Qualifying for the next race in France was disrupted by rain, and it resulted in Rubens Barrichello taking pole ahead of Jean Alesi's Sauber and Olivier Panis's Prost. Coulthard was fourth, Schumacher sixth and Häkkinen way down in 14th. The race was no drier, and the entire race was run in wet conditions. Barrichello led for the first few laps, but then Coulthard passed him only to retire with a gearbox failure. Häkkinen quickly charged up to second only to spin, and undo his work. Schumacher was now second, and soon passed Barrichello to take the lead. Schumacher pulled away, but then suffered an electrical problem which cost him a lot of time, and this gave the lead back to Barrichello. Häkkinen was now charging, and completed his comeback by passing Barrichello to lead. However, both he and Barrichello as well as most other front-runners had to pit near the end for extra fuel, but third-placed Frentzen did not have to after his team gave him a full tank to fuel. Frentzen took the second win of his career, ahead of Häkkinen and Barrichello.