Summary

What should have been Mika Hakkinen's race on his birthday turned out to be a disaster for Mercedes with losing two drivers due to engine problems in two laps. Hakkinen showed championship stile all weekend with being second fastest or fastest in every session. He pulled out a lead in the beginning of the race and was clearly faster than anyone else. But everything turned out in vain when a puff of smoke came out of his car on the start and finish straight on lap 43.

Jacques Villeneuve could cruise to the finish with both the McLaren's gone in front of him and with Michael Schumacher out on lap 2 due to a collision with his brother. Schumacher blamed Giancarlo Fisichella for the crash but Ralf was called before the stewarts. The championship lead was Vileneuve's to take.

Flavio Briatore got a nice gift on his last day with the Benetton team with Alesi second and Berger fourth.

Briatore said: "I am very satisfied for the Team and for myself for today's good result. On my last Grand Prix, I am happy to leave a very competitive Benetton Formula, in very capable hands. I wish everyone in the Team and all the Benetton Formula employees the best of luck and success for the present and the future world championships. I would also like to thank all our partners, especially Mild Seven and Renault, who have been always a great support for us."

Olivier Panis made a terrific comeback and ended sixth taking one point.

The Result (67 Lap Race)

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

Villeneuve (Williams-Renault) G Alesi (Benetton-Renault) G Frentzen (Williams-Renault) G Berger (Benetton-Renault) G Diniz (Arrows-Yamaha) B Panis (Prost-Mugen) B Herbert (Sauber-Petronas) G Hill (Arrows-Yamaha) B Morbidelli (Sauber-Petronas) G Salo (Tyrrell-Ford) G Not Classified Verstappen (Tyrrell-Ford) G Barrichello (Stewart-Ford) B Hakkinen (McLaren-Mercedes) G Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes) G Magnussen (Stewart-Ford) B Irvine (Ferrari) G Nakano (Prost-Mugen) B M. Schumacher (Ferrari) G Katayama (Minardi-Hart) B Marques (Minardi-Hart) B Fisichella (Jordan-Peugeot) G R. Schumacher (Jordan-Peugeot) G B: Bridgestone G: Goodyear

1h 31m 27.843s + 0m 11.770s + 0m 13.480s + 0m 16.416s + 0m 43.147s + 0m 43.750s + 0m 44.357s + 0m 44.777s 1 lap 1 lap   17 laps: engine 24 laps: mechanical 24 laps: engine 25 laps: engine 27 laps: driving shaft 45 laps: mechanical 51 laps: engine 65 laps: suspension 66 laps: suspension 66 laps: mechanical 67 laps: crash 67 laps: crash

        Fastest Lap: H.H. Frentzen 1m 18.805s

The Quotes

• M. Schumacher: "Obviously I am very disappointed with what happened today. After my brother Ralf hit me, my car was handling strangely. I did not know if it was a puncture or some other problem with my tyres. When I came into the pits, it was obvious that a suspension arm was bent and I had to retire. It is a shame that the incident happened with my brother but I don't think anyone is to blame for what happened as it was not a deliberate move. These things can happen and that is motor racing."

• Irvine: "Just as I went around a corner, my car just died on me. I do not know what happened. I had a heavy fuel load at the start, which made the car difficult to drive, but I was confident that I would have been able to push harder after my pit stop."

• Coulthard: "I was very disappointed for myself and for Mika."

• Villeneuve: "I could not have caught the McLarens. They were flying. I was hearing strange noises in the car so I did not want to risk anything. I banged wheels with Heinz-Harald in the first corner."

• Salo: "At the first corner there was smoke and sand everywhere. I couldn't see a thing so I just pointed the car through the mess and hoped for the best. After that I had a good first lap, passing both Nakano and Morbidelli and the car was running well. After the pit stops nothing much happened -- all I could hope was that some more people would fall off, but they didn't."

• Herbert: "Well, we were close but just not close enough to take the final point. The car was never quite quick enough in the right places to let me challenge Olivier Panis or Pedro Diniz, and anyway on this type of circuit it's very difficult to pass people even if you have a quicker car. My good start helped get me through the drama at the first corner, but then there was the moment when Mika Hakkinen had his problem as I was coming out of the pits after my second stop. I could see he was going really slow, so I just kept my finger on the pit lane speed limiter so that I wouldn't actually have to come to a complete stop. But to be honest, I don't think that made any difference to where we eventually finished.

• Morbidelli: For me the start was good, but by the first corner all I could see was dust! I managed to get through without hitting anything, but I lost a lot of time. After that the car was handling better than I expected, with understeer only when I was following closely behind other cars. But at my second pit stop on lap 40 I lost the clutch, and then three laps later the brakes began to give trouble too.

• Verstappen: "As I came out of the chicane I changed up through the gears, second, third...then I felt the engine let go and the rear wheels locked up as I was turning into the last right-hander, pitching me into a spin and I ended up in the gravel. When I got out of the car, there were no marshalls around to show me where to go, so I ran across the track to get back to the pits."

• R. Schumacher: "Giancarlo ran into me and then I ran into Michael's front suspension. But it was a normal race accident."

• Alesi: "It's really fantastic for me to have this second place today! I did not expect it. I had a very bad start which helped me because at the first corner I found a little gap and I could get away, avoiding the big crash. I was able to jumped into fifth place. The car was perfect, but it was impossible to overtake. After the second stop, I saw on the pitboard P2 and I could not believe it. Before that, I was eighth. I must thank everyone in the Team for the reliability of my car and it's fantastic to be again a strong third in the Constructors' Championship."

• Berger: "I have mixed feelings about this result. I am obviously happy for my fourth place, but on the other hand I think I was a little unlucky. I managed to get around the first accident, but then the two Jordan cars collided and with Michael's Ferrari in the middle, I had to go left to avoid a big crash and ended on the grass. It was very difficult to get back on the track and in the meantime I lost a lot of positions. Slowly, I started to gain more, but lap times were very close and I could not do better than I did."

Drivers Championship table

Villeneuve (Williams)	77
M. Schumacher (Ferrari)	68
Frentzen(Williams)	35
Alesi (Benetton)	34
Coulthard (McLaren)	30
Berger (Benetton)	24
Fisichella (Jordan)	20
Irvine (Ferrari)	18
Panis (Prost)	16
Hakkinen (McLaren)	14
Herbert (Sauber)	14
R. Schumacher (Jordan)	13
Hill (Arrows)	7
Barrichello (Stewart)	6
Wurz (Benetton)	4
Trulli (Prost)	3
Salo (Tyrrell)	2
Nakano (Prost)	2
Diniz (Arrows)	2
Larini (Sauber)	1

Constructors Championship table

Williams-Renault G	112
Ferrari G	86
Benetton-Renault G	62
McLaren-Mercedes G	44
Jordan-Peugeot G	33
Prost-Mugen B	21
Sauber-Petronas G	15
Arrows-Yamaha B	9
Stewart-Ford B	6
Tyrrell-Ford G	2
B: Bridgestone G: Goodyear