second start I called the team over the radio several times asking for the safety car to be brought out as I could see the situation was very dangerous and that a lot of cars were going off. Several laps later, having stopped for full wets, I was informed from the pit wall that Schumacher was behind me and I was told at turn seven to let him by. At the exit of turn nine I kept right to let him go and the next thing I know he is running into the back of me.

Shinji Nakano

I made quite good start, overtaking Rosset, then I saw some pieces of wings in front of me, and I braked. I was sure I could avoid them, but - unfortunately - Salo hit the barrier and came back to the track hitting me. So I had to take the T-car, whose set-up was slightly different from my race car's, in fact the car was more difficult to drive. From the beginning of the race I had too much oversteer, especially when the track became dry, so I could not improve the time. I was behind Trulli when, after the first pit-stop, Fisichella made a mistake and hit me, so I had to go back to the box and change the back wing and several other rearsuspension parts, but the team did a good job, allowing me to go out again and finish this very difficult race. I was eighth, but it's a shame because, with a little more luck, I could have ended up in the points.

Giancarlo Fisichella

I don't understand why they waited so long to bring out the safety car. You couldn't see anything and I destroyed my car when I crashed into Nakano's Minardi. On my last 10 laps the visibility was zero. My first start was really good which meant I avoided the huge accident just after the first corner. Unfortunately the second start didn't go very well and I lost a few positions.

Michael Schumacher

I am very annoyed about what happened. It was clear that we would have taken the lead in the Championship, as I was by far the fastest car on the track. Coulthard seemed to be running 5 to 6 seconds slower than his real pace once I was behind him. When he rejoined the race he was much quicker again. Obviously lifting on the straight like he did when I hit him is very dangerous. He has the experience to know that you do not slow down on a straight like that without giving any warning. So one could think he did it deliberately. At the second start I was on the outside of Hakkinen and I tried to leave a bit of room. He was forcing me a bit wide, but I had the better line and could accelerate better out of the corner. It is very disappointing to still be seven points behind in the Championship, when I could have left Spa with a three point lead.

Eddie Irvine

It was an embarrassing race for me. I lost my car at the first start. I jumped in the spare which was originally set up for Michael. Although the mechanics did a great job to get it changed to suit me, it was still far from ideal. I should have driven at just a comfortable level rather than trying to hang onto Michael and Damon, which I was able to do. Maybe I pushed too hard. I went off and damaged the nose. We gambled on fitting wets and it was the right decision when the rain came again. Everything was going great, but after my pit-stop I came out behind Fisichella. I was quicker than him but could not see where I was going. I clipped a kerb and spun off.

Esteban Tuero

I started very slowly so I managed to avoid the bad accident that involved almost all the cars which were in front of me. I just had to change the tyres, which were seriously damaged, because I passed over lots of debris which were on the track. It was a bad moment, I could not see anything because of the water, not even Nakano, which was in front of me. My race finished on 17th lap, when my car broke: I don't know what happened, but I felt that it was very difficult to drive.

Jacques Villeneuve

I aquaplaned, my rear tyres were dead and there was too much water for the way they were at that point. We had been talking about doing a pit-stop for the last two laps and Heinz made his decision quicker so when I decided to come into the pits he had already come in. I had to do an extra lap. On the previous lap I almost lost it five times down the straight so I knew it was going to be hairy to do this extra lap. It was very slippery out there but we have had worse conditions. With intermediate tyres our car seemed to work OK and we could put in some good lap times but as soon as we have to go to wets we find it difficult to get the heat in and do not stick as much to the track. We have work to do there - but the wet itself, I don't mind.

Toranosuke Takagi

As I accelerated down the hill out of La Source, one of the Ferraris exited the pits and I went wide to avoid him. Unfortunately, it was the section of track where the big pile-up occurred earlier and it was very slippery. The car started to acquaplane and I just couldn’t do anything. I hit the armco and that was that. It’s a great shame because the car felt good and I had high hopes of a strong finish. I must thank my engineers and mechanics who did a great job to get the spare ready so quickly and made the right tyre choice. Looking at the weekend positively, this was my first time in a Formula One car at Spa and I’m sure it is good experience for my career.

