Lap 1: At the start Mika Hakkinen gets away well but it is Alessandro Zanardi who makes the best start to take second place at the first corner. He is followed by Heinz-Harald Frentzen, David Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher. At the second chicane Frentzen challenges Zanardi and gets ahead. At the third chicane Coulthard goes off and is passed by Schumacher and Mika Salo. Further back Pedro de la Rosa and Marc Gene collide at the second chicane. The Minardi driver retires on the spot and the Arrows goes into the pits.

Lap 2: Hakkinen has a lead of 1.5secs at the end of the second lap while Frentzen builds a gap of 1.4secs over Zanardi who comes under attack from Schumacher. Further back Pedro Diniz spins out of 12th place at the first corner and moments later Giancarlo Fisichella goes off as well.

Lap 4: Hakkinen's lead has increased to 2.2secs and Frentzen's advantage over Zanardi is 2.1secs. Further back Jarno Trulli passes Olivier Panis to take 13th.

Lap 5: Hakkinen sets his fourth consecutive fastest lap to build his lead to 3.0secs, while Frentzen's lead over Zanardi grows to 2.5secs. There are a queue of cars behind Zanardi, comprising of Schumacher, Salo, Coulthard and Barrichello. There is then a gap back to Eddie Irvine.

Lap 8: The leader sets another fastest lap as he increases the lead to 3.9secs. Further back Jean Alesi passes Alexander Wurz for 11th position. On lap nine Wurz drops behind both Trulli and Panis. The Benetton driver retires on lap 11.

Lap 10: Barrichello challenges Coulthard for sixth place and gets ahead.

Lap 15: Hakkinen's lead has increased to 6.9secs while Frentzen is 3.5secs ahead of Zanardi who is increasingly under pressure from Schumacher. Salo comes under pressure from Barrichello.

Lap 16: Panis is the first to stop and he is followed on lap 17 by Trulli.

Lap 18: Zanardi allows Schumacher to pass him and Ralf quickly begins to chase after Frentzen.

Lap 19: Barrichello is able to pass Salo for fifth place.

Lap 24: Tora Takagi collides with Luca Badoer at the first corner. Both cars spin but Takagi rejoins, goes to the pits for repairs and rejoins.

Lap 26: Zanardi is clearly in trouble with his tyres and is passed by Barrichello.

Lap 27: Salo passes Zanardi. The mid-race pit stops begin with Johnny Herbert in 11th place.

Lap 29: Barrichello pits and drops to 10th place. Down at the back Panis makes a very early second stop.

Lap 30: Hakkinen loses control of his McLaren at the first corner and spins out. Frentzen takes the lead with Schumacher just a couple of seconds behind him. Heinz-Harald then sets two fastest laps to try to increase his advantage.

Lap 31: Zanardi pits and drops back to 10th place while Panis emerges from the pits and sets the fastest lap of the race.

Lap 33: Schumacher pits and drops to sixth place. Further back the eighth-placed Alesi also pits.

Lap 34: Damon Hill is running seventh when he pits.

Lap 35: Frentzen, Irvine and Villeneuve all pit, allowing Salo to lead for a lap with Coulthard running second. Villeneuve makes a quicker stop than Hill had done and so gets ahead of the Jordan.

Lap 36: Salo and Coulthard both pit but the Ferrari driver gets out ahead.

Lap 37: As the order begins to settle down Frentzen leads Schumacher by nearly six seconds. Salo is third but nearly 10secs behind the Williams. There is then a small gap back to Barrichello and Coulthard. Irvine is a distant sixth while Zanardi is seventh. At the tail of the field Takagi spins into retirement.

Lap 41: Johnny Herbert retires with clutch problems.

Lap 43: Mika Salo sets the first of two fastest laps and begins to close the gap to Schumacher. The German however is able to respond with the fastest lap of the race on lap 48. Villeneuve is clearly having brake trouble and runs over the first chicane several times in the final laps.

Lap 49: Alesi challenges Hill for ninth place and gets ahead.

Lap 53: Frentzen wins to move to within 10 points of World Championship leaders Hakkinen and Irvine - the two sharing the lead thanks to Irvine's sixth place. On the last lap Panis's Prost stops but he remains 11th in the classification.