against the weather conditions of the time, and set laps in their spare cars. Michael Schumacher was fastest with a 1:49.495 lap, followed by Häkkinen, Räikkönen, Ralf Schumacher, Irvine, Frentzen, Montoya, Trulli, Heidfeld and Barrichello. Trulli removed his car's front wing and bargeboards by running wide onto some bumps at Les Combes turn. He was unable to steer and stopped on a trackside wall. Alonso lost control of his car exiting Stavelot corner and destroyed its left-hand corner in a collision with an inside wall. He ricocheted to the right; Alonso exited the car unhurt with aid from track marshals, as Marques stopped to check if his teammate was unhurt. Alonso was transported to the track's medical centre for a precautionary check-up. He was passed fit to compete in the race and used the spare Minardi car. Race First start and Burti's accident The race took place in the afternoon from 14:00 local time. The weather at the start was overcast and some light rain fell on the track 11 minutes before the formation lap. The air temperature was between and the track temperature was ; weather forecasts on the day of the race predicted the possibility of heavy rain in its latter stages. Before the formation lap was about to commence, Frentzen and Marques stalled because of gearbox problems. Both drivers were ordered to start from the back of the grid, causing the start to be aborted, and the number of laps reduced from 44 to 43. At the start of the second formation lap, Montoya was stationary as he engaged first gear. He forfeited pole position and began from the rear of the grid. His teammate Ralf Schumacher led on the approach to Les Combes corner as he locked his brakes. Barrichello kept third as Fisichella moved to fourth. Going uphill into Les Combes corner, Michael Schumacher pulled out of Ralf Schumacher's slipstream and made a pass around the left for first place. Villeneuve fell behind the McLarens at the same time. Button moved from 13th to ninth by the conclusion of the first lap, while Villeneuve fell four positions over the same distance. At the close of the first lap, Michael Schumacher led Ralf Schumacher by 2.1 seconds. Barrichello was a further six-tenths of a second behind Ralf Schumacher in third, while Fisichella in fourth was 2.2 seconds adrift of Barrichello. Over the next three laps, Michael