Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard dominated in practice and the opening stage of the race, but retired with technical problems – the new McLaren MP4/14 proved to be very fast but not yet reliable, a trait shared by a number of Adrian Newey designed cars.
Mika Häkkinen e David Coulthard dominaron na práctica e na fase inicial da carreira, pero retiráronse con problemas técnicos: o novo McLaren MP4 / 14 demostrou ser moi rápido pero aínda pouco fiable, un trazo compartido cos coches deseñados por Adrian Newey.