Race Resume:
Weather: Cloudy and overcast
Lap Event
Track wet but not raining.
Everyone starts on wet tyres except for Vestappen.
0 Grid Positions: (1) M.Schumacher (2) D.Hill
(3) J.Alesi (4) G.Berger
(5) D.Coulthard (6) R.Barrichello
0 Hill beats Schumacher to the first corner (St Devote)
0 Vestappen too wide at St Devote and hits barrier
0 Fisichella crashes at St Devote
0 Schumacher slides into barrier after Loews hairpin
0 Barrichello crashes at Rascasse
1 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill->4.323s->(2) J.Alesi
->2.168s->(3) G.Berger->0.944s->(4) E.Irvine
->2.652s->(5) H.Frentzen->1.194s->(6) D.Coulthard
2 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill->6.108s->(2) J.Alesi
->2.669s->(3) G.Berger->4.743s->(4) E.Irvine
->0.174s->(5) H.Frentzen->1.127s->(6) D.Coulthard
2 Katayama crashes at Tabac
3 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill->9.536s->(2) J.Alesi
->1.731s->(3) G.Berger (4) E.Irvine
(5) H.Frentzen (6) D.Coulthard
3 Fastest lap - Hill 1m 49.608s
3 Rosset crashes at Rascasse
4 Frentzen fighting to get past Irvine
5 Diniz out
6 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill (2) J.Alesi
(3) G.Berger (4) E.Irvine
->0.238s->(5) H.Frentzen->0.651s->(6) D.Coulthard
7 Fastest lap - Hill 1m 48.752s
8 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill->14.030s->(2) J.Alesi
->3.501s->(3) G.Berger->18.092s->(4) E.Irvine
->0.620s->(5) H.Frentzen->0.696s->(6) D.Coulthard
9 Fastest lap - Hill 1m 48.377s
9 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill (2) J.Alesi
(3) G.Berger (4) E.Irvine
(5) H.Frentzen (6) D.Coulthard
9 Pits - Berger retires
10 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill (2) J.Alesi
(3) E.Irvine (4) H.Frentzen
(5) D.Coulthard (6) J.Villeneuve
11 Fastest lap - Hill 1m 48.159s
11 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill (2) J.Alesi
(3) E.Irvine->0.512s->(4) H.Frentzen
->0.754s->(5) D.Coulthard (6) J.Villeneuve
12 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill->17.892s->(2) J.Alesi
->27.398s->(3) E.Irvine (4) H.Frentzen
(5) D.Coulthard (6) J.Villeneuve
15 Fastest lap - Hill 1m 48.072s
16 Fastets lap - Hill 1m 48.007s
16 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill->19.378s->(2) J.Alesi
->32.934s->(3) E.Irvine (4) H.Frentzen
(5) D.Coulthard (6) J.Villeneuve
17 Fastest lap - Hill 1m 46.772s
17 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill (2) J.Alesi
(3) E.Irvine (4) H.Frentzen
(5) D.Coulthard (6) J.Villeneuve
17 Frentzen touches Irvin at St Devote and damages his nosecone
18 Frentzen drops back and goes into pits for new nosecone
19 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill (2) J.Alesi
(3) E.Irvine (4) D.Coulthard
(5) J.Villeneuve (6) M.Salo
20 Fastest lap - Frentzen 1m 44.862s
22 Fastest lap - Hill 1m 44.590s
22 Fastest lap - Frentzen 1m 43.871s
22 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill (2) J.Alesi
(3) E.Irvine (4) D.Coulthard
(5) J.Villeneuve (6) M.Salo
23 Fastest lap - Alesi 1m 43.144s
24 Fastest lap - Alesi 1m 42.676s
24 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill->21.854s->(2) J.Alesi
(3) E.Irvine (4) D.Coulthard
