In a special one-off takeover of The Race F1 Podcast's feed by our sister podcast, Bring Back V10s, Mika Hakkinen joins us to look back at one of his most famous battles with Michael Schumacher, which was decided by an iconic overtake in the closing stages. Mika joins Glenn Freeman and Edd Straw to discuss the whole race in great detail, from starting on pole position behind the safety car, to McLaren's cautious strategy that worked against David Coulthard, Hakkinen's spin that handed Schumacher the lead, and how he set about catching the Ferrari. Mika then describes in incredible detail how he felt when Schumacher chopped him on the run to Les Combes, how his run through Eau Rouge on the following lap was key to making the pass for the win, the role of backmarker Ricardo Zonta, and how it felt to see Schumacher's Ferrari in his mirrors after he'd pulled off one of F1's most memorable passes. Mika then explains his post-race conversation with Schumacher, and why declined to share details in public at the time or even discuss the block that left him "pissed off".
Away from Hakkinen's heroics, Glenn and Edd look back at all the other big stories from the Spa weekend, including pre-race crisis talks at Ferrari, Jenson Button's move from Williams to Benetton, Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve falling out (again), the idea of Juan Pablo Montoya signing for Toyota, Jarno Trulli emerging as a qualifying specialist, and the breakdown of Prost's all-French relationship with Peugeot.
If you like what you here, please subscribe to Bring Back V10s free via your podcast supplier of choice to enjoy two season's worth of episodes covering everything from Damon Hill's near victory in Hungary '97 and the real story behind Alain Prost being fired by Ferrari to Ayrton Senna's final home grand prix and Nigel Mansell's disastrous stint with McLaren.
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