Ricardo Zonta did not qualify for the race, after he had injured his left foot in a big crash during Saturday's practice.

[2] The race marked the debut for Stéphane Sarrazin, who drove the Minardi for an injured Luca Badoer.

[3] As Luca Badoer returned for the following race, and he was still the test driver for Prost, it was Stéphane Sarrazin's only entry in Formula One.

[2] McLaren at this point had been reeling from a double-DNF at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, and Coulthard's failure raised eyebrows at the team.

Stéphane Sarrazin, in his only F1 entry,[3] had a massive crash on the pit straight on lap 31 after suffering a wing failure, with him spinning more than six times.

[2] Eddie Irvine came in for an unscheduled pit stop on lap 55 to clear the radiators of his overheating Ferrari, dropping him back to fifth.