the Dunlop chicane, Ralf Schumacher attempted to pass Villeneuve for fifth; Villeneuve defended the position. At the end of the first lap, Häkkinen led Michael Schumacher by 0.562 seconds, who in turn was 0.998 seconds ahead of Coulthard in third. Barrichello in fourth, was followed by Villeneuve in fifth and Ralf Schumacher in sixth. Michael Schumacher set the fastest lap at the time on lap two, completing a circuit in 1 minute and 22.438 seconds. On the same lap, De La Rosa overtook his teammate Verstappen to move into ninth and Alesi passed Button for 13th. Frentzen retired on lap three with smoke billowing from the rear of his car due to a piston sealing a gap between the engine's combustion chamber and crankcase failing. At the front, another fastest lap from Michael Schumacher lowered Häkkinen's advantage to 0.4 seconds. A lack of rear grip affected Coulthard's handling and the fourth-placed Barrichello pressured him. Villeneuve in fifth was distanced by the top four. On lap four, Ralf Schumacher was passed by Fisichella for sixth and De La Rosa overtook Irvine for eighth place. Fisichella drew close to Villeneuve in fifth as De La Rosa got ahead of Ralf Schumacher for seventh two laps later. On the eighth lap, Michael Schumacher set the race's overall fastest lap, a 1-minute and 22.269 seconds as he used less of the track all round the lap than Häkkinen. Villeneuve made a driver error at the Veedol chicane on lap nine, and Fisichella used his better traction and car handling to steer right out of the turn and pass Villeneuve into the Coca-Cola Kurve. Light rain began to fall on the tenth lap. Cresting a hill to the Veedol chicane on lap 11, Michael Schumacher slipstreamed Häkkinen, and put him wide, making a pass to the left for the lead. Häkkinen lost traction and Michael Schumacher opened a lead of four-tenths of a second at the end of the lap. The rain intensity began to increase on the next lap and the track became slippery. Barrichello achieved a better exit coming out of the Coca-Cola Kurve and he overtook Coulthard for third on the start/finish straight. Further back, Irvine passed Ralf Schumacher at the Veedol chicane to move into eighth and Wurz was overtaken by Alesi for tenth. The rain made teams uncertain whether to stop for the wet-weather tyres though Herbert began the pit