Jordan's Jarno Trulli happily accepted promotion to a season-best fourth place as a result of Mika Hakkinen's misfortune. The Italian's result now puts the Irish team into a commanding fourth place in the constructors' championship, four points ahead of Sauber and six clear of Honda rivals BAR.
Trulli's race had appeared to be fading into another missed opportunity as the Jordan number two was robbed of fourth place by a pit stop error that saw him stationary nigh on nine seconds while the fuel crew struggled with a jammed rig. That hitch allowed both Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya and BAR's Jacques Villeneuve to sweep past.
But in the end, the Italian got a dose of the luck that has been so absent from his time at Jordan. As he came into the pits Ralf Schumacher spun off ahead handing him fifth despite the pit error and then finally Mika Hakkinen dropped away, handing Trulli three points and a third points finish in a row.
"I lost my position during the stop which was frustrating, and in the latter part of the race I struggled because the brakes were inconsistent, Coulthard was catching me at the end, so I had to push very hard to keep him at bay and try to close on Villeneuve," Trulli said.
Team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen collided with Pedro De la Rosa while trailing in 17th place and trying to overtake after having a terrible start.
Eddie Irvine's R2 let him down once again, its Cosworth engine giving up on lap 49 when running eighth.
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