Summary

Spectators saw a no battle Grand Prix at Silverstone (England) today. Villeneuve was unthreatened from his excellent start until the win 61 laps later. Berger drove to the second step on the podium, while Hakkinen put on a good show for McLaren with his third place.

Notes

• The TWR F1 team is using the old Hart V8 engine.
• Schumacher retires on lap 3 with a gearbox stuck in sixth.
• The Ferrari of Irvine is up next with an engine problem on lap 5.
• Diniz spins but can continue only to retire on lap 38 with a blown engine.
• Katayama retires on lap 12.
• Rosset's TWR breaks down on lap 13.
• Lamy goes out on lap 21.
• Hill spins of with a front wheel barring failure on lap 26.
• Panis retires on lap 40.
• Alesi lets Berger take second place because he had to come into the pits with a brake problem on lap 44.

1. Villeneuve 1:33.00.874
2. Berger + 19.026
3. Hakkinen + 50.830
4. Barrichello + 1:06.716
5. Coulthard + 1:22.507
6. Brundle 1 lap

• Fastest Lap: Villeneuve 1:29.288

Villeneuve: "I really wanted to put one over Damon after being second most of the time this season. I'm really very happy. I had a very good start and I could see Damon was in trouble at the start. Once I knew I was ahead I pushed very hard and just kept going."

Hill: "On the was back to the pits people were saying 'well done' and 'hard luck'. They are still very supportive and I'm very grateful for that. I still thought I was in with a shout even after making a bad start. (...) It's going to be a very tough battle and I'll just have to get my head down for the next Grand Prix in Germany.

"It's a real shame. I felt there was something wrong with the car four or five laps beforehand. I really, really wanted to win here but it wasn't to be and that's the hard truth about motor racing. Nothing is 100% reliable, you can't predict what's going to happen."

Schumacher: " Something silly happened, an oil-ring came loose and I lost all my hydraulic power. I couldn't use my throttle or change gear so I was forced to come round back to the pits in sixth. (...) It's a very small thing but those can stop you and it's very similar to the incident that ended my race when I was leading in Monte Carlo in 1993."

A quick look at the standings

1. Hill 63
2. Villeneuve 48
3. Schumacher 26
4. Alesi 25
5. Coulthard 16
6. Hakkinen 16
7. Berger 16
8. Panis 11
9. Barrichello 10
10. Irvine 9
11. Frentzen 6
12. Salo 5
13. Herbert 4
14. Brundle 3
15. Diniz 1
16. Verstappen 1

Constructors championship

1. Williams-Renault 111
2. Benetton-Renault 41
3. Ferrari 35
4. McLaren-Mercedes 32
5. Jordan-Peugeot 13
6. Ligier-Mugen-Honda 12
7. Sauber-Ford 10
8. Tyrrell-Yamaha 5
9. TWR 1

The Benetton have protested against the win by Villeneuve today at the Silverstone track. Benetton have asked the stewards to investigate the legality of the winners car front wing and plates. The team says that they are not symmetrical as they should be.

Berger, who was runner-up, could then have be declared the winner. The FIA have rejected the protest, so the Villeneuve victory still stands.