Summary

** For the complete race report and comments see Toby Waller's Atlas Team F1 article.

Notes

• Jean Alesi hit the rear-left-tyre of Jacques Villeneuve causing a blow-out on the opening lap.
• Villeneuve rejoined the race after a pitstop in 21st place.

• Stop and go penalties were there for: Badoer (2x), Alesi and Lamy for pit lane speeding; Hakkinen and Diniz for blocking Schumacher.

• Alesi changed his steering wheel when he made his first pitstop because the gears were not changing correctly.

• The Yamaha motor of Mika Salo blows on lap 23.

• Herbert made 4 pitstops before retiring with an engine problem (lap 25).

• Fisichella blows up his engine on lap 30.

• Frentzen quits in the pits because his brakes failed (lap 32).

• Brundle spins of on lap 36.

• Verstappen makes a pit stop but hits a mechanic because he drives away too soon. The mechanic, Dave Lowe, has a broken arm and is in shock (lap 38). This incident causes Rosset to retire on lap 40.

• Coulthard is out of the race with an electrical problem on lap 44.

• Katayama retires on lap 45.

• Panis blows his engine on lap 54.

• Villeneuve retires in the pits with a broken suspension (lap 57). However, Jacques is still classified as finishing the race (11th) as he completed the required 90% race distance.

• Hakkinen retires on lap 61 (8th) with an engine problem.

Hill: "The pit stops were brilliant. We calculated it very well. I was very happy with the start as well. I'm delighted because it is such a fantastic race to do well in. It's great. I would dearly love to win in Monaco."

Schumacher: "I only had three wheels going over the finish line. I was lucky the race was over."

Berger on the result: "I'm happy about it. I have been struggling this year. It's going not so well as I would want. There isn't much luck on my side this year."

Villeneuve on him and Alesi colliding: "We banged wheels at the first corner and then at the next his front wheel must have banged into my rear wheel and there was a blow-out. We changed the tyres, the car was running strong again, but then the rear-right suspension broke."

A Quick Look at the Standings:

1. Hill 43
2. Villeneuve 22
3. Schumacher 16
4. Alesi 11
5. Irvine 9
6. Berger 7
7. Barrichello 7
8. Hakkinen 5
9. Coulthard 4
10. Salo 3
11. Panis 1
12. Verstappen 1

Constructors Championship

1. Williams-Renault 65
2. Ferrari 25
3. Benetton-Renault 18
4. McLaren-Mercedes 9
5. Jordan-Peugeot 8
6. Tyrrell-Yamaha 3
7. Ligier-Mugen 1
8. TWR Arrows-Hart 1