The all made it back around, and they lined up, Hill angling his car right towards Villeneuve. As the lights went out, both Williams' rocketed away, Hill ahead, and Villeneuve found the door shut firmly in his face at the first corner, from Alesi and Irvine. Hill put the hammer down and was quickly pulling wawy, opening up a gap of 2.052s on the first lap, while the scrapping hordes followed, surprisingly contact free.

Lap 2, and Schumacher was up to 17th, having easily disposed of Fisichella, while Hill was out ahead putting in fastest laps. Not so lucky was Eddie Irvine, who pulled over to the side of the circuit with a broken right front push rod. He made it back to the pits, but it was the end of the race for him.

Lap 3, and another fastest lap from Hill, and Schumacher was up to 15th, his progress forwards slowing down. He seemed to be running much more wing than the other cars, and although he might be faster over an entire lap, getting past on the long straights was a completely different matter. Lap after lap he circulated behind the Tyrrell of Salo in fourteenth place, and it was lap 24 before he moved up two places, and only then because Frentzen and Barrichello were out. He even struggled to pass Diniz.

But back to the earlier laps. Both Jordans were going well, Brundle all over the back of Berger, who was all over Hakkinen, while Barrichello was fighting hard with Frentzen. Going into the hairpin though, and Barrichello tried to get alongside Frentzen on the outside. Frentzen didn't see him, and moved over to take the line into the corner. Light contact was made, and Barrichello ran wide. No damage was done to anything except for the time gap and pride.

Lap 6, and Brundle made it past Hakkinen, drafting down the straight and outbraking the McLaren into the chicane, the Jordan soon pulling away. One lap later and the McLaren's mirrors were filled again with gold, the Jordan of Barrichello this time. He held the Jordan off for longer this time, keeping it there until lap 11 when Barrichello repeated Brundle's earlier manouevre. By now Barrichello was five seconds back from Brundle, this time being the time lost behind the McLaren. Out by now were Katayama and Rosset, Katayama diving down the inside of Rosset into the final chicane, fish-tailing under braking. Rosset turned in to find an out of control Katayama, the Tyrrell going over the right front wheel of Rosset, shedding its left rear in the process. Both speared off into the gravel.

It was getting a bit calmer, and by lap 17 Hill was 6.751s ahead of Villeneuve, the gap having stabilised slightly. Berger though was having a revival, and was closing down Alesi, sneaking his nose inside at the hairpin on lap 21. He had to be watchful though, as the Jordan of Brundle was rapidly bearing down on him.

Lap 22, and the first of the major pits stops, Barrichello coming in, stationary for 11.0s, He had problems getting away though, and he was in again and back out on lap 23. Lap 24 and he was out permanently, the clutch having broken. Also on lap 22, Frentzen span, but got going again only to shortly disappear from the circuit. Montermini also span, this time at the final chicane and in front of Villeneuve. Villeneuve was only briefly delayed, but enough for the gap between himself and Hill to grow to 9.7s. Montermini got going, but the car died two laps later on the start/finish straight. What was amusing though was the sight of Diniz catching and hassling the Ferrari of Schumacher. Diniz challenging the World Champion? He'd better savour the moment while it lasted.

Lap 35, and Berger came into the pits, taking 11.9s, with Herbert in two laps later, taking 11.2s. The two McLarens were by now fourth and fifth and almost tied together, Hakkinen in front of Coulthard. It all changed at the hairpin on lap 37. Coming up to lap the Minardi of Lamy, Hakkinen pulled out and completely lost his braking, running wide and spinning through 180 degrees. Through dived Coulthard and a bemused Lamy. Hakkinen got going again, but he would never be as close to Coulthard again in the race.

Schumacher was getting frustrated, and it showed, as on lap 39 he tried to squeeze Panis out as the Ligier dived down the inside at the chicane. The Ligier held on, and passed, only to break down three laps later. It made you wonder why the Ferrari team hadn't pulled Schumacher in earlier to get him out of the traffic. Lap 42, and in he came, along with Coulthard, but disaster struck as the Ferrari pulled away. As the car engaged gear, it gave a lot of wheel spin before finally moving, only to throw a hub bearing and driveshaft out the back about ten metres down the pit lane. The Ferrari made it back around the lap and into the pits, courtesy of its limited slip differential. Schumacher got out of the car, and went and retrieved the pieces, handing them to the embarrassed mechanics. "I think they belong to you," said Schumacher, before retiring to somewhere quieter.

Lap 44, and it was the end of Berger, the Benetton spinning out slightly further along the corner where it ended its qualifying session. The luck just wasn't with him this season. By this time Hill was some 24s ahead of Villeneuve, the Williams pit-stops having gone flawlessly, although Villeneuve's stop was longer than Hill's due to the latters one stop strategy to the formers two. Lap 46, and Brundle pitted again, taking 11.3s. He accelerated out of the pits to see Lamy ahead, and looked to dive down the inside at the first corner. He started from too far back though, and as Lamy took his line through the corner, contact was made, the Minardi spinning and stalling in the middle of the track, the Jordan continuing with a bent nose. Brundle would have to pit again, and gone was any chance he had of a podium position.

