Summary
Mika Hakkinen won his first race since Monaco and McLaren scored their first 1-2 since the Spanish Grand Prix. "It was an excellent victory for me and the team," said Hakkinen.
Even though the current Drivers Championship leader qualified in the third slot, he moved up to first by passing Jean Alesi in the Sauber and Giancarlo Fisichella in the Benetton right after the lights went out. The Finn stated, "I was not sure how fast Giancarlo Fisichella and Jean Alesi would be at the start so I just concentrated on my own start."
David Coulthard had to pit early after Mika Salo in his Arrows collided with the Scot. In a great display of driving ability, Coulthard, in last place, moved up through the field to finish second.
Michael Schumacher found great pace in his Ferrari at the start and was quickly challenging Hakkinen. However, the German made a unusual mistake and made a trip through the gravel causing the front wing and body work to detach. Schumacher managed to battle back up the field from sixteen to third after a pit stop for repairs. In the final stage of the race, he gained positions by passing brother Ralf and teammate Eddie Irvine. Some controversy surrounded the position gained from Irvine as the Briton's lap times started to increase as Schumacher came near. Michael Schumacher, Eddie Irvine and Ross Brawn claim that both Ferrari cars were suffering from brake problems with Irvine's situation being more critical.
The Times
CLASSIFIED
POS DRIVER NATION TEAM TIME LAP
1 Mika Hakkinen FIN McLaren Mercedes 1:33:44.086 71
2 David Coulthard GB McLaren Mercedes + 0:05.289 71
3 Michael Schumacher GER Ferrari + 0:39.093 71
4 Eddie Irvine GB Ferrari + 0:43.977 71
5 Ralf Schumacher GER Jordan Mugen-Honda + 0:50.655 71
6 Jacques Villeneuve CAN Williams Mecachrome + 0:53.202 71
7 Damon Hill GB Jordan Mugen-Honda + 1:13.624 71
8 Johnny Herbert GB Sauber Petronas + 1 LAP 70
9 Alexander Wurz AUT Benetton Playlife + 1 LAP 70
10 Jarno Trulli ITA Prost Peugeot + 1 LAP 70
11 Sinji Nakano JAP Minardi Ford + 1 LAP 70
12 Ricardo Rosset BRA Tyrrell Ford + 3 LAPS 68
NOT CLASSIFIED
DRIVER NATION TEAM REASON LAP
Jos Verstappen HOL Stewart Ford Engine 51
Esteban Tuero ARG Minardi Ford Spin 30
Giancarlo Fisichella ITA Benetton Playlife Crash 21
Jean Alesi FRA Sauber Petronas Crash 21
Heinz-Harald Frentzen GER Williams Mecachrome Engine 16
Rubens Barrichello BRA Stewart Ford Mechanical 8
Pedro Diniz BRA Arrows TWR Crash 3
Mika Salo FIN Arrows TWR Crash 1
Olivier Panis FRA Prost Peugeot Mechanical 0
Toranosuke Takagi JAP Tyrrell Ford Crash 0
FL David Coulthard GB McLaren Mercedes 1:12.878
All Times Unofficial