Jean Alesi made a sensational start from 6th to lead Damon Hill into the first corner. Hill later retook the lead on the first lap when Alesi ran wide between the two Lesmos.
To stop cars kerb hopping at chicanes, tyre barriers were erected at each chicane which caused the retirements of Damon Hill, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Olivier Panis, Ricardo Rossett and Eddie Irvine, all of whom crashed instantly with broken suspension after running into the tyres.
Michael Schumacher also hit a tyre stack in the closing stages but managed to continue without damage to his car and win the race.
Jean Alesi struck a tyre wall on the opening lap. His own car was undamaged, but his error caused a tyre to fall on the track and break the nose cone of Mika Häkkinen's McLaren, the latter recovering to third place at the end of the race.
Jacques Villeneuve also sent a tyre spinning into David Coulthard's car on the opening lap in an error similar to Alesi's, bending the Canadian's suspension, and forcing the Scot out of the race altogether with a broken pushrod. Villeneuve's bent suspension slowed his car down and restricted him to a seventh-placed finish.
