Qualifying threw up a few surprises, as the
Bridgestone tyres used by several smaller teams proved strong, but it was ultimately
Jacques Villeneuve who won.
Mika Häkkinen had been leading Villeneuve after the start but his engine failed yet again, before he even managed to complete the first lap. So, for the first time in his Formula One career,
Jarno Trulli led the race, followed by
Rubens Barrichello, Jacques Villeneuve,
Jan Magnussen,
Heinz-Harald Frentzen and
Michael Schumacher in the top six. By lap 13, Trulli had built a gap of 4.5 seconds from Barrichello, who was being chasing closely by Villeneuve. Behind them both, seven seconds apart, Magnussen was holding a train formed by himself, Frentzen, Michael Schumacher,
David Coulthard and
Damon Hill. On lap 24, the first change to the top six: Villeneuve outbraked Barrichello in turn 4 and climbed to second place. The gap of leader Trulli from the Canadian was 10 seconds, with Barrichello losing traction on third, 5 seconds behind the Williams driver; on lap 26, Magnussen pitted for the first time, dropping outside the points. A spectacular collision occurred between
Eddie Irvine and
Jean Alesi. As they battled for 4th place on lap 37, Alesi tried to outbrake Irvine into the chicane from approximately eight car-lengths behind, and as Irvine took evasive action, To get it worst, Schumacher exited the pits behind Barrichello, who had just pitted for his second and last time. On lap 57, the top six were Villeneuve, Trulli, Coulthard, Frentzen, Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher. Yellow lights turned on at Prost as Shinji Nakano retired with engine failure. One lap later, the fairytale ended for Trulli, with his Mugen Honda engine giving up. Running on a two-stop strategy, the Stewarts had dropped outside the points. And after a strong pace, Jan Magnussen retired also with engine failure. By lap 64, the top six were Villeneuve, Coulthard, Frentzen, Fisichella, Ralf Schumacher and Damon Hill, with Barrichello and Schumacher behind the
1996 World Champion. Approaching turn 9, Schumacher dived inside Barrichello, the Brazilian closed the door, braked later but ran on the oil left on track by Trulli's engine and spun off. With two laps remaining, Schumacher chased Damon Hill and outbraked the Arrows driver on turn 3, taking the last points-paying position. This single point kept Schumacher in the championship lead by one point clear from Villeneuve. Austrian Formula One veteran
Gerhard Berger announced he was to retire at the end of the season, shortly after he qualified 18th on the grid. ==Classification==