The start of the race has to be aborted when both the Stewart-Fords catch fire as the cars are rewing up for the start of the race. Rubens Barrichello is able to take the spare car but Johnny Herbert is left on the sidelines. Barrichello has to start from the pitlane. At the start of the second formation lap both Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher are slow away. The Finn is able to retake his position because he gets away before the last car has left the grid. Schumacher is less fortunate and has to start from the back of the field.

At the second start Hakkinen makes a great star to lead David Coulthard into the first corner. Eddie Irvine manages to get ahead of Heinz-Harald Frentzen for third place. Jean Alesi's Sauber fails to get off the line and during the first lap Damon Hill goes off and cannot rejoin.

As the McLarens motor away from the field at over two seconds a lap Irvine is left in third with Frentzen and Ralf Schumacher chasing. Giancarlo Fisichella was next up with Jacques Villeneuve battling with Jarno Trulli for seventh. Michael Schumacher begins to charge through the field but is held up behind Alexander Wurz's Benetton.

The gap between the two McLarens fluctuates as the pair trade fastest laps but then on lap 14 Coulthard suddenly comes into the pits to retire with transmission problems. Shortly afterwards Jacques Villeneuve crashes heavily in the fast sweepers beside the lake. This results in a Safety Car going out and the field closes up.

After three laps the race restarts but Hakkinen has a throttle linkage problem and is unable to get away at the restart. He pits and retires. Irvine takes the lead with Frentzen second and Trulli third after a flying restart which took him ahead of Ralf Schumacher. Further back Fisichella loses a front wing when he collides with another car. Both he and Hakkinen have to pit for repairs.

Alessandro Zanardi's Williams crashes heavily through the sweepers and there is another Safety Car. Barrichello and Trulli both take the opportunity to pit.

The Safety Car pulls off at the end of lap 25 and Irvine goes ahead again. Further back Barrichello overtakes Michael Schumacher's Ferrari before they cross the line, which results in a 10-second stop-go penalty for the Brazilian. This and his scheduled pit stop means that Rubens drops back. Also out is Jarno Trulli who collides with Marc Gene's Minardi and retires.

Shortly afterwards Michael Schumacher suffers a right rear tyre failure - probably as a result of wreckage on the track. He has to struggle round to the pits. Further back Alexander Wurz drops out with a spin.

At the front Irvine manages to stay ahead of Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher and Pedro Diniz in the Sauber. Unfortunately the Brazilian drops out soon afterwards with a gearbox failure.

The mid-race pit stops shuffle the order a little but Irvine stays ahead with Frentzen and Ralf Schumacher chasing. Further back Fisichella runs fourth ahead of a charging Barrichello and the two Arrows cars with Pedro de la Rosa ahead of Tora Takagi. At the back Michael Schumacher runs into more trouble and he has to pit. The steering wheel is changed and Michael is able to charge again. He sets the fastest lap of the race in the closing minutes of the race.

In the closing laps Irvine is able to control the pace and wins his first Grand Prix victory at his 82nd attempt.