Jos Verstappen

I had a very good start and managed to pass four cars. Just as I came out of the first corner there were cars everywhere. I found a gap but was hit and my rear right tyre exploded. I managed to get back to the pits and jump into the spare car. At the re-start I had another good getaway and passed two cars. Unfortunately as I came out of the first corner Hakkinen spun and I had to lift off and lost a couple of positions. Things were looking good, so it was unfortunate that my engine failed. I could probably have finished in the points today.

Mika Hakkinen

The first start went reasonable well and I managed to keep out of the way of the accident in which David was involved on the first lap. However, at the re-start I struggled a bit to gain grip and then I was touched in the scrabble of cars at the first corner, spinning me round and leaving me vulnerable to the on-coming traffic. Finally Herbert was unable to avoid me, taking off my front left suspension which eliminated me from the race.

Alexander Wurz

The race should have been started behind the safety car. The first crash was really scary and at least no-one was hurt. My second start in the T-car went very well, but then I came up behind Coulthard and he was sliding all over the track. I wasn't there for a Sunday drive so I took the risk to overtake him. We collided and both went off although luckily for him he was able to continue.

Johnny Herbert

At the first start I could sense things moving oddly in the ball of spray ahead of me, then suddenly a wheel came flying over my head. Then I found myself spinning after somebody hit me. I took the spare for the restart, but that didn't even last as long as the first for me. Mika spun, and like David with Mika Salo in Austria, he was trying to flick it back the right way and just caught my rear suspension as I tried to squeeze by. It was too badly damaged to continue.
A bad day for me, but I am delighted for the team with Jean's result. It's absolutely the tonic that we needed.

Rubens Barrichello

It was a very chaotic start to the race. The conditions out there were terrible and coming into the La Source after the start, there was absolutely no visibility. I braked when I felt that something was happening in front of me on the exit but was hit from behind which sent me into a spin. I was hit again from the side and then got caught up in the whole mess. The second impact caused some damage to my left arm. It's quite painful, but thankfully nothing is broken. However, the car is not in such good shape. In hindsight, I think someone should have taken the decision to start the race behind the safety car.

Mika Salo

I have to thank the new regulations about the car safety. I had some mega shunts this weekend and I am still here and not hurt. It was most unfortunate that I was caught up in the mass accident. I hit a Ferrari, which was sideways in front of me first, then I hit a McLaren on my side, which launched me back onto the track and finally a Minardi hit me really hard from behind. It was an amazing feeling with all these wishbones and tyres flying all around me. Naturally I am disappointed that I was not able to participate at the Grand Prix, but the car was set up for Pedro this weekend and, as both cars were severely damaged in the incident I was unable to compete. I am, however, pleased that Pedro was able to bring some well deserved points home to a Team that has worked tirelessly all weekend to help solve our various problems.

Ricardo Rosset

At the start, there was just so much spray, I couldn’t see anything. I managed to get around the first corner and started to accelerate down the hill but almost immediately saw pieces of wreckage on the track. I guessed there had been an accident and started to slow, but it was too late and I piled into a mass of cars that were crashing everywhere. I hit my elbow in the collision but would have been able to take the restart. Unfortunately, my car was too badly damaged to be repaired in the time available. The spare car was prepared for Tora this weekend so I had no choice but to sit the race out. It’s a shame because my car was good in the wet during the morning warm-up and I think we could have done well.

[PTRACER]

Later Quotes

David Coulthard (2003)

I'm not doing a Fernando-beating thing, but I realised on reflection...when Michael ran into the back of me, his reaction was that I'd brake tested him or tried to kill him and all that sort of thing. The stewards looked at the data and I hadn't braked, so it was just all brushed under the carpet.

The reality is that I lifted to let him pass me, but I lifted in heavy spray on the racing line. You should never do that. I would never do that now. In 1998, I didn't have the experience and the knowledge, and I had never had someone run into the back of me. And because someone pushes you, you react. So you act as though 'I didn't do that,'

The minute I knew he was there, and I was told by the team that he was and was trying to allow him to pass me, I should have made a smarter decision.

The risk is that it could have been a very dangerous accident for Michael and Nurburgring could have been a very dangerous accident for me. Eventually, somewhere down the line, eight or 10 years from now, a young guy will come in and it will happen to Fernando and then he will feel slightly different about it.

