The race was Schumacher's second win of the season, his fourth at Monaco, and the result meant that he extended his lead in the Drivers' Championship, to eight points over Irvine and twelve over Häkkinen.

[1] The teams, also known as constructors, were McLaren, Ferrari, Williams, Jordan, Benetton, Sauber, Arrows, Stewart, Prost, Minardi and BAR.

Jordan driver Damon Hill was less than two-tenths of a second off Michael Schumacher's pace, with Barrichello, Alessandro Zanardi and Jean Alesi rounding out the top six.

[5] In the second practice session, Michael Schumacher was fastest with a time of 1:22.718, ahead of Häkkinen, Olivier Panis, Irvine, Giancarlo Fisichella and Coulthard.

During this session, the 107% rule was in effect, which necessitated each driver set a time within 107% of the quickest lap to qualify for the race.

[4] Both Ferrari drivers maintained their good pace from qualifying; Michael Schumacher set the fastest time, a 1:23.792.

[7] Both Ferraris gained a position at the start, with Michael Schumacher taking the lead from Mika Häkkinen, Eddie Irvine and David Coulthard.

Further bad luck befell McLaren a few laps later when Häkkinen went straight on at Mirabeau from oil left after Toranosuke Takagi's blown engine.