the lead, and he made several attempts to pass the Canadian's Williams but failed on all his attempts and had to settle for second. Ralf Schumacher, in his first full season, managed to get onto the podium after he finished third. Villeneuve continued his run of consecutive pole positions in San Marino. Villeneuve's German teammate, Frentzen, won his first and only Grand Prix for Williams after he finished just over a second ahead of Michael Schumacher, with Eddie Irvine coming third. Frentzen managed to end Villeneuve's run of pole positions in Monaco. For the second time in successive seasons, the Monaco Grand Prix was raced under very wet conditions. Michael Schumacher won his first race of the season with his future Ferrari teammate, Rubens Barrichello finishing in second and earning Stewart not only their first podium finish, but their first points finish and their first finish of any kind. Irvine took the final step on the podium for the second time in a row. In Spain, Williams continued to dominate the qualifying session, as Villeneuve, for the fifth time this season, took pole and Frentzen made sure Williams occupied both slots on the front row. Villeneuve went on to win the Grand Prix, with fellow French-speaking drivers, Olivier Panis and Jean Alesi, coming second and third respectively. Williams's run of consecutive pole positions was broken in Canada where Michael Schumacher took pole; Rubens Barrichello's Stewart split the two Williams in third place. Schumacher went on to win the Grand Prix, with ex-Ferrari driver Jean Alesi finishing second and Giancarlo Fisichella coming in third. Schumacher earned his second pole of the season in France; he was accompanied by Frentzen on the front row. The two would stay in their respective positions at the end of the race, with Eddie Irvine in third. Villeneuve earned his sixth pole of the season in Britain, with teammate Frentzen partnering him on the front row. After Häkkinen retired from the lead, Villeneuve went on to win the race with Alesi and young Alexander Wurz coming third to make it an all Renault-powered podium. Michael Schumacher failed to complete the race after he retired with a wheel bearing problem. Gerhard Berger, who had not competed at the previous Grand Prix because of the illness and the death of his father, managed to get pole position for the German Grand Prix. Fastest lap and race victory followed,