Summary

The Canadian Grand Prix saw Michael Schumacher as the winner after the race was ended prematurely because Olivier Panis crashed heavily into the tyre barriers with his Prost-Mugen which left the front end of the Prost shattered.

The race was first continued behind the pace car, for the second time, while Panis was being looked after on the track. Panis tried to get out of his car but failed to do so because, as was later established, of fractures in his legs.

Panis' crash ended a very competitive and exciting race, which David Coulthard could have won. The Scot stalled his engine, however, on his last pitstop while running in the lead.

Notes

• Herbert used the T-car because he just feels it drives better than his race car.
• Stop and go's were assessed for: Barrichello, Herbert.
• Irvine, Magnussen and Hakkinen retire in a first curve accident. Panis has to get a new nose.
• Villeneuve hits the wall and is out on lap 3.
• Katayama spins off on lap 7. It will take a while before his car can be removed so the safety car comes onto the track. Hill makes a pitstop during this period while Frentzen comes in just when the race is restarted.
• Ralf Schumacher spins off and hits the tyre wall hard, he can walk away unhurt. The spin was cause by a blown rear tyre. (lap 16)
• Trulli retires on lap 34.
• Barrichello retires because he misses his sixth gear. (lap 35)
• Wurz goes out with a broken drive shaft on lap 37.
• Verstappen retires after a very good race with a gearbox stuck in fourth. (lap 44)
• Panis crashes into the barriers. He received medical attention on the track and was later flown to a local hospital. He suffered a fractured right leg. The race ended under yellow (56 laps).
  • Weather during race: Sunny, Some clouds (21 Degrees Celsius)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.   12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

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

56 laps + 2.757s + 3.407s + 4.315s + 5.572s + 8.087s + 8.959s 1 lap 1 lap 1 lap 3 lap   8 lap 12 lap 19 laps 21 laps 22 laps 40 laps 49 laps 53 laps 69 laps 69 laps 69 laps

The Quotes

• M. Schumacher: "I am pleased with the ten points but there is no point celebrating a victory in these circumstances."

• Villeneuve: "The track was very slippery but I just misjudged the corner and didn't expect to go sideways. I am totally disappointed because I thought we had a strong car."

• Coulthard: "I didn't know if my last set of tyres would have lasted."

• Frentzen: "I still find the new two pedal set-up difficult. I started totally different here then what I normally do. It took the clutch a very long time to get grip. And I had some tyre problems after just four laps. But right now I want to know how Olivier is doing."

• Irvine: "I really don't know (what happened in the first corner), Everyone was crowding into the corner. Once a nose came flying out of nowhere and suddenly the back came round and the engine stopped."

• Hakkinen: "The new engine is getting strong. David is running the engine now and I just hope he will not have any problems."

• Wurz: "Unfortunately. My position was good but my speed was not as good as the front, but all was okay until something broke."

• Verstappen: "It's a shame. It all went very well. The tyres continued to stay good. But the gears just didn't work anymore. There was simply a leak in the air system. I'm very positive because the team is really moving forward.

• Hill: "It's a bit worrying how Panis is doing. (...) It's a finish early but we have finished."

• Herbert: "It was a shame (the stop-and-go). We've got a click on and off button and it just clicked off. We could have got second place. (On Panis:) It was the best thing to stop it."

The Standings

Drivers Championship table

M. Schumacher (Ferrari)	37
Villeneuve (Williams)	30
Panis (Prost)	15
Irvine (Ferrari)	14
Frentzen(Williams)	13
Alesi (Benetton)	13
Coulthard (McLaren)	11
Berger (Benetton)	10
Hakkinen (McLaren)	10
Fisichella (Jordan)	8
Herbert (Sauber)	7
Barrichello (Stewart)	6
R. Schumacher (Jordan)	4
Salo (Tyrrell)	2
Larini (Sauber)	1
Nakano (Prost)	1

Constructors Championship table

Ferrari	51
Williams-Renault	43
Benetton-Renault	23
McLaren-Mercedes	21
Prost-Mugen	16
Jordan-Peugeot	12
Sauber-Petronas	8
Stewart-Ford	6
Tyrrell-Ford	2