[8][9] Because the Monza Circuit saw high average lap times, every team installed low incidence ailerons and the wings observed at the German Grand Prix.

[16] Following the Belgian Grand Prix on 27 August, the teams conducted a four-day testing session at Monza and concentrated on optimising their car set-ups for low downforce.

Benetton driver Giancarlo Fisichella crashed at high speed into the Ascari chicane, bringing a brief halt to testing.

[22] He visited Rome for a medical examination and was diagnosed with an inflamed tendon in his right ankle; he was cleared to race after five days of recuperation.

[30] Barrichello was again fastest despite not improving his time from the first session;[27][31] Michael Schumacher, Trulli, Häkkinen, Coulthard, Jaguar's Eddie Irvine, De La Rosa, Diniz, Verstappen and Sauber's Mika Salo completed the top ten drivers.

Coulthard spun off under braking into the second Lesmo right-hand curve and beached his car in the gravel, breaking the McLaren's left-rear suspension arm and ending his running early.

[34] The Williams drivers were in the top five, with Jenson Button second after a late-session lap and Ralf Schumacher fifth, separated by Coulthard and Barrichello in third and fourth.

[36] Ralf Schumacher lapped faster to maintain fifth place, ahead of teammate Jenson Button, who was unable to reproduce his third session performance.

[38] Fisichella, Zonta, Villeneuve and Irvine (who suffered a rear suspension failure but regained control of his car) rounded out the top ten.

Mazzacane's engine ran out of air pressure and caused him to stop on the track again, while Wurz did not record any laps owing to a fuel pick-up issue.

[39] Michael Schumacher used his teammate's wing setup and undertray on his car to achieve his sixth pole position of the season and 29th of his career, with a time of 1:23.770.

Michael Schumacher was joined on the front row by Barrichello, whose lap time was 0.027 seconds slower with ten minutes left and was happy to start alongside his teammate.

[42][43] Häkkinen qualified third following handling difficulties and his McLaren misfiring due to a fuel pressure fault, distracting him during his final two timed laps.

[6][44] Villeneuve recorded BAR's best qualifying result at the time, taking fourth on his final fast lap with 12 minutes remaining,[6][43] nearly half a second behind Michael Schumacher.

[43][44] His teammate Verstappen qualified eleventh after having to drive two of his team's cars when they had hydraulic and engine problems, causing him to stop in the gravel at Ascari corner.

[33] Salo, 15th, was the Sauber team's fastest driver,[42] ahead of his teammate Diniz whose car handled badly under braking for the Rettifilo and della Roggia chicanes.

[43] The pair were marginally faster than Zonta, who had gear selection issues in his race car and had to stop on the track before switching to his team's spare vehicle configured for Villeneuve.

[9][41] The drivers took to the track in dry weather at 09:30 Central European Summer Time (UTC +1) for a 30-minute warm-up session following a spell of mist that fell on the circuit.

[50] Coulthard spun out of control of his McLaren at the exit of the second chicane owing to a rear suspension problem, although he was able to rejoin to the track.

[60] Herbert retired in the pit lane with a missing wheel, and Zonta was hit by De La Rosa, causing a front puncture.

[54][57] Gislimberti suffered head and chest injuries and was given a heart massage before being treated by doctors Sid Watkins and Gary Hartstein.

[58] After the safety car period ended on lap 11, Michael Schumacher bunched the field on the back straight between the Ascari chicane and Parabolica turn to prepare for the return to racing speeds.

[6][46][59] In order to avoid colliding with Villeneuve, Button veered left onto the grass, hitting the guardrail barriers and damaging a wheel.

[12][59] Heidfeld spun, stalled on track at the Variante della Roggia chicane and retired after his engine failed on the same lap.

[57][66] Michael Schumacher was able to maintain his lead and took his sixth victory of 2000 and the 41st of his career to go level with Ayrton Senna in a time of 1'27:31.368, at an average speed of 210.286 km/h (130.666 mph).

"[70] Häkkinen revealed that his team's adjustments to his car during his pit stop helped him set the race's fastest lap.

[72] Verstappen said he was pleased to finish fourth and commented on his pace: "I was pushing the whole race because I knew that I had to make up time from the bad start.

[78] Mosley believed that no driver was to blame for the accident but emphasised to competitors that it was their responsibility to be attentive when bunched up at a race start.

[88] Following Gislimberti's death, the strength of the wheel tethers was doubled to prevent flying tyres from endangering drivers, safety officials, and fans.

Barrichello's retirement at the race ended his chances of becoming World Champion and Ralf Schumacher's third-place finish kept him in fifth place with 24 points.