Schumacher pulled away from the rest of the field, extending his advantage to 6.3 seconds. In the meantime, Alesi overtook de la Rosa and Panis to advance to 16th as Montoya passed Verstappen for 16th. On lap three, Fisichella lost fourth to Häkkinen into Les Combes corner, and a driver error at the exit to Rivage turn lost him fifth to Coulthard on the outside into Pouhon corner. Further back, Räikkönen braked later than Villeneuve at the Bus Stop chicane to move into seventh. Trulli passed Irvine for 14th. On the same lap, Alonso retired with a broken gearshaft. On the fourth lap, Alesi passed Button for ninth, as Heidfeld and Trulli demoted Panis from 12th to 14th. Irvine lost another position when Montoya passed him for 15th. As Burti was about to pass Irvine on the inside at Blanchimont corner on lap five, Irvine was caught off guard and stayed on the racing line, putting Burti's left-hand wheels onto the grass. Burti's right-front wheel and Irvine's Jaguar made contact. removing Burti's front wing and downforce. Irvine drove over the Prost's front wing and destroyed it. Burti was sent spearing across the gravel trap and into a four-deep tyre barrier at . The front of Burti's full-face crash helmet broke as it took the full force of the impact. Further injury to Burti was prevented because a head and neck restraint absorbed the impact. Irvine went off the track with the right-hand wheels removed from his Jaguar. He exited his car to assist the track marshals in removing the tyres pinned to Burti and released his car from the barrier. Räikkönen stopped with a transmission failure as Frentzen and Marques made pit stops. The safety car was deployed before the race was stopped. All the remaining drivers went on the starting grid to await the restart. Meanwhile, the FIA medical delegate Sid Watkins arrived to direct the extraction of Burti from his car. Burti was transported to the circuit's medical centre by ambulance with no emergency treatment. After a medical inspection, he was flown by helicopter to the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Liège in a conscious and stable condition with a serious concussion. Restarted race According to series regulations, the first four laps were not counted towards the restarted race, the only retained element being the order the cars were in after the end of lap four, revising the distance