Coulthard was asked whether he had told Schumacher what really happened all those years ago.

"No, because the penny has only dropped since Nurburgring," he replied.

Eddie Irvine

I have to admit, it was a bit scary. I had no brakes, no steering, nothing was working. I was just sitting there hurtling down the track with wheels hitting me on the head and cars going all over the place. There was nothing I could do except sit there and think ‘S**t, where is this taking me?’ It was not pleasant…

Ralf Schumacher

It was quite funny, because I just spotted a McLaren sideways in front of me and then I saw the mess going on all around me. So I moved my car left, parked it in neutral and waited, just in time to see an Arrows suddenly missing me by about ten centimetres. Then when everything had settled, I just engaged a gear and went through.

[PTRACER]

Personally, Spa 1998 is and always will my favourite Grand Prix. I was only 10 at the time, but I was totally into crashes back then, so I went absolutely mental when I saw the accident. I was also a HUGE Hill fan too so when Damon took the victory I was totally beside myself with joy. The original race recording is sitting across two VHS tapes in my bedroom in the UK and I have watched them many, many times...I started to record every race after that and it's one of the reasons this forum is here.

It's legacy? The crash pretty much ended the era of the crazy races where they were sent out in any and every condition and told to get on with it. The 1999 Belgian GP began with the first ever safety car start, because of what happened a year earlier, and the track was only mildly moist. That set a precedent and now they won't even race in anything beyond a light rain shower now. I also feel that Spa was destroyed (especially the pit straight) purely to avoid a repeat of the crash. Great times, they were...

[Everso Biggyballies]

Great quality on the initial crash vid. Never seen it like that before so thanks @PTRACER

[MonteCristo]

Utterly fantastic race, and probably my favourite too. Had pretty much everything.

And yes, also marked the end of an era in some ways.

Thanks for the high quality as well. Haven't seen it like that since, oh, 20 years ago!

[Everso Biggyballies]

The one thing I remember about the race was watching on TV seeing MS mince into the McLaren garage hoping DC was going to knock the swaggering MS into the next week. If I was going to pick a fight with anyone in F1 at that time the Jaw would have been the last one I picked to go up against. He always struck me as being a tough MF.

[kals]

An amazing race. DC did his best demolition derby attempt, not once but twice. I had worked a night shift the previous day and actually fell asleep between the original race stoppage and the second start, waking up seeing Hill leading during the first few laps.

[Michael Ferner]

The alternative DSF+ version, where you can see Coulthard actually hit the wall. Otherwise the German coverage totally missed the crash and it wasn't seen until a replay was shown:

Interesting, as this clearly shows that there was no car even close to hitting Coulthard, in contrast to what he stated after the crash. Although there must've been contact with Irvine earlier on, I'd say. Not sure whether it was ever revealed what caused this initial accident?

As for rating this race, I am well aware that I'm probably in a minority of one here on this particular forum, but it is surely very close to the absolute bottom in my view of things. I have long held the view that restarting races from scratch is a very, very stupid rule, even if, in a case such as this, there would have been only a dozen cars or so left. But allowing repairs or even spare cars in has led to a very cavalier attitude on the part of the drivers, which was clearly shown a few races earlier in Canada (though it may have been 1999, I'm not really sure), when Alex Wurz caused a very stupid crash with lots of damage, then casually got out of the car and gave an interview for German TV where he showed himself totally unconcerned with the mayhem he had caused, only talking about his chances in the restarted race with his spare car. Never liked the guy, positively hated him after that interview.

[kals]

Coulthard claimed for years that Irvine hit him, causing him to crash. Every man and his knew that was utter crap as we all have eyes.

Only recently has Coulthard admitted that it was actually his mistake.

[erwin greven]

They touched on the entry of the hairpin. And maybe at the exit. But we can guess and point fingers/believe or not. We don't know how it feels to be in an F1 car and in those circumstances.

[Antonov]

if I remember correctly, it was not only a very wet day, but also bloody cold for August.

[kals]

They touched on the entry of the hairpin. And maybe at the exit.

Yes that’s right, but DC never referred to that contact as the cause of his crash.