start to slot into second position ahead of Schumacher. Salo also had an excellent getaway, rising to 17th place by the end of the first lap. Berger and Irvine, meanwhile, made poor starts as they struggled with slipping clutches, dropping to ninth and 13th positions respectively. At the end of the first lap, Hill led by 1.1 seconds from Alesi, who was followed by Schumacher, Coulthard, Herbert, Häkkinen, Barrichello, Brundle, Berger, Frentzen, Blundell, Panis, Irvine, Martini, Katayama, Boullion, Salo, Papis, Inoue, Gachot, Badoer, Diniz, Montermini and Moreno. On the second lap, Irvine tried to pass Panis at the Abbey chicane, but spun in the process and dropped further back, shortly before his engine cut out, making him the first retirement of the race. Elsewhere in the field, Berger passed Brundle, and Montermini moved ahead of Diniz. At the front of the pack, Hill was in control, extending his lead over Alesi to 6.2 seconds by lap 5 and to 12 seconds by lap 12. For his part, Schumacher was being held up by Alesi, the two cars running in formation in the early stages of the race. He was, however, unable to get close enough to attempt an overtaking manoeuvre, due to the aerodynamic turbulence created by the airflow over the Ferrari. There were passing opportunities further down the order, however: Blundell and Panis both overhauled Frentzen in the early laps; Katayama and Boullion moved ahead of Martini; and Badoer passed Gachot. At the tail of the field, Diniz made the first of three pit stops on lap 6 to investigate gear selection problems with his Forti from which he retired eight laps later, and his teammate Moreno also made an early stop on the tenth lap but continued, albeit one lap down on the leader. As Hill extended his lead, the stewards informed the Jordan and Ligier teams that Barrichello and Panis had jumped the start, for which they were served with ten-second stop-go penalties. Both drivers had previously been penalised for the same offence at the French Grand Prix, and also the . Panis took his penalty on lap 12 and dropped from 11th to 14th position; Barrichello made a pit stop to serve his identical penalty three laps later, from seventh place, and rejoined in 11th. Both drivers later protested their innocence. Lap 15 also saw the first scheduled pit stop, as Coulthard, also held up by