At the start Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard get away ahead of Michael Schumacher but Damon Hill is outgunned into the first corner by a fast-starting Eddie Irvine. Behind them Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen hold their grid positions while Giancarlo Fisichella makes a bad start in his Benetton to drop behind Alexander Wurz and Jean Alesi. Further back Ralf Schumacher makes a poor start and drops from 10th to 13th.

In the early laps Hakkinen sets a string of fastest laps to build up a lead of three seconds, while Coulthard finds himself under attack from Schumacher's Ferrari. These three quickly leave Irvine behind, Eddie sets a fastest lap of the race on lap 13. Six laps later he retires with gearbox troubles. This promotes Hill to fourth place, Villeneuve to fifth and Frentzen into sixth. Wurz runs seventh ahead of Alesi and Fisichella. At the tail of the field Esteban Tuero stops with a mechanical problem with his Minardi.

The order remains static at the front but further back Mika Salo drops out with engine trouble after a lively fight with Pedro Diniz, Ralf Schumacher and Johnny Herbert. On lap 21 Alesi makes a mistake and goes off, allowing Fisichella to get ahead.

The first pit stops begin on lap 24 with Hill coming in. He is followed by Michael Schumacher on lap 25 and Coulthard on lap 26. Hakkinen stays out until lap 28. It remains unclear as to which strategies the teams are running, although Schumacher's speed hints that he may be running with a lighter fuel load than the McLarens. Villeneuve is briefly third until he stops on lap 31 and that puts Schumacher back to third behind Coulthard. David is able to keep the German behind.

On lap 43 Michael pits again, indicating that Ferrari has decided to run a three-stop strategy. The McLarens, realising this, decide to stop Coulthard and Hakkinen as fast as possible so as to stay ahead on the road. Schumacher's pace in the next few laps is such that he is able to get ahead of Coulthard and Hakkinen as each pits. On lap 47 he takes the lead and is able to pull away. In five laps he builds a gap of 10secs and it becomes obvious that Hakkinen has a problem.

On lap 52 Coulthard passes the Finn to take second place, while Hakkinen drops away with a suspected shock absorber problem. Coulthard is unable to match Schumacher's pace because of worries about his tyres and he is unable to keep up. Schumacher is pushing so hard that he runs wide on lap 52 but no damage is done and he continues to build his advantage.

The rest of the field stop for a second time, during which Alesi gets back ahead of Fisichella. Schumacher builds up a 26secs lead and on lap 62 comes into the pits for his third stop. He is able to get out five seconds ahead of Coulthard and then begins to pull away again to win a dramatic victory. Coulthard comes home a disappointed second while Hakkinen fades back through the field, being overtaken by Villeneuve - who had been struggling without power-steering for half the race - on lap 67 and by Hill and Frentzen on lap 71. Mika finishes sixth, being lapped by Schumacher's Ferrari on the very last lap of the race.

Further back Alesi battles with Wurz for seventh place in the late stages and takes the position when the Austrian retires with transmission troubles on lap 70. This promotes Fisichella to eighth. Behind him Ralf Schumacher and Herbert battle over ninth place, Herbert spinning with three laps to go and dropping behind the Jordan driver.