Today Stewart GP introduced it's new 1998 ...
Published on 13 January 1998 by Verstappen Info Page
Today Stewart GP introduced it's new 1998 challenger today, ofcourse in Scottish surroundings, at Ford's Engineering and Research Centre in Dunton. Executive chairman Jackie Stewart was a bit cautious when he admitted: "In many ways 1998 will be more difficult than our first year. People might say that if only we can be reliable we will be competitive. That would be asking too much too soon. I expect a conservative year, a year of consolidation."
Copyright Bryn Williams/F1PictureNet
The team expects to qualify in top ten regularly and hopes to finish more races and score more points this year. Paul Stewart said about it: "Our aim is to be a top six team at the end of 1998. Most first year teams never make it to the second year but we haven't robbed the second year budget to pay for the first year. We had spent even more money on developing our second year car." Below you'll find an overview of important launches still to come.
| Team | Date | Location |
| Benetton | January 15 | LWT Studio's, London |
| Jordan | January 19 | Albert Hall, London |
| Prost | January 20 | Barcelona |
| Tyrrell | January 21 | Bluebird Restaurant, London |
| Sauber | January 21 | Opera Housa, Vienna |
| Williams | January 26 | Silverstone |
It is still very doubtful wether the Portuguese GP will be staged or not. The Portuguese Minister of Economic Affairs, mr. Joaquim Pina Moura, said he could not guarantee that the necessary repair works would be finished in time. He said talks with Autodril, the former owners of the circuit, had failed to make progress. Following a restructuring, the state now owns 51 percent of the track and Autodril has 49 percent. Pina Moura said: "I was obliged to take this decision because of the attitude taken by Autodril to systematically create obstacles to block the completion of the necessary repairs."
