The biggest surprise in qualifying on the Saturday was Giancarlo Fisichella. He managed to put his car up into third place, behind only the two McLaren-Mercedes. At one stage Fisichella was the fastest driver. Michael Schumacher, who was fighting for the world championship, qualified fourth which was a big disappointment for the thousands of Italian fans who travelled to Monaco for the race.
Race summary
A perfect start from both McLarens saw them lead through the first corner, with Häkkinen ahead of Coulthard. Fisichella and Schumacher were running third and fourth. In the early stages the two McLarens pulled ahead, netting 12 fastest laps between them from laps 4 to 12. The pack stretched out behind them, while Heinz-Harald Frentzen succumbed to pressure from Eddie Irvine. Tuero ran wide in his Minardi and hit the armco barrier at turn 3 ending his race. As Irvine tangled with Frentzen at the Grand Hotel Hairpin on lap 10 as Frentzen retired, but luckily for Irvine the Ferrari was undamaged to eventually claim third. Rubens Barrichello was forced to retire in the pits by lap 11 due to a suspension failure. On lap 18 Coulthard retired with engine problems. The engine problems were diagnosed, post race, as a serious error in manufacture. Whilst the gudgeon pins used in David's engine had been turned they had not been polished to their expected usual final state. The resulting micro-scratches on the unfinished pins lead to the engine giving up under the stress. Michael Schumacher was first to pit for fuel on lap 30. Fisichella pitted the following lap, coming out of the pits behind the Ferrari. Soon Michael came up behind Fisichella's teammate, Alexander Wurz, and tried to get past. At the Loews hairpin, Michael went down the inside but Wurz did not give way. The two cars touched and the Ferrari was damaged. Michael went in to pit for repairs, eventually coming out three laps down on the leader Häkkinen. Wurz appeared unaffected by the contact, but his suspension broke due to damage from the collision and he had a huge accident coming out of the tunnel, finally stopping at the Nouvelle Chicane. After Wurz's second accident on lap 42, the order was Häkkinen, Fisichella, Irvine, Jean Alesi, and Mika Salo. Ralf Schumacher also retired just 3 laps after Wurz with a suspension failure. As Panis retired his Prost with wheel problems by lap 49, as Trulli in the other Prost retired with the result of a gearbox failure by lap 57. However, Alesi experienced gearbox problems five laps from the end and was forced to retire, promoting Pedro Diniz to sixth. Michael Schumacher attempted to pass Diniz in the chicane, but they made contact. This second accident broke his front wing, and Michael finally ended up two laps down in tenth place, out of the points.
