In 1998, the Benetton Formula team went through a transitional season, prompted by a major restructuring of its factory staff. The conclusion of the 1997 season marked the end of the successful partnership with Italian manager Flavio Briatore, who officially stepped down citing a lack of further motivation. However, the specialized press widely speculated about potential disagreements between the manager and the team’s ownership, rumors that were never confirmed by either party. Briatore remained in the world of Formula 1, founding Supertec, a branch of the Dutch company Super Performance Competition Engineering, which in May 1998 signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Mecachrome for the V10 GC37 engines (formerly Renault RS9), rebranded as Supertec FB01 starting from the 1999 season. His position at Benetton was taken over by Welshman David Richards, a motorsport executive who arrived with a successful rally background, having led Subaru Impreza WRC cars to victories under the Prodrive team he co-founded with Ian Parry in 1984. The Benetton family also decided to appoint the young Rocco Benetton, fourth son of owner Luciano, as CEO alongside Richards. At the press conference in London on January 15, unveiling the new Benetton B198, both declared their intention to lay the foundations for long-term success., statements that would unfortunately be completely contradicted by the on-track results.
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| BENETTON B198, Giancarlo Fisichella Montréal, Canadian GP 1998 |
Under the technical direction of Pat Symonds, who had held this position for several seasons, the B198 project remained in the hands of Nick Wirth, also with the team for over four years, now joined by young James Allison as Head of Aerodynamics. Allison was no stranger to Formula 1, having worked in the early '90s first for Benetton and later for Larrousse, but it would be in the 2000s that he would earn full recognition, contributing to Ferrari’s five consecutive Schumacher titles, Renault’s two Alonso titles, and later Mercedes’ Hamilton titles from 2018 to 2020. The chassis of the new B198 was a classic carbon fiber monocoque with carbon double wishbone push-rod suspension and a triple damper system. Due to new regulations reducing track width, the suspension was completely redesigned to better exploit the new Bridgestone tires. The relationship with the Japanese tire giant would later become problematic during the season, with the Enstone-based team blaming Bridgestone for favoring McLaren-Mercedes with more competitive tires.
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| BENETTON B198, Giancarlo Fisichella Melbourne, Australian GP 1998 |
Visually, the new Benetton car closely resembled its predecessor, the B197, though with more rounded shapes, and retained the same white and light blue livery. However, the side deflectors were completely redesigned, now consisting of a single wing profile placed in front of the sidepods with small flow diverters mounted on it. The engine air intake also changed shape, now detached from the engine cover to ensure greater airflow to the engine. The power unit for the B198 was again the Renault RS9 V10, but following Renault’s withdrawal from Formula 1 at the end of 1997, it was sold to Benetton by Mecachrome. Unlike Williams, however, Benetton rebranded the engine as Playlife to promote the Benetton Group’s fashion brand, while it retained the Mecachrome GC37/01 designation. Unfortunately, during the season, performance from the Mecachrome/Playlife engines declined due to the lack of Renault development and support, with reliability concerns forcing detuning, preventing them from matching the performance of the former RS9s and negatively affecting the team's results. The Benetton-built six-speed semi-automatic gearbox, carried over from the B197, was now outdated compared to Ferrari’s newly introduced and superior seven-speed gearboxes used by most teams.
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| BENETTON B198, Giancarlo Fisichella Hockenheimring, German GP 1998 |
Following the vision of new CEOs Richards and Benetton, the team signed two young talents as drivers: Italian Giancarlo Fisichella and Austrian Alexander Wurz, the latter already part of the team in 1997 as third driver and Berger’s substitute for three races. From the start of the season, the new B198 proved incapable of fighting for top positions, though in the mid-season Fisichella managed to secure two consecutive second places in Monaco and Canada, and even claimed the last pole position in Benetton's history in Austria. Wurz achieved more consistent results, often finishing in the points, though never close to a podium finish. During the first half of the championship, Benetton fought with Williams and Jordan for third place in the Constructors' standings, well behind the dominant McLaren and Ferrari teams. However, the second half of the season saw a sharp decline, with only a single point scored by Fisichella in the penultimate Grand Prix of the year.
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| BENETTON B198, Giancarlo Fisichella Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1998 |
At the end of the season, Benetton Formula finished only fifth in the Constructors' Championship with 33 points, the worst result in its history since its debut in 1986. After the season ended, another management shake-up occurred, with Richards resigning due to disagreements with ownership over the team’s future plans, leaving Rocco Benetton to take full control of the team’s operations at its British headquarters in Enstone.
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