By now there were only eight cars left in the race, and apart from Brundle overtaking Herbert at the chicane on lap 52 to go sixth, it was a steady run to the flag. The gao between Hill and Villeneuve was a fairly constant eight seconds, although both were circulating close to fastest lap pace, Villeneuve indeed setting a new fastest lap on lap 67. Alesi was some 22 seconds back from Villeneuve, and Coulthard a further 20 seconds back. Reliability known (and had proven today to be) a problem, they all (except for Villeneuve) eased off slightly, and it was a relieved and delighted Damon Hill who took the chequered flag at the end of lap 69.

Results
Pos No.Driver		Team		Time
 1  5 D Hill		Williams	1:36:03.465, 190.541kph
 2  6 J Villeneuve	Williams	+     4.183
 3  3 J Alesi		Benetton	+    54.656
 4  8 D Coulthard	McLaren		+  1:03.673
 5  7 M Hakkinen	McLaren		- 1 lap
 6 12 M Brundle		Jordan		- 1 lap
 7 14 J Herbert		Sauber		- 1 lap
 8 21 G Fisichella	Minardi		- 2 laps

Not Classified
   20 P Lamy		Minardi		-25 laps
   22 L Badoer		Forti		-25 laps
    4 G Berger		Benetton	-27 laps
    1 M Schumacher	Ferrari		-28 laps
    9 O Panis		Ligier		-30 laps
   19 M Salo		Tyrrell		-30 laps
   10 P Diniz		Ligier		-31 laps
   11 R Barrichello	Jordan		-47 laps
   23 A Montermini	Forti		-47 laps
   15 H Frentzen	Sauber		-50 laps
   16 J Verstappen	Arrows		-59 laps
   17 R Rosset		Arrows		-63 laps
   18 U Katayama	Tyrrell		-63 laps
    2 E Irvine		Ferrari		-68 laps


Drivers Championship

 1 Hill		53 pts
 2 Villeneuve	32
 3 Schumacher	26
 4 Alesi	21
 5 Coulthard	13
 6 Panis	11
 7 Hakkinen	10
 8 Irvine	 9
 9 Berger	 7
10 Barrichello	 7
11 Frentzen	 6
12 Salo		 5
13 Herbert	 4
14 Brundle	 2
15 Verstappen	 1
16 Diniz	 1



Constructors Championship

1 Williams	85 pts
2 Ferrari	35
3 Benetton	28
4 McLaren	23
5 Ligier	12
6 Sauber	10
7 Jordan	 9
8 Tyrrell	 5
9 Arrows	 1




Fastest Lap Changes:

 2 Hill		1:24.697
 3 Hill		1:24.201
 5 Hill		1:23.748
11 Hill		1:23.255
13 Hill		1:22.948
14 Hill		1:22.903
16 Villeneuve	1:22.857
18 Hill		1:22.775
26 Hill		1:22.396
31 Villeneuve	1:22.353, Hill 1:22.266
32 Hill		1:22.224
35 Hill		1:22.110
36 Hill		1:21.957
67 Villeneuve	1:21.916




Top 6 Lap Chart

Lap/Pos	1	2	3	4	5	6
 0	5	6	-*	3	2	7
 1	5	6	3	2	7	4
 2	5	6	3	7	4	12
 3	5	6	3	7	4	12
 4	5	6	3	7	4	12
 5	5	6	3	4	7	12
 6	5	6	3	4	12	7
 7	5	6	3	4	12	7
 8	5	6	3	4	12	7
 9	5	6	3	4	12	7
10	5	6	3	4	12	7
11	5	6	3	4	12	7
12	5	6	3	4	12	7
13	5	6	3	4	12	7
14	5	6	3	4	12	7
15	5	6	3	4	12	7
16	5	6	3	4	12	7
17	5	6	3	4	12	7
18	5	6	3	4	12	7
19	5	6	3	4	12	7
20	5	6	3	4	12	7
21	5	6	3	4	12	7
22	5	6	3	4	12	7
23	5	6	3	4	12	7
24	5	6	3	4	12	7
25	5	6	3	4	7	8
26	5	6	3	4	7	8
27	5	6	3	4	7	8
28	5	6	3	4	7	8
29	6	5	3	4	7	8
30	6	5	3	4	7	8
31	6	5	3	4	7	8
32	6	5	3	4	7	8
33	6	5	3	4	7	8
34	6	5	3	4	7	8
35	6	5	3	7	8	4
36	5	3	6	7	8	4
37	5	6	8	3	4	12
38	5	6	8	3	4	12
39	5	6	8	3	4	12
40	5	6	8	3	4	12
41	5	6	8	3	4	12
42	5	6	3	4	12	8
43	5	6	3	4	12	8
44	5	6	3	12	8	7
45	5	6	3	12	8	7
46	5	6	3	7	12	8
47	5	6	3	7	8	14
48	5	6	3	7	8	14
49	5	6	3	7	8	14
50	5	6	3	7	8	14
51	5	6	3	7	8	12
52	5	6	3	7	8	12
53	5	6	3	7	8	12
54	5	6	3	7	8	12
55	5	6	3	7	8	12
56	5	6	3	7	8	12
57	5	6	3	7	8	12
58	5	6	3	7	8	12
59	5	6	3	7	8	12
60	5	6	3	7	8	12
61	5	6	3	7	8	12
62	5	6	3	7	8	12
63	5	6	3	7	8	12
64	5	6	3	7	8	12
65	5	6	3	7	8	12
66	5	6	3	7	8	12
67	5	6	3	7	8	12
68	5	6	3	7	8	12
69	5	6	3	7

* Schumacher started from back, no-one at this grid position