Hakkinen was battling with Ferrari?s Michael Schumacher for the title, which came down to a crunch decider at Suzuka in Japan. Schumacher took pole position, but stalled on the formation lap, forcing him to start from the back of the grid.
Hakkinen had a four-point lead to defend in the points table, and led the race from start to finish to confirm the first of two world championship wins ...
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