Race Result:  Michael Schumacher wins the race ahead of David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello. Hakkinen, Villeneuve and Irvine make the top 6.

Lap 55: Top 10 - Michael Schumacher leads Coulthard by 0.6 seconds. Barrichello, Hakkinen, Villeneuve, Irvine, Wurz, Verstappen, Salo and Fisichella make the top 10.

Lap 54: Coulthard closes the gap to Michael Schumacher back to 0.7 seconds.

Lap 53: Gaston Mazzacane retires.

Lap 52: Top 10 - Michael Schumacher leads Coulthard by 0.9 seconds. Barrichello, Hakkinen, Villeneuve, Irvine, Wurz, Verstappen, Salo and Fisichella make the top 10.

Lap 51: Both Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard lap Fisichella.

Lap 50: Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard close on Fisichella. Herbert appears to have hurt his leg as a result of his crash.

Lap 49: Johnny Herbert spins and crashes heavily into the tyre barrier. It appears as a rear suspension failure.

Lap 48: Top 10 - Michael Schumacher leads Coulthard by 0.7 seconds. Barrichello, Hakkinen, Villeneuve, Irvine, Wurz, Verstappen, Salo and Herbert make the top 10.

Lap 46: Ricardo Zonta retires with a blown engine. Michael Schumacher leads Coulthard by 0.9 seconds.

Lap 45: Coulthard is under a second behind Michael. Barrichello is over 11 seconds behind Coulthard.

Lap 44: Top 10 - Michael Schumacher leads Coulthard by 1.1 seconds. Barrichello, Hakkinen, Villeneuve, Irvine, Wurz, Verstappen, Zonta and Salo make the top 10. Ralf Schumacher retires in the pits.

Lap 43: Coulthard closes the gap to Michael Schumacher. 

Lap 42: Top 10 - Michael Schumacher leads Coulthard by 1.7 seconds. Barrichello, Hakkinen, Villeneuve, Irvine, Wurz, Verstappen, Zonta and Salo make the top 10. 

Lap 41: Rubens Barrichello pits from 1st giving Michael the lead. Rubens had a problem getting off the mark.

Lap 39: Michael Schumacher pits from 1st and rejoins in 2nd behind Barrichello who has yet to stop.. 

Lap 38: David Coulthard pits and rejoins and so does Jacques Villeneuve. 

Lap 37: Marc Gene retires on the start-finish straight. Zonta pits from 7th. 

Lap 36: Top 6 - Michael Schumacher leads Coulthard by 1.9 seconds. Barrichello, Villeneuve, Irvine and Hakkinen. 

Lap 35: Mika Hakkinen goes into the pits and rejoins in 8th. Wurz pits for his second pit stop.

Lap 34: Top 10 - Michael Schumacher leads Coulthard by 2.3 seconds. Barrichello, Hakkinen, Villeneuve, Wurz, Irvine,  Zonta, Salo and Verstappen make the top 10. 

Lap 33: Both Michael Schumacher and Daivd Coulthard are passing backmarkers. Hakkinen sets the fastest lap of the race. Hakkinen still has to stop. Fisichella pits. 

Lap 32: Top 10 - Michael Schumacher leads Coulthard by 3.4 seconds. Barrichello, Hakkinen, Villeneuve, Wurz, Irvine, Fisichella, Zonta and Salo make the top 10. 

Lap 31: Mika Hakkinen finally manages to get past Jacques Villeneuve. 

Lap 30: Mika Hakkinen is stuck behind Villeneuve unable to pass. 

Lap 30: Johnny Herbert pits from 4th but spends 19 seconds in the pits! 

Lap 29: Top 10 - Michael Schumacher leads Coulthard by 4.9 seconds. Barrichello, Herbert, Verstappen, Villeneuve, Hakkinen, Wurz and Irvine make the top 10. 

Lap 28: Hakkinen in 7th now trying to pass Villeneuve!

Lap 27: Villenveuve and Hakkinen pass Wurz

Lap 26: Top 10 - Michael Schumacher leads Coulthard and Barrichello. Herbert, Verstappen, Wurz, Villeneuve, Hakkinen and Irvine make the top 10. 

Lap 25: Rubens Barrichello pits and rejoins in 3rd behind Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard.

Lap 24: Michael Schumacher pits and rejoins in 2nd behind Barrichello. 

