At the start David Coulthard's McLaren suffers a gear selection problem and fails to get away. Mika Hakkinen takes the lead into the first corner, followed by Rubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher, a fast-starting Eddie Irvine and Giancarlo Fisichella's Benetton. Coulthard's car is pushed into the pits and starts from there, three laps later.

Hakkinen builds a gap and by the end of lap 3 is nearly two seconds ahead. At the start of lap three he suddenly slows on the back straight, finding himself without any gear. To the delight of the Brazilian fans Barrichello takes the lead. Michael Schumacher also passes the McLaren but Hakkinen's problem cures itself and he is able to hold on to third place.

Further back down the field Jean Alesi spins on the second lap and drops to 19th place and begins a dramatic recovery which takes him up to fifth place by lap 21. Olivier Panis is also in trouble, being given a 10-second stop-go penalty.

Barrichello is able to keep his gap to Schumacher while Hakkinen charges after the Ferrari. These three are well clear of Irvine, who is ahead of Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Jordan and Giancarlo Fisichella's Benetton. Behind them Damon Hill and Alexander Wurz collide at the first corner on lap 10. Hill has to retire with suspension damage but Wurz continues, although his car is not handling well and he later goes off again. Further back Alessandro Zanardi's frustrating F1 comeback continued with an early pit stop for tyres. Johnny Herbert also disappears with hydraulic failure.

The order remains stable for several laps until the first pit stops begin with Alesi coming in on lap 26 and Barrichello on lap 27. Alesi stalls and loses a lot of time. He retires a lap later. This gives Schumacher the lead but Hakkinen is behind him and looking threatening. Barrichello is fourth while the battle for fifth continues to rage between Fisichella, Frentzen and Ralf Schumacher. At the tail of the field Coulthard runs into more trouble and retires.

At the rear of the field Stephane Sarrazin has an enormous accident in the last corner, his Minardi crashing into the outside barrier and spinning across the track. Sarrazin emerges unhurt.

Barrichello catches up with Irvine and on lap 36 moves to third place again. The mid-race pit stops begin on lap 35 when seventh-placed Ralf Schumacher stops. He is followed three laps later by his brother and Fisichella and on lap 40 by Irvine. The Benetton pit stop goes wrong and Fisichella is forced to retire with hydraulic trouble.

Hakkinen leads and produces a string of fast laps, trying to create a gap over Michael Schumacher. Barrichello's strategy has not worked out well and it looks like he will not be challenging for the lead when Hakkinen pits. Before that happens Rubens stops with an engine failure. As this is happening Hakkinen pits and is able to get out of the pits a couple of seconds ahead of Schumacher's Ferrari. Frentzen is third but pits on lap 45 and drops to fourth behind Irvine. Further back Panis - on a two-stop strategy (and having had a stop-go penalty) - has worked his way up to sixth place, ahead of Jacques Villeneuve.

In the same period Zanardi retires with hydraulic trouble, Pedro Diniz spins off. Villeneuve also retires within a few laps and is followed by Pedro de la Rosa's Arrows. The only major change at the front comes when Irvine stops for fuel on lap 55, dropping from third to fifth. He spent the rest of the race chasing Ralf Schumacher and the two enjoy a lively battle to the flag. Panis is sixth and Wurz seventh. The only other finishers are Tora Takagi's Arrows and Marc Gene's Minardi.

On the last lap Frentzen stops out on the track but he is able to keep hold of his third place as fourth-placed Ralf Schumacher is a lap behind.