Lap 1: At the start David Coulthard gets away well and is alongside Mika Hakkinen as they go into the first corner. Hakkinen was slower away because he nearly jumps the start. The two McLarens brush slightly and Coulthard emerges ahead. Heinz-Harald Frentzen is third with a fast-starting Irvine fourth ahead of Ralf Schumacher and Alessandro Zanardi. The big loser among the frontrunners is Damon Hill who drops from fourth to seventh. Further back Tora Takagi and Ricardo Zonta are left on the grid while Pedro de la Rosa is slow away. Zonta manages to start but is a lap down but Takagi retires with clutch trouble.

Lap 2: Coulthard has a lead of 2.1secs over Hakkinen. Jean Alesi overtakes Alexander Wurz to take 12th place. Further back Jarno Trulli passes Jacques Villeneuve for 14th and Olivier Panis passes Pedro Diniz to take 16th.

Lap 5: Coulthard's lead is out to 3.0secs. Alesi and Panis continue their progress. The Sauber driver overtakes Giancarlo Fisichella for 11th position and Panis passes Villeneuve to take 15th.

Lap 7: Coulthard's lead jumps to 4.7secs. Further back Alesi does it again, passing Herbert for 10th place.

Lap 9: Trulli passes Wurz to take 13th.

Lap 10: Panis passes Wurz for 14th.

Lap 12: Panis is the first driver to pit, dropping from 14th to 19th.

Lap 14: Alesi and Trulli pit while Johnny Herbert makes a mistake at the Bus Stop chicane and loses 11th place to Fisichella.

Lap 16: Coulthard's lead is nearly 10secs. Damon Hill pits and drops from seventh to 10th.

Lap 17: Frentzen pits and drops from third to sixth.

Lap 18: Hakkinen and Irvine both pit. Mika rejoins third and Irvine drops to sixth.

Lap 19: Coulthard stops but rejoins in the lead, while Hakkinen has to pass Schumacher, who is on a one-stop strategy. Further back Hill passes Fisichella for sixth place and Barrichello passes Villeneuve for 12th.

Lap 20: Hakkinen gets ahead of Schumacher to take second while Zanardi runs fourth, Frentzen fifth and Irvine sixth. At the back Pedro Diniz spins off and retires at Eau Rouge.

Lap 21: Zanardi stops and drops to eighth, the Williams crew altering Alessandro's front wing settings. Further back Alesi is charging again and passes Wurz for 10th.

Lap 22: As Hakkinen sets the fastest lap of the race, Ralf Schumacher pits and drops from third to seventh.

Lap 25: Hakkinen's charge slows and Coulthard is able to maintain a lead of around nine seconds.

Lap 26: The last of the one-stop runners is Villeneuve, who drops from 11th to 16th.

Lap 28: Fifth-placed Hill stops for the second time and drops to seventh.

Lap 29: Alesi makes his second stop and drops from eighth to 10th.

Lap 31: Hakkinen pits for the second time and drops briefly to third. Zanardi pits unexpectedly for a second time.

Lap 32: Coulthard, Frentzen and Irvine all pit for the second time. Coulthard stays in the lead, while Frentzen drops to third. Irvine retains fourth.

Lap 44: Coulthard wins by just under 15secs. Hakkinen finishes second and takes the lead in the World Championship while Irvine's fourth place keeps the gap down to just one point. Schumacher finishes a good fifth with Damon Hill sixth.