The Race That Changed Formula 1 FOREVER..

that I have ever seen in the whole of my life as the great Murray Walker an icon of the commentary scene looked on he found himself at a loss for words for what he'd just seen I don't think many if any races can claim to have provided as much drama in the entire history of Formula One as the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix from a 13-car pileup jaw-dropping crashes a literal pit Lane bust up to the spicy Schumacher's going to war and a maiden win for one of the sports arising underdogs this race had everything qualifying was something special right from the start the track conditions on Saturday were cool and dry just perfect and a thrilling Jewel between the two McLarens of Mika hakkinen and David Coulthard were taking Center Stage every time kofard would go faster hackington would respond by shaping off a few more tents in the end though hacking in snatched Pole Position by a mere one tenth of a second securing the front row for McLaren alongside colfat meanwhile Damon Hill also had a fantastic qualifying performance taking P3 ahead of Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine in P4 and P5 Schumacher's best time in fact was under scrutiny due to a waved yellow flag incident and in the end Hill managed to beat him by a fraction of a second beyond the top contenders other drivers had their share of challenges Jacques Villeneuve took a very nice sixth place on the grid despite almost wrecking his Williams the day before Mika Salo wasn't as fortunate though crashing his Arrow during qualifying and let's just say he would face some more trouble during the race race day turned out to be quite a roller coaster of events despite the forecast predicting warm and dry conditions it started raining early Saturday morning and boy was everyone surprised about that one I mean it never rains its Spa does it what rain expert Schumacher showed his skill during the warm-up setting the pace in his Ferrari followed by Irvine hakkinen physicella Ralph Schumacher and Hill the weather however was unpredictable and as the race began only a few drivers including vilnev a lacy and most notably Michael Schumacher opted for intermediate tires others like hacking and colfod Hill and Irvine went with full wet tires to play it safe and boy was this race anything but safe When the Lights Went Out hacking and got off to a solid start but colfarge struggled to get going vill nerve on the other hand had shot up to challenge hakinen for the Lead Hill experiencing excessive wheel spin had dropped back to around seventh from third allowing Michael Schumacher to climb up to P3 The Front Runners had got away well for the most part but it would be behind them where the real chaos unfolded the spray from the cars made it nearly impossible to see what exactly happened at the time but it was believed that Irvine made contact with colfard sending the McLaren spinning across the Midfield on the run-up to O Rouge resulting in a major crash into a concrete barrier it was a horrible sight seeing the car spin across the track like that whilst the drivers behind tried to dodge an oncoming murder machine the likes of barricella rossit panis and Salo would end up being unable to make the restart because their cars were so utterly destroyed thankfully though none of the drivers were seriously injured it took nearly an hour to clear the wreckage and get the spare cars ready for a restart Irvine took Schumacher's spare car while kolthard took the spare McLaren Jordan's Ralph Schumacher was the only one who managed to escape the initial chaos unharmed cleverly positioning his car to avoid the Mayhem as the cars lined up for the restart only 18 drivers lined up on the grid during the restarts Hill seized the opportunity to redeem himself from his earlier poor start this time Hill got it just right and overtook both McLarens as they came around La Source again while Hill was in Dreamland hacking and would have to endure quite the nightmare what was that his McLaren spun 180 degrees as he exited in La Source stationary and facing the wrong way he could only watch helplessly as Johnny Herbert Sauber collided with him both drivers were out of the race on the spot prompting the safety car to intervene at least this time the race wouldn't be halted just like there's no halt in the content I'm bringing to you so if you're enjoying it make sure you subscribe will you to make matters worse for McLaren colfard had a rough first app struggling to regain control and ending up in the gravel trap after contact with Alexander Wertz Benetton fortunately he managed to rejoin the race at the back of the pack as the safety car led the pack the top 10 order was Hill Michael Schumacher Irvine elaci vilnov frenton Ralph Schumacher physicaler Denise Ander verstappen no not that one although with the way things are going I wouldn't be surprised if he found a way to win this race too after clearing the stranded Sauber and McLaren the race resumed just two laps later Hills Jordan on intermediate tires with hopes of a drying track initially looked confident and assured in the changing conditions he managed to keep a small lead of just over a second on Schumacher's Ferrari for the first few intense laps however the rain started getting worse and it became evident that the Jordan was struggling to cope with the conditions it was a bizarre sight to see Hill and the Jordan leading the race but on lap 7 Schumacher made his move outbreaking Hill into the bus stop she came and take taking the lead of the race as the race progressed Jos verstappen Stewart suffered a blown engine forcing him out on lap 8. Irvine also had troubles on lap night breaking his front wing and Budge board after missing a chicane and hitting a curb he made a lengthy Pit Stop to fix the damage and switch to full wet tires Ralph Schumacher on the other hand would make a strategic tire change on lap 11 swapping his intermediates for full wet which would later prove to be a wise move sometimes my geniuses it's almost frightening on lap 16 most of the leading drivers still on intermediate such as the likes of Jacques philnev would pit for full wets or at least try to yeah vilnov took a happy misadventure into the barriers just before his stop Damon Hill's Pit Stop wasn't entirely smooth either as the mechanics adjusted the front Wing settings but they managed to get it done despite a minor hiccup by lap 17 Hill found himself sandwiched between the two schumachers Michael had a comfortable lead over Hill and Ralph was in third place grateful for the