(5) J.Villeneuve (6) M.Salo
25 Fastest lap - Hill 1m 41.684s
25 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill->22.276s->(2) J.Alesi
(3) E.Irvine (4) D.Coulthard
(5) J.Villeneuve (6) M.Salo
25 Hakkinen in 9th
26 Fastest lap - Hill 1m 41.536s
26 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill->22.276s->(2) J.Alesi
(3) E.Irvine (4) D.Coulthard
(5) J.Villeneuve (6) M.Salo
27 Fastest lap - Alesi 1m 41.466s
27 Fastest lap - Coulthard 1m 41.046s
27 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill (2) J.Alesi
(3) E.Irvine (4) D.Coulthard
(5) J.Villeneuve (6) M.Salo
28 Pits: Hill - out on slicks in 2nd
28 Pits: Irvine - 7.8s out on slicks
28 Current Positions: (1) J.Alesi (2) D.Hill
(3) E.Irvine (4) D.Coulthard
(5) J.Villeneuve (6) M.Salo
29 Fastest lap - Frentzen 1m 31.689s
29 Current Positions: (1) J.Alesi (2) D.Hill
(3) E.Irvine (4) D.Coulthard
(5) J.Villeneuve (6) M.Salo
29 Hill (on slicks) takes Alesi (on wets) on hill up to Casino
29 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill (2) J.Alesi
(3) E.Irvine (4) D.Coulthard
(5) J.Villeneuve (6) M.Salo
29 Pits: Villenuve - slicks
29 Pits: Hakkinen - slicks
30 Pits: Alesi - slicks
30 Pits: Coulthard - slicks
30 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill (2) J.Alesi
(3) E.Irvine (4) O.Panis
(5) D.Coulthard (6) J.Herbert
30 Brundle crashes at casino
31 Fastest lap - Panis - 1m 30.418s
31 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill->30.993s->(2) J.Alesi
->23.601s->(3) E.Irvine (4) O.Panis
(5) D.Coulthard (6) J.Herbert
32 Fastest lap - Panis 1m 29.195s
32 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill (2) J.Alesi
(3) E.Irvine->5.971s->(4) O.Panis
(5) D.Coulthard (6) J.Herbert
33 Fastest lap - Panis 1m 28.540s
33 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill (2) J.Alesi
(3) E.Irvine->2.340s->(4) O.Panis
(5) D.Coulthard (6) J.Herbert
35 Panis right on the back of Irvine
35 Fastest lap - Villenuve 1m 28.508s
35 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill (2) J.Alesi
(3) E.Irvine (4) O.Panis
(5) D.Coulthard (6) J.Herbert
35 Panis forces Irvine wide at Loews hairpin - Irvine stuggles to avoid
barriers and stalls
36 Irvine in 10th
36 Pits: Irvine - big problems - but goes out again
36 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill (2) J.Alesi
(3) O.Panis (4) D.Coulthard
(5) J.Herbert (6) J.Villeneuve
37 Fastest lap - Panis 1m 27.603s
38 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill (2) J.Alesi
(3) O.Panis (4) D.Coulthard
(5) J.Herbert (6) J.Villeneuve
38 Fastest lap - Panis 1m 26.787s
39 Current Positions: (1) D.Hill (2) J.Alesi
->21.657s->(3) O.Panis (4) D.Coulthard
(5) J.Herbert (6) J.Villeneuve
40 Disaster - Hill engine blows up coming out of tunnel
41 Current Positions: (1) J.Alesi->31.927s->(2) O.Panis
->0.316s->(3) D.Coulthard->8.192s->(4) J.Herbert
->0.711s->(5) J.Villeneuve (6) M.Salo
43 Fastest lap - Panis 1m 26.182s
44 Current Positions: (1) J.Alesi (2) O.Panis
->3.457s->(3) D.Coulthard (4) J.Herbert
(5) J.Villeneuve (6) M.Salo
45 Hakkinen 7th, Frentzen 8th, Irvine 9th
47 Current Positions: (1) J.Alesi (2) O.Panis
(3) D.Coulthard (4) J.Herbert
