The safety car was withdrawn at the end of the second lap and the race got underway again with Häkkinen in the lead. Button, meanwhile, was immediately overtaken by Barrichello and Frentzen for sixth position. At the completion of the third lap, the race order was Häkkinen, Coulthard, Salo, de la Rosa, Herbert, Barrichello, Frentzen, Button, Marc Gené, Wurz, Heidfeld, Alesi, Villeneuve, Burti, Zonta, Ralf Schumacher, Mazzacane, Diniz and Verstappen. Both McLaren drivers began to pull away from the rest of the field and exchanged fastest laps, as de la Rosa passed Salo for third at the start of lap four. Frentzen in the Jordan became the fourth retirement of the race with an engine failure on lap five and spun off on his car's oil. Barrichello passed Herbert for fifth position on the same lap, while Zonta passed Burti for 13th. Verstappen set a new fastest lap of the race on lap six as he immediately closed on Diniz in 17th. Alesi overtook his teammate Heidfeld for tenth position on the following lap. Häkkinen continued to set fastest laps and opened the gap between Coulthard and de la Rosa to five seconds by lap eight. Barrichello claimed fourth position after passing Salo on the same lap and Ralf Schumacher made a pit stop for a new front wing. Ralf Schumacher made a pit stop for further repairs on the following lap.