Summary

Michael Schumacher took a well-fought win today. Ferrari apparently broke the domination of the McLaren team, with Eddie Irvine third. Schumacher won today because of very good driving and excellent tactics. Mika Hakkinen can, and is, be very satisfied with the six points of his second place.

The new Goodyear tyre worked very well on the twisty and bumpy track.

Notes

• Coulthard tries to defend his leading position and hits M. Schumacher. Both drivers continue.
• Alesi looses the right 'Tyrrell-Tower' in the pits because he drives against the air-tubes of the Arrows team. This does not however seem to bother him too much.
• Hill needs a new noose because he hits Herbert. Herbert is out.
• Coulthard is hit by Villeneuve. Villeneuve is out.
• Many drivers go through the grass because of some rain at the end of the race, including leader M. Schumacher.
  • Weather during the race: Overcast, some light rain at the end of the race. (19°C/ 66°F)

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) G Hakkinen (McLaren-Mercedes) B Irvine (Ferrari) G Wurz (Benetton-Mecachrome) B Alesi (Sauber-Petronas) G Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes) B Fisichella (Benetton-Mecachrome) B Hill (Jordan-Mugen) G Frentzen (Winfield-Williams) G Barrichello (Stewart-Ford) B Trulli (Prost-Peugeot) B Takagi (Tyrrell-Ford) G Nakano (Minardi-Ford) B Rosset (Tyrrell-Ford)B Panis (Prost-Peugeot) B Not Classified Tuero (Minardi-Ford) B Villeneuve (Winfield-Williams) G Herbert (Sauber-Petronas) G R. Schumacher (Jordan-Mugen) G Salo (Arrows) G Magnussen (Stewart-Ford) B Diniz (Arrows) B B: Bridgestone G: Goodyear

1h 48m 36.175s + 0m 22.899s + 0m 57.745s + 1m 08.134s + 1m 18.286s + 1m 19.751s + 1m 28.538s 1 lap 1 lap 2 laps 2 laps 2 laps 3 laps 4 laps 7 laps: engine   9 laps: crash 20 laps: crash 26 laps: puncture/crash 50 laps: suspension 54 laps: gearbox 55 laps: gearbox 59 laps: gearbox

Fastest Lap: Alexander Wurz 1:28.179s

The Quotes

• Hakkinen: "I must admit the Ferrari's performance was excellent. I could have pushed harder in the closing stages of the race, but not without risking my six points which I hope are going to be invaluable by the end of the year."

• M. Schumacher: "I did not make a good start and I will have to look into that. As far as the incident with Coulthard is concerned, he had already run wide at that point on the previous lap so I went for the gap but he seemed to close the door. I did not want to lift off as I felt I had the momentum to get through. The car was damaged and it suffered from understeer in right hand corners. I had to push really hard to be able to make the second pit stop without losing the lead and the boys did a great job under pressure to get me out quickly. Towards the end, it began to drizzle and I lost control where the track surface was shiny. I had seen people have trouble there in the warm-up so I did not even try and brake because I knew where the escape road was. At Imola we can be even stronger as we should make another step forward after testing next week. The new tyres were very consistent."

• Irvine: "I am very pleased with this performance and the car felt well balanced. My biggest problem was inside the cockpit where a bolster to stop my legs banging kept working loose and I had to keep pushing it back into place down the straights. At one point it nearly went into the footwell. I had a good fight with Wurz. He got past me when I locked up and went wide when the rain started. We did touch but there was no damage and off we went again. Then he lost control and I was back on the podium."

• Takagi: "I am very pleased, both for myself and for the team, to have finished my first Grand Prix. It was a difficult race with a lot of traffic, but my car ran completely reliably and the team gave me a good pit stop. The track became very slippery when there was a shower late in the race. I also went off the circuit briefly while trying to overtake Trulli's Prost for 11th. Fortunately, I did not do any damage to the car and I was able to keep the engine running and continue to the end of the race. Now I know what it feels like to finish a Grand Prix, I want to finish many more, and improve my results in the process. I am now looking forward to racing on the European circuits which I experienced when competing in the Porsche Cup."

• Alesi: "It is wonderful to work with a team in which the race strategy is agreed by the engineers and the driver. There was a little bit of surprise when I suggested two stops, but is was agreed, no problem. I knew because of that I needed a good start, and I got one that let me push very hard. My only problem was when I caught my right-hand winglet on the Arrows refuelling equipment in my first stop. In this circuit you pick up grip all through the race and for sure it would have been better to have both wings. But my pit stops were fantastic, especially when my crew got me out ahead of Villeneuve and Coulthard after the second. That made all the difference. I am very, very happy with today's result, from fastest time in this morning's warm-up to fifth place this afternoon. It was a fantastic performance by the team that fills me with great hope for the rest of the season."

• Herbert: "A one-stop strategy seemed the better option for me, given where I was starting on the grid. The car felt okay in the early stages and things were going quite well until Damon hit my left rear tyre as we were fighting for ninth place. I'm surprised he did that, given all his experience. It damaged my car too badly to continue, given that I had the best part of a lap to run on a split tyre. I guess South America hasn't been a very happy hunting ground for me this year; all I can do is look forward to Imola and less frustration."

• Wurz: "I was third but I made a mistake. I spun off and Irvine overtook me. I am very disappointed with myself. It is only my sixth grand prix and I still have to learn. In the early stages of the race, I was held up by Frentzen and I could not overtake him. When I was fighting with Irvine we had a collision and then my car became a little bit more difficult to drive."

• Fisichella: "The car was good enough to finish in the points. Unfortunately, I was 10th on the starting grid, too far back to score a good result. If I could have started two positions further forward I would have enjoyed as good a race as Alex, who really did a fantastic job. The car was understeering too much with full tank but improved with less fuel."

• Hill: "I initially made up a few places at the start, but then lost them all again at the first corner, so ended back where I started! I pushed to try and stay with Wurz and struggled a little, but stayed with him pretty much. But then I made a mistake in the first corner, which is where Fisichella got me, and from then on I seemed to slip backwards. Then I was racing Herbert, and he opened the door so I went to put my car down the inside and he just chopped across me. I thought I had lost the nose because I felt a draft coming up through the car, but it was a hole, so I came in to change the nose cone. Eighth place is not much good to me and I am not happy to have come back from the first three races with nothing."

• R. Schumacher: "I slipped the clutch and the wheels spun so I had a really bad start which left me in 13th position. I was then stuck behind Barrichello and could not overtake him. Then the rear of the car became more and more nervous and I spun. I thought it was the brake pressure so I called to come into the pits. The team checked the car while we changed tyres, but it seemed ok. But then I spun again and when I got out of the car I saw that the rear suspension (top wishbone) was broken."

The Standings

Drivers Championship table

Hakkinen (McLaren-Mercedes)	26
M. Schumacher (Ferrari)	14
Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes)	13
Irvine (Ferrari)	7
Frentzen (Winfield-Williams)	6
Wurz (Benetton-Playlife)	6
Villeneuve (Winfield-Williams)	2
Alesi (Sauber-Petronas)	2
Herbert (Sauber-Petronas)	1
Fisichella (Benetton-Playlife)	1

Constructor Championship table

McLaren-Mercedes	39
Ferrari	21
Winfield-Williams	8
Benetton-Playlife	7
Sauber-Petronas	3