and Jacques Villeneuve, meanwhile Ralf Schumacher would eventually retire with engine failure by the end of lap 14. He lost thirty seconds in the following laps over race leader Häkkinen, damaging his hopes for victory and the title. After all frontrunners had pitted, Schumacher emerged in third place, having put in some fast laps. On lap 28, Esteban Tuero missed his braking point going into the final corner, crashing into the Tyrrell of Tora Takagi. When Schumacher passed over the debris, he suffered a slow puncture that blew up his right rear tyre three laps later, causing him to retire. This left Häkkinen to take victory and his first drivers' championship. While Eddie Irvine succeeded at keeping David Coulthard behind him, McLaren were nevertheless able to retain their lead over Ferrari in the constructors' championship. Post-race After the race, Häkkinen described the situation after the two aborted starts as relieving, saying: "When Michael was forced to start from the back of the grid it raised an enormous amount of pressure from me. The race was not as difficult as others I've had this season. But a lot of that's down to the team who kept letting me know where Eddie and Michael were." Eddie Irvine was quoted saying: "What happened to Michael at the start didn't change our tactics for the race, it destroyed them. When Michael went to the back I knew it was up to me. I made a fantastic start and got close to Mika at some points but just couldn't manage to get in front." Classification Qualifying Race Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Constructors' Championship standings Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. Bold text indicates 1998 World Champions. References Japanese Grand Prix Japanese Grand Prix Grand Prix Japanese Grand Prix