Summary

Jacques Villeneuve took his first 10 points of the season in the Brazilian Grand Prix closely followed by Gerhard Berger. Olivier Panis came in with a very good result to fill the podium.

Damon Hill drove a superb race and was even fourth for a while, while his replacement at Williams Heinz-Harald Frentzen couldn't keep up with the pace.

Notes

• Damon Hill starts in his T-car because his race car leaks fuel.
• Start
  Barrichello doesn't get of the grid at the start and the race is stopped.
• Many cars bump into each other after turn one. Spare cars were needed for: Irvine, Herbert, Fisichella, Frentzen and Barrichello. Magnussen was also out of the race because of Irvine, he couldn't continue because Barrichello had got the T-car.
• Restart.
  Katayama doesn't get of the grid and starts from the pits after his engine was fired up again.
• Diniz spins off on lap 15. He later says he had oversteer problems for a couple of laps before his spin.
• Barrichello goes out because of mechanical problems on lap 16.
• Nakano looses his left rear wheel in the pitlane but is able to continue.
• Ralf Schumacher retires because of a hydraulic problem on lap 52.
• Hill is out of the race because his engine is on fire on lap 69.
• Today's race showed that the Bridgestone tyres may have an advantage over the Goodyear's because of Panis' outcome on only one pit stop.

• Weather during race: Cloudy (~20 Degrees)

The Result

Villeneuve (Williams) Berger (Benetton) Panis (Prost) Hakkinen (McLaren) Schumacher (Ferrari) Alesi (Benetton) Herbert (Sauber) Fisichella (Jordan) Frentzen (Williams) Coulthard (McLaren) Larini (Sauber) Trulli (Minardi) Salo (Tyrrell) Nakano (Prost) Verstappen (Tyrrell) Irvine (Ferrari) Hill (Arrows) Katayama (Minardi) Not Classified R. Schumacher (Jordan) Barrichello (Stewart) Diniz (Arrows)

1h 36:06.990s + 4.190s + 15.870s + 33.033s + 33.731s + 34.020s + 50.912s + 1:00.639s + 1:15.402s 1 laps 1 laps 1 laps 1 laps 1 laps 2 laps 2 laps 4 laps 5 laps   20 laps 56 laps 57 laps

Current Standings

Drivers Championship table

Coulthard (McLaren)	10
Villeneuve (Williams)	10
Berger (Benetton)	9
Schumacher (Ferrari)	8
Hakinnen (McLaren)	7
Panis (Prost)	6
Larini (Sauber)	1
Alesi (Benetton)	1

Constructors Championship table

McLaren-Mercedes	17
Benetton-Renault	10
Williams-Renault	10
Ferrari	8
Prost-Mugen	6
Sauber-Petronas	1

Quotes

• Hill: "It's disapointing to get so close to the finish and not quite make it. We were quite well up at one stage and it's a lot better than Melbourne. But I had low oil pressure and as I was coming up the hill I saw flames coming out of the back of the car and I lost drive. It was something terminal.

• Schumacher: "I was hoping for better than 5th place. Just as I expected our tyres did not maintain their performance level over the whole race. I had a job getting past Hill as his tyres were still in top condition. This lost me time which probably cost me one or two places. However, today's two points will prove to be important during the course of the season. The biggest problem with our car at the moment is a lack of mechanical grip."

• Irvine: "On the grid we were unable to adjust my belts properly as the straps were too short. The pain was so bad that I had to come in to have them adjusted by having one side undone and the other done up. I had a cutting pain all trough the race, especially under braking when it felt as though my leg was being cut off."

• Villeneuve: "It would have been nasty if the red flag hadn't come out. It would have changed the end result a lot. (...)He -Berger- was a little too fast toward the end ... so it was tough to keep the gap."