At the start of the race the two Ferrari drivers get away well, but Mika Hakkinen has a little too much wheelspin and is slightly slower away. At the first corner Michael Schumacher makes a desperate late-braking manoeuvre to get ahead of the Finn. Eddie Irvine duplicates the manoeuvre to get ahead of David Coulthard. Behind these four Rubens Barrichello holds onto his fifth place on the grid despite pressure from Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jarno Trulli and a fast-starting Giancarlo Fisichella.

In the early laps Schumacher drives very hard to build up an advantage and by lap 10 he is six seconds ahead of Hakkinen. Irvine is four seconds behind the Finn. The order remains unchanged down through the field, although Damon Hill tries to overtake Ralf Schumacher at the chicane on lap 4 and collides with the Williams. Both cars spin but while Ralf rejoins, Hill is out on the spot.

When the leaders begin to work their way through traffic Schumacher increases his lead, notably on lap 17 when Hakkinen loses over two seconds behind Marc Gene. Irvine runs over the chicane but is not penalised as he gains no advantage, while Alex Zanardi has an off at Ste Devote and drops to the rear of the field.

Seventh placed Trulli is the first to pit, indicating that he is on a two-race strategy. Further back Gene crashes at Ste Devote while Coulthard's car begins to smoke on occasion.

Schumacher's lead increases to 26secs by lap 34 while Hakkinen has to fight to keep Irvine behind him. Coulthard disappears with gearbox failure on lap 37, at the same time as Irvine pits. Shortly afterwards Tora Takagi suffers an engine failure at the exit of Casino Square, dropping oil on the run down to Mirabeau. When Hakkinen arrives on lap 39 he nearly spins but manages to keep it together and goes up the escape road. He rejoins but loses over 15 seconds. Also in trouble is Johnny Herbert who retires with a rear suspension problem.

Also retiring are both BAR cars, Jacques Villeneuve with mechanical trouble and Mika Salo sliding into the barriers at the Station Hairpin. Olivier Panis also goes out, spinning off at Ste Devote.

Michael Schumacher stops on lap 42 and maintains his lead while Hakkinen - who is still to pit - is fighting to keep Irvine behind. Barrichello runs fourth with Frentzen chasing him, while Trulli's two-stop strategy has taken him to sixth place.

Hakkinen keeps going until lap 50 and Barrichello comes in on the same lap. Two laps later Trulli completes his second stop, which puts Fisichella up to sixth. Jean Alesi drops out with mechanical trouble and at the same time his Sauber team-mate Pedro Diniz goes off at Ste Devote.

Irvine comes in for a second stop on lap 56 and rejoins in second place. Frentzen also stops and manages to take fourth from Barrichello. Further back Ralf Schumacher crashes at the Station Hairpin and Trulli spins at Ste Devote and drops behind Alexander Wurz.

In the closing laps Hakkinen is clearly in trouble with his lap times fluctuating dramatically. He drops three seconds on one lap and then sets the fastest lap of the race. Further back Barrichello comes under pressure from Fisichella and spins into the barriers at the Swimming Pool. This promotes Fisichella to fifth and Wurz - who has struggled all day with a broken Gurney flap on his rear wing - inherits sixth. The only other cars running at the finish are Trulli and Zanardi in seventh and eighth places.