race; the air temperature ranged between and the track temperature was between . The race, which started at 14:00 local time, lasted 65 laps over a distance of . A total of approximately 79,000 people attended the Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher and Häkkinen planned to make two pit stops over the course of the Grand Prix, with Schumacher, the only driver in the field, to select the medium compound tyres and not the soft compound tyres. Ralf Schumacher started the Grand Prix in the spare Williams vehicle because his race car developed an engine sensor issue the previous day. There was not an abundance of overtaking observed, which meant the outcome of the event was decided through pit stops.When the race started, Häkkinen got a better start than the slow starting Michael Schumacher, who steered right across the circuit to block Häkkinen's path on the outside. As a consequence of the manoeuvre, Häkkinen was unable to heavily challenge Michael Schumacher under braking for Elf corner. Ralf Schumacher made a swift getaway, passing Coulthard and the slow starting Barrichello to move into third. At the exit of the first right-hand turn, Ralf Schumacher made contact with the rear of Häkkinen's car which was on a large amount of dust, sending Häkkinen slightly sideways. Both drivers were able to continue, with Häkkinen ahead of Ralf Schumacher by being on the inside for the following left-hand turn. Button moved from eleventh to ninth by the end of the first lap, while Irvine fell three places over the same distance. Diniz spun into the gravel after driving onto dirt on the outside of turn three and retired. At the conclusion of lap one the top six in the race order were Michael Schumacher, Häkkinen, Ralf Schumacher, Coulthard, Barrichello and Villeneuve. Michael Schumacher began to pull away from Häkkinen. De La Rosa ran into the rear of Alesi at Wurth corner on lap two, causing Alesi to retire. De La Rosa sustained a broken front wing and retired after beaching in the gravel trap at Campsa corner. Simultaneously, Irvine overtook Verstappen for twelfth position. The positions at the front were the same for the next sixteen laps with the gap between Michael Schumacher and the heavy-fuelled Häkkinen fluctuating from 1.6 seconds to 3.4 seconds due to driving through slower traffic while Coulthard and Barrichello battled Ralf Schumacher for third position. Green flag pit stops began