his solitary pit stop of the Grand Prix came on lap 42. Coulthard returned to the circuit behind Häkkinen, who was fast on a full tank of fuel and wanted to ensure that his teammate would be not close enough to threaten for the race victory. Salo, Herbert, Barrichello, Button and Villeneuve all made pit stops over the next five laps. Alesi, who was 14th, but yet to make his final pit stop, attempted to pass teammate Heidfeld but the two drivers retired after colliding at the first corner on lap 43. At the conclusion of lap 50, with the scheduled pit stops completed, the running order was Häkkinen, Coulthard, Barrichello, Villeneuve, Button, and Salo. Button ran wide challenging Villeneuve for fourth on lap 51; he remained ahead of Salo. Zonta abandoned his car in the gravel at Remus Kurve corner with engine overheating problems on lap 60. On the same lap, Mazzacane was issued a 10-second stop-go penalty. He took his penalty on lap 61. Ralf Schumacher spun off the track due to brake failure and retired on the following lap. Coulthard set the fastest lap of the race a 1:11.783 on lap 66, as he was within nine seconds of Häkkinen who was slower on that lap, although it appeared that the latter would win the race comfortably. Häkkinen increased his lead to 12 seconds to prevent a formation finish, and crossed the finish line on lap 71 in his second win of the season and the 16th of his career in a time of 1'28:15.818, at an average speed of . Coulthard finished second 12.5 seconds behind, ahead of Barrichello in third. Villeneuve finished fourth by remaining on the circuit longer than any other driver and setting fast lap times, with Button close behind in fifth. Salo completed the points scorers in sixth. Herbert, Gené, Diniz and Wurz were in the next four positions, albeit one lap behind the winner, with Burti and Mazzacane the final classified finishers. Post-race The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and in the subsequent press conference. Häkkinen said that he was happy with his race victory which he believed would help his confidence throughout the remainder of the season. Häkkinen added that his team displaying pit boards made him unsure as to whether he had an issue or whether he was being instructed not to go