With three races to go, and one point between championship leader Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve, Nürburgring was set for a battle of the titans. Unfortunately, the battle only lasted 1 corner.

Before the Race

Free Practice was a bit more "normal" compared to the last race. Mika Häkkinen set a fast pace once again, finishing first in the initial session and second in the second session. Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve were slightly off the pace on Friday and Saturday morning.

Qualifying was close. The top 14 were separated by just over 1.2 seconds. Häkkinen was an obvious threat after his practice pace. And, rightly so after he claimed his first ever Pole Position. Both Williams drivers admitted they could have done better if not for mistakes on their best laps. Villeneuve followed up in second position, with Frentzen third. Fisichella a very impressive forth place; Jordan continued to get close to that top spot they are still looking for. Michael Schumacher again suffered from a poor qualifying pace from Ferrari by qualifying fifth with teammate Irvine 14th. Coulthard followed in sixth place.

Mika Häkkinen lead the warm-up in dominant fashion, leading the field by a full second. Who could stop the "Flying Finn" in the race he surely had the best chance yet to score his first victory.

The Race

Conditions on race day were bright with partial clouds.

The attention was on Villeneuve, who was aiming to make a better start than recent races, and Häkkinen who was leading the field away for the first time.

As the lights went out, the field moved away with Coulthard making an amazing start, powering away and almost overtaking the car in front of him immediately. Häkkinen lead the field up towards the tight first chicane. Villeneuve lost ground, and was along side Frentzen when they both touched wheels, which gave Villeneuve a big moment coming into braking. Both survived and seemed to suffer no effects. As the field shot into the first corner, the outbraking battle began. Schumacher found himself on the outside -- to the left of his brother Ralf and Giancarlo Fisichella, who where having their own little battle for the corner. The Jordan's tangled, sending Ralf into Michael in what could have been a very nasty accident as his wheel just missed hitting Michael's helmet. Schumacher had to take a trip across the gravel along with Berger. The two Jordans came to a halt and retired in the gravel. Michael Schumacher recovered and made his way back onto the circuit, only to retire at the end of the lap after another off in the final chicane. He found his way into the pits with suspension damage, and was not happy. This could be the moment his Championship ends.

As the cars crossed the line for the first time, the positions where as follows: Häkkinen -> 1.319s -> Coulthard -> 2.003s -> Villeneuve -> 0.926s -> Barrichello -> 0.538s -> Alesi -> 1.074s -> Magnussen. Häkkinen had already began his hot pace leading the race, followed by teammate Coulthard who had gone from 6th to 2nd. Rumors suggested McLaren may be using a starting device, although these claims are in no way supported. Villeneuve followed in 3rd, and by now had been told of Michael Schumacher's demise. Barrichello held an impressive 4th place, followed by Alesi and teammate Magnussen. Once again the Stewarts where in the top six.

Häkkinen now began to pull away, setting fastlaps and increasing the gap from teammate Coulthard slowly. Lap 5 fastest lap was 1m 20.652s. By lap 7, Häkkinen had a 3.393 second lead over his teammate, and appeared to be in full control. Villeneuve was keeping with Coulthard, 2.156 behind. Barichello was falling back from the top 3 and beginning to hold up the drivers behind him. Lap 7 and Häkkinen took another slice out of his fastest lap, with a 1m 20.245s time.

By Lap 9, he was well ahead of the field. The Top 6 where as follows : Häkkinen -> 5.430s -> Coulthard -> 2.047s -> Villeneuve -> 7.329s -> Barrichello -> 0.387s -> Alesi -> 6.191s -> Magnussen. A 7.3 second gap separated 3rd from 4th, as Barrichello is under pressure from Alesi. Häkkinen set another fastest lap of 1m 20.048s, followed by 1m 19.979s and 1m 19.824s on Laps 11 and 13. Nakano retired on Lap 16 with engine failure, as he suffered the last time out.

On lap 18, Häkkinen held a 11.094 second lead over Coulthard, who was now under pressure from Villeneuve 2.290 seconds behind. Barrichello is now 16 seconds adrift of Villeneuve and under heavy pressure from Alesi. Magnussen is 10 seconds behind this battle, holding up the field behind him. On laps 20 and 21, Benetton bring in both of their drivers. Alesi first and then Berger. Hopefully this would free Alesi from his 4th place when the field got back to normal after this round of stops. Ferrari's bad run continued when Irvine pulled over to the side of the road with an engine problem on lap 22, meaning Ferrari score no points towards the Constructors Championship. Irvine later criticized the Ferrari, calling it "brick slow" and a "joke" in a ITV interview. Two of the most vital pit stops occurred on lap 28: Häkkinen followed by Villeneuve. The McLaren pit crew did an amazing stop, getting Häkkinen out in 6.9 seconds. Villeneuve's stop lasted 8.8 seconds. Häkkinen rejoined in 2nd place, but only 9 seconds behind Coulthard. Villeneuve retained his 3rd place. Frentzen made his stop on 30, followed by Coulthard on 31, who lost his lead to Häkkinen, but kept his 2nd place.

After this first round of stops, the top six were as follows: Häkkinen -> 11.722s -> Coulthard -> 4.270s -> Villeneuve -> 6.154s -> Barrichello ->19.343s -> Magnussen -> 0.241s -> Hill. Damon Hill made his pitstop on lap 35 and, unfortunately for him, stalled the engine which cost him alot of time in the pits. Lap 38 saw the beginning of the second round of pit stops. Magnussen, Diniz, Panis. Magnussen the returned to the pits, and retired with a mechanical problem. Häkkinen was still leading Coulthard on lap 42 when Coulthard's engine blew, which was bad for Mercedes, but the worst was yet to come. On the next lap Häkkinen also suffered a problem, forcing him to retire in the same area Coulthard did, cutting across the pitlane and coming to a stop. Häkkinen had, once again, lost the lead by the result of his car, a bitter blow to the Finn on his birthday and first pole race. This meant that Villeneuve was now in 1st place, and had 10 points handed to him. The following 5 laps saw 3 pit stops, from Alesi, Berger and Frentzen. Positions after these stops where : Villeneuve -> Alesi -> Frentzen -> Berger -> Diniz -> Panis. Villeneuve heads for the pits for the last time, and leaves with a 33 second lead over Alesi, with Frentzen pressuring Alesi.

Over the next laps Villeneuve began to drop his pace, obviously making sure he made no mistakes in order to obtain 10 vital points. Jean Alesi was able to hold back Frentzen from a Williams 1-2. The top 6 remain the same until the finish, with Villeneuve having a 19.719 second lead on his final lap.

10 vital points for Villeneuve, none for Michael Schumacher. The "battle of the titans" was over at Turn 1, and unless we see Villeneuve fail to finish at Japan, it looks like its all over.

Result