Schumacher took the lead on track on lap 12 when Berger ran wide, before relinquishing the race lead overall to Berger when he made his first pitstop, confirming that his pace both before and after the red flag was down to his running a three-stop strategy, therefore racing with a lighter car. Berger pitted at the end of lap 15 for his first of two scheduled stops, before retiring a lap later with handling problems. Häkkinen led his first ever laps of a Formula One World Championship race, before pitting at the end of lap 18. Following the first series of pit stops, Schumacher resumed the race lead on aggregate, overtaking Nicola Larini on track at Tosa. Schumacher's extra pace as a result of his lighter fuel loads meant he was able to pull out enough of a gap to Häkkinen which enabled him to make an extra pit stop. Häkkinen's pace was very slow, allowing Larini to leapfrog him when the two-stoppers made their final pit stops.