->1.009s->(5) J.Villeneuve (6) M.Salo
48 Both Salo and Hakkinen are tight together right behind Villeneuve
49 Fastest lap - Panis 1m 25.995s
49 Current Positions: (1) J.Alesi (2) O.Panis
(3) D.Coulthard (4) J.Herbert
(5) J.Villeneuve (6) M.Salo
49 10 cars left on track
51 Fastest lap - Alesi 1m 25.418s
53 Fastest lap - Alesi 1m 25.366s
53 Current Positions: (1) J.Alesi->33.500s->(2) O.Panis
(3) D.Coulthard (4) J.Herbert
(5) J.Villeneuve (6) M.Salo
54 Pits: Alesi - tyres/fuel
54 Current Positions: (1) J.Alesi->14.400s->(2) O.Panis
->6.700s->(3) D.Coulthard (4) J.Herbert
(5) J.Villeneuve (6) M.Salo
57 Current Positions: (1) J.Alesi->14.208s->(2) O.Panis
(3) D.Coulthard (4) J.Herbert
(5) J.Villeneuve->0.700s->(6) M.Salo
57 Fastest lap - Alesi 1m 25.305s
58 Fastest lap - Alesi 1m 25.205s
59 Current Positions: (1) J.Alesi (2) O.Panis
(3) D.Coulthard (4) J.Herbert
(5) J.Villeneuve (6) M.Salo
59 Alesi in pits with suspension/brake (?) problems - out in 7th
60 Current Positions: (1) O.Panis->4.900s->(2) D.Coulthard
(3) J.Herbert (4) J.Villeneuve
(5) M.Salo (6) M.Hakkinen
60 Alesi back into pits and retires
61 Current Positions: (1) O.Panis->3.618s->(2) D.Coulthard
(3) J.Herbert (4) J.Villeneuve
(5) M.Salo (6) M.Hakkinen
62 Current Positions: (1) O.Panis->3.146s->(2) D.Coulthard
(3) J.Herbert (4) J.Villeneuve
(5) M.Hakkinen (6) M.Salo
63 Current Positions: (1) O.Panis->2.562s->(2) D.Coulthard
(3) J.Herbert (4) J.Villeneuve
(5) M.Hakkinen (6) M.Salo
64 Current Positions: (1) O.Panis->1.546s->(2) D.Coulthard
(3) J.Herbert (4) J.Villeneuve
(5) M.Hakkinen (6) M.Salo
66 Current Positions: (1) O.Panis->3.437s->(2) D.Coulthard
(3) J.Herbert (4) J.Villeneuve
(5) M.Hakkinen (6) M.Salo
66 Villeneuve run into the wall by Badoer as he tries to overtake
the slower car after Mirabeau - both out
67 Current Positions: (1) O.Panis->3.437s->(2) D.Coulthard
(3) J.Herbert (4) M.Salo
(5) M.Hakkinen (6) H.Frentzen
68 8 cars left
68 8 minutes left (due to 2 hour race time limit)
68 Current Positions: (1) O.Panis (2) D.Coulthard
(3) J.Herbert (4) M.Salo
(5) M.Hakkinen (6) H.Frentzen
69 Pits: Irvine - tyres
70 ITS RAINING
70 Current Positions: (1) O.Panis->3.315s->(2) D.Coulthard
(3) J.Herbert (4) M.Salo
(5) M.Hakkinen (6) H.Frentzen
70 Irvine spins just before tunnel - both Salo and Hakkinen
crash into him - all three out - only 4 cars left!!
72 Current Positions: (1) O.Panis->1.600s->(2) D.Coulthard
(3) J.Herbert (4) H.Frentzen
72 Panis slides on corner as Coulthard pressures
72 2 mins left
73 Current Positions: (1) O.Panis->2.348s->(2) D.Coulthard
(3) J.Herbert (4) H.Frentzen
74 LAST LAP
74 Current Positions: (1) O.Panis->4.300s->(2) D.Coulthard
(3) J.Herbert (4) H.Frentzen
75 Panis Wins for Ligier
In a nutshell:
- Many cars lost on first lap (inc Schumacher) due to wet track
- Hill makes the race his own but disaster strikes as his engine blows
- Looks like a win for Alesi until he also retires with mechanical problems
- Panis runs a consistant race and fends off the challenge from Coulthard to win
- Unfortunate events by Badoer and Irvine reduce the field to 4 cars at the end
- Race does not complete 78 laps due to 2 hour time limit