driver in the closing stages, as he had made contact with Häkkinen on the last corner of the last lap the previous year when also battling for fourth place. Thus Herbert took the chequered flag after 61 laps—at an average speed of —to win his first Formula One race at his 74th attempt, a result that also moved him from sixth to fourth in the Drivers' Championship. Alesi and Coulthard completed the podium, moving Ferrari ahead of Williams in the battle for second place in the Constructors' Championship. Panis finished fourth, ahead of Blundell, who managed to finish despite his car running on three wheels for the final lap. Frentzen finished a lap down and completed the points-scoring positions, forty seconds ahead of a close group comprising Martini, Salo and Boullion. Salo closed in on the Minardi driver late in the race after passing his teammate, but was edged onto the grass whilst attempting a pass on the Hangar Straight and spun through 360 degrees. Badoer finished a further ten seconds behind this group, having also been passed by Boullion after his final pit stop. Barrichello was classified in 11th place, ahead of Gachot, who took his first race finish since the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix three laps behind Herbert. Post-race Herbert's maiden Formula One victory was very popular amongst the spectators and team personnel, as not only was it his home race, but also because it came after a series of setbacks earlier in his career, not least a serious accident in an International Formula 3000 race at Brands Hatch in 1988 that left him with severe foot injuries which threatened his racing career. In the post-race press conference, Herbert paid tribute to three people who had particularly helped the progress of his career: his wife, Becky; Peter Collins, of whom Herbert said that "he got me into F1 twice"; and Benetton team principal Flavio Briatore for giving him his 1995 drive. Herbert's win also came in front of his parents, Bob and Jane, who were selling his fan club merchandise at the circuit during the race meeting. In addition, the victory secured his immediate future within the Benetton team. Alesi declared himself "very happy" with his second place, but admitted to "giving up" in the second half of the race, as he knew that overtaking Herbert or Coulthard when they were ahead of him would have been almost