Combes turn, (after drafting behind him on the straightaway), but Schumacher blocked him to defend late in the attempt to hold onto his position. The drivers made contact, with Häkkinen receiving minor damage to his front wing from contact with Schumacher's right-rear wheel and forced to slow. During the following lap, Häkkinen was quicker through Eau Rouge turn and drew closer to Michael Schumacher. While both competitors were lapping the slower car of Zonta who was driving on the centre of the circuit, Häkkinen steered right onto a damp patch to pass Schumacher for the lead after Schumacher turned left believing that there was inadequate space on the right. Zonta had slowed and Häkkinen turned left with the extra momentum gained from the slipstream from both Schumacher and Zonta to be ahead into the right-hand Les Combes corner. Häkkinen kept the lead for the rest of the race, crossing the finish line on lap 44 for his fourth victory of the season and the 18th of his Formula One career in a time of 1'28:14.494—an average speed of . Michael Schumacher finished second, 1.1 seconds behind Häkkinen and ahead of Ralf Schumacher in third after Schumacher became concerned about an engine failure in the final six laps (a throttle fault almost caused him to retire from the race). Coulthard, after being kept on the circuit longer than teammate Häkkinen before his pit stop for the dry compound tyres, was fourth. Button followed in fifth position and Frentzen completed the points scorers in sixth. Villeneuve (who reported race-long handling issues), Herbert, Salo, Irvine and Diniz filled the next five positions. Zonta, Wurz, Gené and Verstappen finished a lap behind the leader, and de la Rosa and Mazzacane were the final finishers. 17 of the 22 starters finished the Grand Prix. After the race The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and at a later press conference. Häkkinen was delighted with his victory, saying: "This was an incredible win. It was a very difficult and unusual situation including my spin which of course was not planned. The kerbs here are very slippery and once you go over one there is not much you can do. I was lucky to keep going and I was able to chase Michael. But the car got better and better." The driver added that he wanted to review his overtaking manoeuvre to