Qualifying
Michael Schumacher was able to grab pole position, his 7th consecutive pole, with a time of 1:13.780. He was followed by his brother Ralf Schumacher of Williams. The second row was filled by Mika Häkkinen and that year’s rookie’s Juan Pablo Montoya. The other rookie Fernando Alonso had qualified 19th ahead of his teammate Tarso Marques.
Race
The race began at 14:00 local time. However, just as the race started, it was brought to a halt due to Häkkinen’s McLaren stalling straight off the starting line, bringing out the safety car. M. Schumacher led the race until the safety car was brought in on Lap 3, which is where rookie Montoya took the lead. Rubens Barrichello collided with R. Schumacher’s Williams on the restart, causing an immediate retirement.
Before the drivers had raced a quarter of race distance, many retired: Enrique Bernoldi retiring on Lap 16 due to an issue with the hydraulics; Alonso’s Minardi dealt with electrical issues on Lap 26; and the engine of Luciano Burti Jagua gave in on Lap 31.
By Lap 39, Montoya had a lead of over 30 seconds on the current world champion. However, after a collision with Jos Verstappen. Both Verstappen and Montoya had to retire.
M. Schumacher had taken the lead back, however, a thunderstorm had approached. A new full round of pit stops had begun, with some drivers pitting for wets and others pitting for intermediates.
Over the next ten laps, four drivers had to retire. Eddie Irvine spun off on Lap 53, followed by Gastón Mazzacane facing clutch issues on Lap 55. R. Schumacher spun off on the same lap and Kimi Räikkönen did the same the lap after. The last retirement was Heinz-Harold Frentzen, who dealt with electrical issues going into Lap 64. M.Schumacher had dealt with understeer all race, which allowed for Coulthard to catch up with the world champion. And on Lap 50, with the help of a lapped car, Coulthard took the lead.
The chequered flag waved for Coulthard, who was followed by M.Schumacher and Nick Heidfield. Olivier Panis, Jarno Trulli and Giancarlos Fisichella were the last to take points.
Jacques Villeneuve, Jean Alesi, Tarso Marques and Jenson Button were the last to finish.
Written by Chloe.
Featured Image Credit: motorsport.com
The Fastest Sector 