Lap 23: Michael Schumacher leads Barrichello by 8.7 seconds. Several drivers are in the pits. Coulthard is in the pits. 

Lap 22: Jacques Villeneuve pits and rejoins behind Wurz in 8th.

Lap 21: Top 10 - Michael Schumacher leads Barrichello and Villeneuve, Coulthard, Zonta, Herbert, Verstappen, Wurz, Irvine and Hakkinen make the top 10. 

Lap 20: Alexander Wurz pits from third. 

Lap 19: Jenson Button retires with a blown engine.

Lap 19: Coulthard appears to have went into the pits early due to debris causing his car to overheat. Irvine pits

Lap 18: Top 10 - Michael Schumacher leads Barrichello and Wurz. Villeneuve, Irvine, Coulthard, Zonta, Herbert, Verstappen and Button make the top 10. Hakkinen is in 12th.

Lap 17: David Coulthard makes his first pit stop and rejoins in 7th place!

Lap 16: Coulthard and Michael Schumacher lap the Minardi of Gaston Mazzacane already.

Lap 15: Top 10 - Coulthard leading Michael Schumacher by 5.4 seconds. Barrichello in 3rd ahead of Wurz and Villeneuve. Irvine, Zonta, Salo, Herbert, and Verstappen make the top 10. Hakkinen is in 14th.

Lap 15: Mika Hakkinen finally manages to pass Marc Gene to take 14th place. He was behind him for around 2 laps.

Lap 14: Top 10 - Coulthard leading Michael Schumacher by 5.4 seconds. Barrichello in 3rd ahead of Wurz and Villeneuve. Irvine, Zonta, Herbert, Salo and Button make the top 10. Hakkinen is in 15th.

Lap 13: Mika Hakkinen is now up in 15th place.

Lap 12: It appears that David Coulthard is on a 2 stop strategy while Michael Schumacher seems to be on a single stop strategy.

Lap 12: It appears that David Coulthard is on a 2 stop strategy while Michael Schumacher seems to be on a single stop strategy.

Lap 11: Top 10 - Coulthard leading Michael Schumacher by 5.6 seconds. Barrichello in 3rd ahead of Wurz and Villeneuve. Irvine, Zonta, Herbert, Salo and Button make the top 10. Hakkinen is in 17th.

Lap 11: Jarno Trulli goes into the pits. The second Jordan appears to also be in trouble.

Lap 10: Frentzen's retirement is due to a power steering problem.

Lap 9: Top 10 - Coulthard leading Michael Schumacher by 5.3 seconds. Barrichello in 3rd ahead of Wurz and Villeneuve. Irvine, Zonta, Herbert, Salo and Button make the top 10. Hakkinen is in 18th.

Lap 8: Heinz Harald Frentzen retires.

Lap 7: David Coulthard leads Michael Schumacher by 3.6 seconds

Lap 7: Heinz Harald Frentzen pits and rejoins last behind Hakkinen.

Lap 6: David Coulthard leads Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. Wurz, Villeneuve and Irivine make the top 6.

Lap 5: Hakkinen goes into the pits for the stop-go penalty and joining last. Retirements: Diniz, Heidfeld and de la Rosa.

Lap 4: David Coulthard leads Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. Hakkinen, Wurz and Villeneuve make the top 6. Hakkinen given a 10 second stop-go penalty for jumping the start.

Lap 3: Mika Hakkinen appears to be struggling with Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello passing him.

Lap 3: Mika Hakkinen lets Coulthard pass.

Lap 2: Safety car in, race starts again.

Lap 1: Hakkinen leads Coulthard ahead of Michael Schumacher. Barrichello, Wurz and Villeneuve.

Race Start: Both Mclaren's get ahead of Schumacher. Barrichello manages to stay in 4th with Wurz in 5th and Villeneuve in 6th. Several cars touch at the back and the safety car is out due to several wheel on the track. Pedro Diniz, Pedro de la Rosa and Nick Heidfeld are all out of the race.

Formation lap underway

It will be interesting to see how Wurz and Zonta will do in the race. Both have shown impressive lap times. 2 minutes till formation lap.

All the drivers have made it to the starting grid. Drivers are now getting into their cars. 5 minutes till the start of the formation lap.

Formation lap starting in 10 minutes. Cloudy weather conditions with a temperature of 33 degrees.