German Grand Prix at Hockenheim:

David Coulthard Finishes Fifth After Mika Häkkinen Crashes

David Coulthard drove the McLaren-Mercedes to a fifth-place finish in the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim while Mika Häkkinen crashed into the tyre barrier on lap 26 out of 45 due to a damaged rear tyre. After 307.022km Coulthard finished 16.823sec behind eventual winner Eddie Irvine (Ferrari).

David Coulthard started from third position on the grid and had to pit at the end of lap 10 after he lost part of his front wing when he tried to pass Mika Salo (Ferrari) in the second chicane. Then he had to stop on lap 26 following a stop-and-go penalty for taking a shortcut in the same corner when passing Olivier Panis (Prost-Peugeot). David Coulthard made his third and final pitstop on lap 39 for fuel and tyres. Mika Häkkinen qualified the McLaren-Mercedes on pole position and led the race until his pit stop on lap 24 when he lost three positions due to a problem with the refuelling rig. He had passed Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Jordan-Mugen-Honda) to improve to third and was chasing the two Ferrari when he spun entering the stadium due to a damaged left rear tyre.

The championship will continue with the Hungarian Grand Prix at Budapest on 15 August.