Hakkinen Angry At Second Start

World championship leader Mika Hakkinen is convinced that the French GP should not have been stopped, despite Jos Verstappen's Stewart being stranded on the grid.


The Finn, who led the field away at the first time of asking, claims that his chances of winning the race were scuppered by the decision to halt the race. He made a worse start second time around, and was delayed behind Eddie Irvine's Ferrari as Michael Schumacher made his race-winning break. (It was a bit too much to stop the race just for that [Verstappen's stalled car],) Hakkinen said. (My first start was fantastic, but the second was just a nightmare.)


The orange abort lights came on a fraction after the red lights which start the race had been extinguished. Normally, both sets of lights would appear simultaneously in the event of a delayed start.