43 seconds behind. Post-race The top three finishers appeared on the podium and in the subsequent press conference. Damon Hill hinted after the race that this one could have been his last, or if he did compete at Silverstone in the next race he might leave Formula One afterwards. Toranosuke Takagi was disqualified for using tyres which had been marked for his team-mate, Pedro de la Rosa. As a consequence of the race, Häkkinen extended his lead in the World Drivers' Championship to eight points over Schumacher, with Irvine a further 14 behind. In the World Constructors' Championship, McLaren reduced the lead over Ferrari to six points with Williams passing Benetton for fourth position, 43 points behind Ferrari. Classification Qualifying 1. -Due to the poor weather conditions, all cars from 18th to 22nd on the grid failed to qualify within the 107% rule. However, the stewards chose to waive the rule due to the spacing of the entire field caused by the weather problems. They were ordered in grid by free practice times, therefore Hill started 18th, de la Rosa 19th, Takagi 20th, Badoer 21st and Gené 22nd. Race Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Constructors' Championship standings Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. References French Grand Prix French Grand Prix Grand Prix French Grand Prix