McLaren do Hockenheim double

Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard left Ferrari trailing for a second successive weekend when they delivered another display of McLaren-Mercedes superiority in Germany yesterday.

Hakkinen's second win in seven days also celebrated the announcement that the two drivers would be staying with McLaren until the end of 1999. "We are happy with what they have done for us and believe they are both capable of being world champion," Mercedes' director at the race, Jurgen Hubbert, said.

This was McLaren's sixth one-two in 12 races including the last of 1997 and saw Hakkinen go 16 points clear of Michael Schumacher at the head of the drivers' standings. The German's Ferrari could finish no better than fifth after problems with the handling balance at speed.

Third place went to Jacques Villeneuve's Williams ahead of Damon Hill, who scored the first points of his season in the Jordan-Mugen Honda. "I got into a good groove and kept pushing the entire distance," said Hill. It was the first time a Mercedes-Engined Formula One car had won on German soil since the legendary Juan-Manuel Fangio won at the Nurburgring in 1954 and it represented another giant stride towards Hakkinen becoming only the second Finnish world champion since his manager Keke Rosberg won the title in a Williams 16 years ago. Coulthard ran steadily in the wheeltracks of the other McLaren to repeat the one-two of last week's Austrian Grand Prix.

Both McLaren drivers were worried about the challenge posed by Villeneuve in the closing stages of the race. Hakkinen had eased his pace when his engine refused to pull as strongly as it should have done, causing Coulthard in turn to ease back slightly.

Although the leading McLaren trailed an ominous haze of liquid, which laid an opaque film across Coulthard's visor, the loss in performance was caused by Hakkinen leaning off the fuel mixture to make it less rich under instructions from his engineers.

"At one point we were slightly worried that Mika's car had not taken on its full fuel allocation at the pit stop," said the McLaren managing director Ron Dennis.

"Even though we then checked our figures and convinced ourselves that this was not in fact the case, we played safe by adjusting the mixture to run as economically as possible."

Because of this, Villeneuve trimmed Hakkinen's advantage from 5.1 seconds on lap 33 to 2.1 seconds on lap 36, only for the McLarens to pick up the pace again. Coulthard drove defensively as they lapped slower traffic, protecting Hakkinen by dropping back to ensure there was a back marker between himself and Villeneuve.

"Once you get to within a second or so of another car, you are into too much turbulence," said Coulthard, "so I thought there was too much at stake to try passing Mika. But "I was seriously worried about Jacques because I know he is a committed racing driver and, if he sees half a gap, he will go for it. It was very uncomfortable," said Coulthard.

Towards the end Villeneuve's challenge was blunted when he dropped away with an apparent transmission problem. "I suddenly picked up a lot of wheelspin on the inside rear wheel," he reported. "The revs were rising but the car was going no faster. It could have been something to do with the clutch or the differential."

This was the world champion's best performance of the season and his first visit to the rostrum since clinching his title with third place in last year's final European Grand Prix at Jerez.

"It's a great feeling to be back on the podium," he admitted. "The whole weekend started well and, when that happens, you feel up and it gives you new energy. The good thing today is we weren't far behind the McLarens. I'm looking forward to some good racing for the rest of the year."

The Schumacher brothers completed the top six behind Hill, Michael's Ferrari heading Ralf's Jordan past the chequered flag.

The F1 circus now heads for Budapest and the Hungaroring in two weeks time, a circuit Hakkinen admitted was a completely different animal to that used for the German Grand Prix.

"Basically, the Hungaroring is the complete opposite of

Hockenheim. It needs a lot of downforce, a very powerful engine, very good tyres and good balance from the car," he said.

"We have got it, and I am looking forward to it."