When the lights go out David Coulthard makes a bad start while both Ferraris and Jacques Villeneuve get away well. Mika Hakkinen leads out of the hairpin with Villeneuve second and Schumacher third. In the spray Coulthard suddenly turns across the track and crashes heavily into the pitwall. The McLaren rebounds into the path of the field and there is chaos as car after car becomes involved in the crash. The race is red-flagged. Thirteen cars are involved. Four teams do not have spare cars available so Rubens Barrichello, Olivier Panis, Mika Salo and Ricardo Rosset are unable to take the restart.

Eighteen cars take the second start and the two McLarens are slow away so Damon Hill is able to take the lead at the first corner with Eddie Irvine - in the spare Ferrari - second. Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher go into the corner side-by-side and the two cars brush. Hakkinen spins and is hit by Johnny Herbert's Sauber. Both are out. On the run up the hill to Les Combes Schumacher passes Irvine to take second. Jean Alesi is fourth ahead of Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

Further around the lap Coulthard and Wurz collide but the McLaren driver is able to rejoin at the tail of the field. Hakkinen's car is still in the middle of the road and so the Safety Car to be sent out. It pulls off at the end of lap two and at the restart Villeneuve and Frentzen get ahead of Alesi. On lap five Villeneuve has a spin and drops behind Frentzen and Alesi.

The rain intensifies and on lap eight Schumacher attacks Hill after Blanchimont and gets ahead as they brake for the Bus Stop chicane. He then begins to build an impressive lead of 18secs in the course of the next six laps. While this is happening Jos Verstappen drops out with an engine problem.

On lap 10 Irvine goes off at Les Combes and damages his car. He pits and the team switches him to wet tyres. David Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher also pit early for wet tyres. As this is happening Takagi goes off at the exit of La Source. On lap 14 Frentzen goes off and drops behind Alesi. Alesi also has a spin.

On lap 16 Michael Schumacher, Hill, Alesi, Frentzen and Fisichella all pit but Villeneuve continues. He spins at the exit of Raidillon and crashes heavily. Schumacher remains in the lead and pulls away to build his lead to 37 seconds by lap 25 when he comes up to lap the struggling Coulthard. On the run down the hill to Pouhon David pulls to the inside of the track to let Michael through but the Ferrari driver does not see the McLaren in the spray and runs into the back of it, ripping off his right front wheel. Schumacher drives around to the pits on three wheels but the damage is too bad to repair. Coulthard also pits and is later able to rejoin five laps behind.

Up at the front Hill is left in the lead with Ralf Schumacher behind him with Alesi third and Frentzen fourth. Then comes Fisichella and Irvine but almost immediately Eddie spins off and retires. A lap down Pedro Diniz inherits fifth place with Jarno Trulli running in sixth.

On lap 27 Hill has an off at the chicane and moments later, while Ralf Schumacher pits for new tyres. Further back Fisichella is unable to see Nakano and runs into the back of the Minardi. The Benetton comes to rest in the middle of the track and another Safety Car is sent out. Hill, Alesi and Frentzen all pit immediately which means that Diniz is able to get onto the same lap as the leaders. The order behind the pace car is Hill, Ralf Schumacher, Alesi, Frentzen, Diniz and, a lap down, Jarno Trulli. Coulthard and Shinji Nakano are also running but many laps down.

The Safety Car remains on the track until the end of lap 32 when the race is restarted. The order remains unchanged to the flag, giving Jordan a 1-2 victory, the team's first Grand Prix victory. Alesi gives Sauber third while Trulli gives Prost a vital point in sixth place.