de la Rosa and Ralf Schumacher split them for the second- and third-quickest times, respectively. Häkkinen's race car was afflicted with a sensor failure which saw him use his team's spare monocoque whilst the problem was fixed. Ralf Schumacher meanwhile downplayed his chances, predicting that a wet race would give him a better finishing position. Race The race started at 13:00 local time. Barrichello maintained his start line advantage going into the first corner, whilst Frentzen remained in second position. Villeneuve made the best start in the field moving from 10th to 6th by the end of the first lap, whilst Michael Schumacher lost three positions over the same distance. At the completion of the first lap the drivers in the top ten positions were Barrichello, Frentzen, Coulthard, Häkkinen, Button, Villeneuve, Ralf Schumacher, Michael Schumacher, Verstappen and Trulli. Barrichello began to maintain a one-second gap between himself and Frentzen. Ralf Schumacher passed Villeneuve at Stowe corner for sixth position on lap 2. Further back Alesi lost 13th position after being overtaken by Salo whilst Diniz lost three places as he was involved in an incident. The leading drivers began to gradually build a gap from Trulli by lap 3. Two laps later Wurz made up a further position when he passed Zonta for 15th. Häkkinen ran wide on lap eight and came under pressure from Button. By the 14th lap, Barrichello had a lead of six-tenths of a seconds over Frentzen, who in turn was nine-tenths of a second in front of Coulthard. Häkkinen was a further nine-tenths of a second behind his teammate and continued to battle Button for fourth position, who was continuing to run 1.1 seconds ahead of Ralf Schumacher. Wurz, who was pressuring Alesi in 14th, became the first driver to make a pit stop to ensure he would get a clear track. Salo and Fisichella pitted over the next three laps. Verstappen pulled over to the side of the track with electrical problems on lap 20. Frentzen and Ralf Schumacher became the next two laps to pit on lap 24 and remerged in seventh and eighth. Button made his pit stop one lap later and joined behind teammate Ralf Schumacher. de la Rosa drove to the side of the circuit with hydraulic problems and retired on lap 28. Coulthard drafted down the straight and passed Barrichello at Stowe corner to become the new race leader