Ferrari whitewash with Schumacher victorious

To put the icing on the cake, Eddie Irvine drove a fantastic race to give Ferrari a perfect 1-2 finish. McLaren suffered one engine failure (David Coulthard) and some suspension troubles (Mika Hakkinen) although the Finn did finish third. The race went as follows.

In the heat of the Monaco sun it was the Ferraris of Schumacher and Irvine got the jump on the McLarens giving Ferrari the perfect start. Schumacher proceed to pull out a three second lead in as many laps. The first casualty was Damon Hill who came out of the tunnel and braked too late into the chicane hitting Ralf Schumacher at the same time. The German recovered albeit in last place, Hill didn't.

By lap eight the gap between Schuey and Hakkinen was up to five and a half seconds, Irvine was 3.7 seconds behind the Finn. Luca Badoer was the first of the non contact retirements going out on lap 14.
Michael Schumacher continued to extend his lead, by lap 15 he was eight seconds clear of Hakkinen. The Ferrari's were both considerably quicker than the McLarens, prompting rumours that Hakkinen and Coulthard were running with larger fuel tanks in an effort to go race distance without a stop.

By lap 22, Eddie Irvine was closing on Hakkinen with the gap down to just three seconds. Jarno Trulli pitted from ninth on lap twenty three losing one place to Villeneuve. Marc Gene had an unscheduled meeting with the Armco on lap twenty four, the Spaniard was unable to continue.

Lap 33 and as de la Rosa moved aside for Mika Hakkinen which allowed Eddie Irvine to close right up and challenge for second place. Jacques Villeneuve's BAR gave up once again on lap 34, and the Canadian's frustration was clear as he stormed into the pits. Johnny Herberts suspension failed on lap lap 34, the Englishman did exceptionally well to control the car as it slewed down the hill at Portier. Mika Salo followed team-mate Villeneuve out of the race, it appeared his brakes failed coming into the hairpin and he went into the barrier.

David Coulthard had had plumes of smoke coming from his exhaust every time he went round Lowes hairpin, and the gearbox problem caught up with him on lap 38. It was his third retirement in four races. On the same lap Eddie Irvine was still on Hakkinen's tail and unable to pass. Ferrari pulled him into the pits and one quick stop later he was out again having retained third place. The next bit of action sealed Hakkinen's fate. He hit oil at Mirabeau and lost nearly thirty seconds while he reversed out of the escape road. The mistake cost him an almost certain second place.

Schumacher meanwhile pitted on lap 42, his massive lead easily allowing him to come out again in front. Olivier Panis retired on the same lap crashing at San Devote. Hakkinen eventually pitted on lap 51, but by that time it was too late and although he put in some quick laps towards the end, there was no way he could even get close to Irvine, let alone Schumacher.

At around lap 54, race leader Michael Schumacher started to lose two seconds a lap. It was thought that he wasn't able to select all the gears but it later became apparent he was just dropping the pace down as he had no pressure behind. Irvine pits again on lap 56 but because of Hakkinen's previous mistake he was able to rejoin in second again.

With the race order Schumacher, Irvine, Hakkinen, Frentzen, Barrichello it was looking good for Stewart once again. However, just six laps from the end the Brazilian lost it at the swimming pool and with it another two points.

From there on it was a clear run to the end and the Ferrari 1-2 was greeted with rapturous cheers. Mika Hakkinen took a conciliatory four points, meaning Schumacher now leads him by twelve in the drivers championship.