The race began behind the safety car due to overnight rainfall making the track wet and reducing visibility.

By the 34th lap Schumacher's tyres began to degrade; he drove off the racing line to cool them, which allowed Häkkinen to close the gap.

The 2000 Belgian Grand Prix was the 13th of 17 races in the 2000 Formula One World Championship and took place at the 6.968 km (4.330 mi) Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Francorchamps, Wallonia, Belgium on 27 August 2000.

[13] The dispute was resolved when the Belgian government exempted the race from the advertising law, and it was reinstated at the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris on 6 October.

[15] Ferrari arrived at the circuit with a lighter, more-powerful version of its Tipo 049 V10 engine for Saturday's qualifying session, returning to the development power plant used at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The two Benetton drivers were seventh and eighth (with Wurz ahead of Fisichella), and the Williams cars of Ralf Schumacher and Button completed the top ten.

[19] Button almost hit the tyre wall at La Source and avoided losing control of the rear of his car under braking for the Bus Stop chicane.

[7] In the second practice session, due to a slow rear puncture Coulthard's first-session lap was still the fastest; Häkkinen had the second-fastest time.

[23] Häkkinen set the fastest lap of the third session at 1 minute, 51.043 seconds, quicker than his best on Friday and ahead of Frentzen, Trulli and Ralf Schumacher.

[26][27] Häkkinen was unhindered by slower traffic,[28] clinched his fifth pole position of the season and the 26th of his career with a time of 1 minute, 50.646 seconds;[29][30] although he was optimistic about his race prospects, he was concerned about the start.

[31] Häkkinen was joined on the grid's front row by Trulli, who equalled his best qualifying performance of the season (at the Monaco Grand Prix).

[23] Coulthard, who had problems with grip, believed that he could have lapped faster due to slower cars impeding his final two runs and a requirement to slow for the Bus Stop chicane following an incident.

[35] Ralf Schumacher secured sixth position after being caught in traffic during his final run, keeping the Williams driver from a quicker lap time.

[29] Alesi qualified 17th, despite spinning at the Bus Stop chicane and triggering a yellow flag,[23] preventing several drivers from lapping quicker.

[7][23][27] Verstappen, after a braking error at La Source, and the two Minardi drivers of Gené and Mazzacane qualified at the back of the grid, in positions 20 to 22.

[28] Heavy rain fell early in the morning from 5:00 am and it increased incrementally before stopping;[40] a rising mist formed low on the track by dawn.

[41] After spinning sideways because his left-rear wheel touched a damp white line, Fisichella struck the tyre barrier at Stavelot corner with enough force to launch him into the air.

[7][16][40] He landed upside-down on the vehicle's roll-hoop;[42][43] the session was suspended for approximately 20 minutes while marshals cleared the track of debris and repaired the wall.

[5][33] During the safety car period, Diniz spun off; he was passed by Pedro de la Rosa,[42] who received a ten-second stop-go penalty which he served on lap 13.

De la Rosa lost 16th position on lap three after running wide at turn 18, losing two places to Alesi and Verstappen.

[51] Attention switched to Button,[7] who tried to pass Trulli, who he felt was baulking him and noticed Michael Schumacher approaching him,[33] On the fourth lap Button slipstreamed Trulli on the approach to the Bus Stop chicane,[52] but he ran wide and left the inside open for Michael Schumacher to take third position.

[40] Button lost two positions to Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher into the Eau Rouge corner and he spent the next three laps inspecting his car for damage.

[5] Heidfeld was the race's third retirement when his car developed an engine failure caused by a broken gearbox that affected the common oil circuit.

During the next two laps Salo passed Irvine for twelfth, whilst Barrichello made a pit stop from sixth position and came out in eleventh.

[42] Barrichello and Alesi (who had a similar problem caused by a fractured fuel system) retired, and Button inherited fourth place.

[51] During that lap Michael Schumacher's soft compound tyres began to degrade on the drying track,[16] and he ran off the racing line to cool them by driving through water;[30][42] Häkkinen gradually closed the gap,[51] due to his McLaren having a straightline speed advantage on the straights.

[5][16] Häkkinen kept the lead for the rest of the race,[51] crossing the finish line on lap 44 for his fourth victory of the season and his 18th in Formula One in a time of 1'28:14.494—an average speed of 208.467 km/h (129.535 mph).

[62] Coulthard was disappointed with his fourth-place finish, and thought his team's decision to call him into the pit lane after his competitors put him at a disadvantage; however, he remained confident about his championship chances.

Coulthard agreed with the FIA's decision, saying: "I know there will be a debate over it but the fact is I was asked beforehand and I said that, based on the previous years we've had here, the safest thing is to have a safety-car start.

[68] Journalist Nigel Roebuck said that the length of time under safety-car conditions was inadequate, and raised the possibility of abandoning standing starts.