[1] Teammate Damon Hill was alongside him on the front row of the grid, despite his time being 0.8 seconds slower, with Michael Schumacher third in the Benetton.

The Simteks impressed with Jos Verstappen taking 14th, ahead of Mark Blundell in the second McLaren and both Ligiers, and Domenico Schiattarella 20th.

In dry conditions and with President Menem in attendance,[7] Coulthard led away while, behind him, Alesi spun on the inside of the first corner.

Salo, braking to avoid Alesi, was hit from behind by Luca Badoer's Minardi, causing him to run into the side of the second Benetton of Johnny Herbert.

Coulthard again led away, while behind him there were more collisions: Häkkinen trod on Irvine's front wing on the run down to the first corner and retired immediately, while Wendlinger tangled with both Pacifics, putting all three out.

Behind them, Verstappen moved up to sixth in his Simtek, before suffering a long pit stop followed by a gearbox failure on lap 24.

Hill retained the lead for the rest of the race, though Alesi closed the gap to 6.4 seconds by the chequered flag.

Berger's point kept him in the lead of the Drivers' Championship, pending the appeals to Schumacher and Coulthard's disqualifications from the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Four days after the race, the FIA International Court of Appeal overturned the disqualifications from Brazil, meaning that Schumacher led the Drivers' Championship by four points from Hill with Berger dropping to fifth.