earlier strategic tire change alessi frenton Irvine Dennis and physical are followed in top positions coleford though was a little frustrated with the conditions and urged for the safety car to return his intuition would later prove to be correct by lap 24 Ralph Schumacher had closed the Gap to his teammate Damon Hill to just 10 seconds while Michael extended his lead Overhill to almost 30 seconds on this very lap Michael would also almost collide with Denise and for those of you that no well you know how foreshadowing works sometimes foreshadowing is relatively obvious he then approached kolthard who was about to be lapped but the situation got tense as Schumacher gestured his impatience with the McLaren in his way his impatience would turn into full boiled anger on lap 26 disaster struck as Schumacher's right front wheel hit coleford's rear when trying to pass the Scotsman 4000 in these appalling conditions oh God Michael Schumacher hits David tolpard at his house causing severe damage to the Ferrari frustration had gotten the better of the German in these treacherous conditions both cars limped on but Michael's race was over he'd been leading the race by well over 30 seconds he was well on his way to solidifying his run at the driver's title and it was all gone in an instant he was so angry that when he got back to the pit he threw his steering wheel at his mechanic got out the car and headed straight from the McLaren garage he confronted cothad who still had his helmet on he was totally convinced that kolthard was the one to blame for whatever just went down on the track and let me tell you the exchange was fiery kolthard later recounted that Schumacher was fuming accusing him of some pretty serious stuff we're talking trying to kill me kind of accusations things got so intense that the Ferrari and McLaren Crews had to step in and physically separate the two hot-headed drivers now this was true drama this is what you'd call in cinema terms pure Kino but the German wasn't done yet he stormed off to the steward's office to officially Lodge a protest against colfud later David colfarge shared his thoughts on Michael Schumacher's Antics saying it's disgusting behavior for someone who's got such a fantastic record for driving in this sport he really needs to get some sort of help for controlling his anger after such an event yeah I wasn't kidding when I said the spice was off the charts with this one with 19 laps remaining Damon hill now found himself back in the lead except there would be a Twist in the tale yet despite Michael's accident there was still hope for a Schumacher Victory Ralph Schumacher proving that wet weather skills ran in the family had been climbing through the field and was sitting in third place before his brother's mishap he had managed to reduce Hill's lead from 22 seconds to just over 10 at one point and when the safety car was deployed following a crash between Giancarlo fisikella and Shinji nakano Ralph got a chance to restart the race rightly behind Hill as the safety car came in with 12 laps to go Jordan now saw the possibility of not only a victory but also a one-two finish a first in the history of the team in a season where they hadn't finished higher than fourth Ralph encouraged by his engineer Sam Michael quickly found a good Rhythm on the restart and piled pressure on Hill as the race entered its closing stages with the rain still pouring down hill started to feel the pressure and made his status as world champion clear to the team over the radio today [Applause] if we wait if we do right we can end up with nothing [Applause] Jordan slow to make a decision was considering all factors including Ralph's contract negotiations for the following year eventually he decided to use team orders instructing Ralph not to overtake Damon Ralph's engineer Sam Michael tried to get the message through to him several times and let's just say Ralph wasn't a happy camper about it no God please no no despite the clear instruction Schumacher continued to push [Music] Ed that didn't you still there was no response get silence it was his fourth attempt but he finally got through to the German driver who responded with a two-word reply despite the team orders there was a sense that Ralph might ignore them especially since he was suing Jordan to be released from his contract and joined Williams next year Eddie Irvine's race was over too as his Ferrari spun off the track into the gravel after clipping a curb now both Ferraris were also out Ralph was showing dedication to the team's orders but elaci was applying some pressure from behind albeit unsuccessfully frenzen and Denise would end up being unable to keep up with the leading Trio and Jano truly managed to secure a valuable point for Prost albeit two laps behind the leaders slow and steady comes sixth in the race I suppose the race concluded on lap 44 with Damon Hill celebrating his historic victory for Jordan their first ever Grand Prix win and in a remarkable one-two finish Eddie Jordan's Joy was evident as he performed a now famous jig in The Paddock Schumacher's frustration was apparent much like his brother zanga in the McLaren garage earlier he was denied a possible first win and despite waving his cap and spraying champagne during the celebrations he felt aggrieved so aggrieved that he even crashed Jordan's post-race celebrations saying that Ralph would never drive for Jordan again if any of you were wondering yes he did actually follow up on that threat Ralph would achieve one final Podium for Jordan at monster before leaving the team for Williams where he spent six years Michael missed out on a third world title losing to hackingen in the final race had he won a spa he would have gone into the title showdown at Suzuka with a six-point lead instead of a four-point deficit in the end only 8 out of 22 cars would finish the race with 13 out of 14 dnf in cars bowing out of the race due to some sort of collision or damage the only man that retired on track due to a mechanical failure was Esteban suero in the Minard he fought and boy would he have been thanking his guardian angels for that [Music] So Not only was Spar 1998 a gift from the F1 scriptwriters but it also had huge implications for the driver's Championship I quite doubt we will ever see a race like this again mostly because the FIA would rather run two laps in the wet and then cool the race off these days that being said if you enjoyed this video why don't you check out the one I made about the greatest Formula One season of all time something tells me you'll like that one [Music]