Hill set a provisional pole position time of 1:20.081 during the first qualifying session, ahead of Berger, Coulthard, Alesi, Häkkinen and Schumacher. The problem was determined to be a steering failure, specifically a joint in the car's steering column. However, he still set the fastest time of the session (1:23.607) However, a hole was punched in the bottom of Herbert's monocoque chassis during the session as a result of damage, leading to a night of repairs in order for him to be able to take the start in his designated race car. The Simtek team's testing time was limited on Friday as the mandatory onboard fire extinguishers for its cars failed to arrive in time; a similar problem with the late arrival of parts affecting Martini's Minardi. The times in the second session were generally quicker, with only Hill, Badoer and Wendlinger setting their quickest lap times during the first session. Minutes before the race started, a press release from the FIA was given to all media and team personnel, notifying them that the chromatographic analysis of the Elf fuel samples taken from Schumacher's Benetton and the Coulthard's Williams during qualifying did not match the sample provided by the fuel company before the start of the season for reference purposes, thus rendering both cars illegal. Neither Schumacher nor Coulthard were informed of the situation, as the teams did not want to unsettle their drivers before the race start. Samples from Ferrari's Agip and McLaren's Mobil fuel were also tested; both were in accordance with the regulations.
Race
thumb|left|upright|[[Johnny Herbert, who dropped to tenth place in the opening laps of the Grand Prix (picture taken in while an employee of the Midland F1 team)]]
Hill had a bad start from pole position, allowing Schumacher to overtake him into turn one. By lap five, Herbert had dropped down to tenth position, unhappy with the handling of the spare car and having been overtaken by Irvine, Salo and Katayama. Alesi was the first of the leading drivers to make a scheduled pit stop on lap 17, Schumacher exited the stop behind Berger, but overtook the Austrian driver at the beginning of the next lap. Several other teams experienced problems with attaching and detaching the refuelling nozzles, and occasional small sprays of fuel were observed, reinforcing the problem experienced by McLaren with the equipment before the race meeting. By this stage Gachot had retired his Pacific car after it got stuck in fifth gear. dropping him back to seventh position. Schumacher made his second pit stop on lap 37, exiting in second position behind Coulthard. battled over third position until lap 39, when Salo, suffering from cramp and driving with one hand, spun at the final bend. He made a pit stop soon after for fresh tyres, dropping to eighth position. After his final stop, Schumacher gradually opened his leading margin 11 seconds, winning the race after 71 laps in a time of 1:48:49.972s, with Coulthard finishing second in his Williams. The Ferrari cars of Berger – who made his final stop on lap 49 without losing a place
Post-race
Moments after his spin, Hill was interviewed by the BBC, revealing that his spin was due to a gearbox problem; the Williams car losing second gear before apparently seizing completely. Hill also said that he was "very, very disappointed" with the result, and that "we could have beaten him [Schumacher] today". Further post-race analysis conducted by the Williams team, however, found that the problem was actually a broken left-rear suspension pushrod.
Schumacher felt lucky to win the race, conceding that "Damon was a little bit quicker than me...he ended up going off and that's racing, but I don't think I could have caught him." He also believed that his good start was fortunate, as it was the first one he had made in the new Benetton car; the team had not practised starts previously due to being short of time. He also specified his evasion of Barrichello's slowing car in the pit-lane entry while making his first stop as a crucial moment of the race. Company representative Valerie Jorquera also highlighted the need for a consistent chromatographic analysis of fuel samples, drawing attention to the fact that the samples provided during the event had been analysed by a different company than the reference sample, and that the differences may have been caused by the use of different analytical machines and methods. From the San Marino Grand Prix onwards, an FIA mobile fuel laboratory accompanied the teams to each event to permit more detailed testing at the track, in addition to ensuring consistency between events.
|}
Championship standings after the race
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|+ Drivers' Championship standings
|-
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" | Driver
! scope="col" | Points
|-
| scope="row" | 1
| Michael Schumacher
| style="text-align: right" | 10
|-
| scope="row" | 2
| David Coulthard
| style="text-align: right" | 6
|-
| scope="row" | 3
| Gerhard Berger
| style="text-align: right" | 4
|-
| scope="row" | 4
| Mika Häkkinen
| style="text-align: right" | 3
|-
| scope="row" | 5
| Jean Alesi
| style="text-align: right" | 2
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|+ Constructors' Championship standings