* Alexander Wurz is unable to get off the pre-grid and holds up Jean Alesi and Johnny Herbert. He goes into the pits at the end of the parade lap and starts from there. Alesi and Herbert start from their normal grid positions. Before the start Ricardo Zonta’s BAR is smoking badly on the grid.

* Lap 1: At the start David Coulthard is slow off the line and so Michael Schumacher is able to get past him and is challenging Mika Hakkinen at the first corner. Eddie Irvine makes a good start to get ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella’s Benetton. Further back Jos Verstappen has a good first lap to jump from 14th on the grid to 11th at the end of the first lap. Jenson Button has a bad first lap, dropping from ninth on the grid to 13th.

* Lap 2: Michael Schumacher takes the lead at the first corner and by the end of the lap he is 1.9 seconds ahead. Further back Rubens Barrichello passes Coulthard for third. Coulthard responds but he is in trouble with gears and Barrichello re-passes him before the end of the lap. Further back Jarno Trulli passes Zonta for eighth place. Also on the move is Jean Alesi who passes Button for 13th. Pedro de la Rosa is also making progress passing Nick Heidfeld’s Prost for 16th.

* Lap 3: Schumacher builds his lead to 3.4 seconds while Verstappen passes Jacques Villeneuve for 10th. Alesi overtakes Ralf Schumacher to grab 12th place.

* Lap 4: Schumacher’s lead grows to 4 seconds while Hakkinen has to fight to hold off Barrichello’s Ferrari. Jarno Trulli overtakes his team mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen for seventh, suggesting that the Italian is on a one stop strategy. Verstappen is clearly using the same plan and moved ahead of Zonta to take ninth. Alesi also has a light fuel-load and passes Villeneuve for 11th.

* Lap 5: The order begins to settle as Schumacher increases his lead to 5.1secs while Hakkinen comes under increasing pressure from Barrichello. Coulthard is unable to keep up and drops back.

* Lap 6: Wurz retires with mechanical trouble.

* Lap 7: Trulli overtakes Fisichella to take sixth place and Verstappen overtakes Frentzen for eighth.

* Lap 8: Schumacher’s lead is almost 10 seconds .

* Lap 9: Alesi’s progress continues as he passes Zonta for 10th. Villeneuve drops behind both Ralf Schumacher and Button. At the back of the field Heidfeld goes out with mechanical trouble.

* Lap 11: Verstappen passes Fisichella to take seventh and Alesi passes Frentzen for ninth but Jean goes out on the 12th lap with mechanical trouble.

* Lap 15: Schumacher completes a series of consecutive fastest laps to take his lead out to 15secs. Barrichello manages to get past Hakkinen to take second place and he begins to pull away. Further back De la Rosa passes Johnny Herbert’s Jaguar for 14th.

* Lap 16: Trulli passes Irvine for fifth place. Villeneuve retires with mechanical troubles.

* Lap 20: Schumacher pits and emerges in third place behind the new leader Barrichello and Hakkinen. The struggling Coulthard is fourth. Irvine spins into retirement.

* Lap 22: Barrichello pits and Hakkinen goes into the lead. Rubens rejoins in fourth place behind Coulthard.

* Lap 27: Barrichello retires with an engine problem. De la Rosa sneaks ahead of Button to get ninth place.

* Lap 28: Trulli becomes the first man to stop. he drops from fourth place to seventh.

* Lap 30: Hakkinen retires with a mechanical problem, leaving Schumacher ahead with Coulthard second eight seconds behind. Verstappen is now third with Fisichella fourth, Frentzen fifth and Trulli sixth. Then comes Ralf Schumacher, De la Rosa and Button.

* Lap 35: Verstappen stops and drops from third to 10th.

* Lap 37: De La Rosa stops and drops from sixth to 10th.

* Lap 41: Frentzen becomes the first one-stop driver to stop. He drops from fourth to seventh.

* Lap 43: Coulthard pits but remains in second place.

* Lap 44: Button is running sixth when he pits. He rejoins but finds himself trapped behind Verstappen. Ninth-placed Herbert pits. He returns to the pits seven laps later to retire.

* Lap 45: Ralf Schumacher pits while running fifth but gets out just ahead of Verstappen and Button. In the laps that follow Verstappen holds up Button and Schumacher is able to get away.

* Lap 51: Schumacher pits for the second time and retains his lead. On the same lap Fisichella, who is running third, stops for the first time and rejoins without losing his position. While this is happening Button is trying to find a way to pass Verstappen.

* Lap 56: Button manages to scramble ahead of Verstappen for seventh. Trulli stops for the second time and drops from fourth to fifth.

* Lap 59: Schumacher appears to have a problem and Coulthard closes but Michael then speeds up again.

* Lap 71: Schumacher wins by 4.3seconds with Coulthard second and Fisichella a distant third. Fourth place goes to Frentzen with Trulli fifth and Ralf Schumacher sixth. Button finishes seventh.