for leisure time, sponsor functions and for teams to prepare their cars for the second day of practice, the weather remained hot and dry for the Saturday morning practice sessions. Track evolution was observed during the third session. Michael Schumacher set the third session's quickest lap, 1:20.762; Barrichello was third. Häkkinen was second fastest, one-tenth of a second slower than Michael Schumacher. Alesi kept improving and was fourth, faster than Coulthard, Frentzen, Irvine, Trulli, Fisichella and Sauber's Johnny Herbert. Frentzen and Wurz went off the circuit during the session but avoided damaging their vehicles.
On Saturday morning before practice, Alex Ribeiro crashed into the railings of the medical car at Tabac. He was unhurt, but FIA medical representative Sid Watkins suffered three broken ribs. Coulthard led the final practice session with a lap of 1:20.405, 0.142 seconds quicker than teammate Häkkinen's 1999 pole lap; he stalled the engine after running down the escape road at Ste Devote to avoid a collision with the guardrail barrier. Michael Schumacher took his second pole position of the season and the 25th of his career with a time of 1:19.475 with seven minutes left; he struck the metal guardrail at Portier corner entering the tunnel with his rear-left wheel but continued. Trulli, who was 0.271 seconds slower and had his best qualifying performance of the season on soft tyres and made car adjustments for better handling, joined him on the grid's front row. Coulthard qualified third and said he could have lapped quicker as he saw a yellow flag out on the track. Trulli's teammate Frentzen qualified fourth but criticised Irvine for an apparent blocking manoeuvre in the tunnel. The two Arrows drivers were Verstappen (15th) and De la Rosa (16th); the latter crashed at the Rascasse chicane.
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Warm-up
The drivers took part in a 30-minute warm-up session in dry, warm weather at 09:30 Central European Summer Time (UTC+2). The session was disrupted when De la Rosa lost traction in his car and struck the barriers leaving Tabac turn just before the session concluded – warm-up was ended early as marshals needed to clear the track –
Race
The race commenced at 14:30 local time, running for 78 laps over a distance of . The course at Sainte Devote corner had become slick owing to a two-car accident during the morning Renault Clio Cup undercard round, which saw fluids from the smashed vehicles flow onto the track, necessitating marshals to apply cement mortar in an unsuccessful attempt to dry the oil puddles. This meant a driver braking wide would lose traction on the asphalt. The mechanics returned to the grid with their equipment. The race began eight minutes late; However marshals did not wave red flags to signal a race stoppage across the circuit, except at the start/finish line. All the cars that stopped on the circuit were abandoned. Realising they could drive their spare cars under the sporting regulations for race stoppages if fewer than two laps had been completed,
thumb|right|upright|[[Rubens Barrichello (pictured in 2002) finished second.]]
Michael Schumacher and Trulli maintained their positions during the restart at 14:31 local time, while Ralf Schumacher made the best start, moving from ninth to sixth by the end of the first lap while Barrichello lost two places. Michael Schumacher began to pull away from Trulli immediately, setting consecutive fastest laps. Michael Schumacher led Trulli by more than 11 seconds by the 11th lap, while Wurz overtook Mazzacane for 17th. On lap 22, Gené retired on an escape road at Casino Square corner due to gearbox failure. His teammate Mazzacane collided with the barriers at Sainte Devote turn on the following lap and retired from the event with a damaged wheel.
Häkkinen slowed on lap 36 owing to a brake pedal blockage caused by a loose sensor and made an unscheduled pit stop. His mechanics unlocked his car's inspection hatch and rearranged radio cables. Ralf Schumacher, fourth, took evasive action, went off the racing line and struck the right-hand Sainte Devote tyre wall on the 38th lap, Fisichella made a pit stop earlier than expected on lap 51 due to a slow puncture. Verstappen was unhurt. Coulthard was the first British Monaco Grand Prix winner since Jackie Stewart in 1973. Barrichello followed 15.8 seconds later in second, ahead of Fisichella in third, Following Villeneuve, Heidfeld, and Herbert, Frentzen was the final classified finisher despite his accident. Of the other retirements, Alesi suffered transmission trouble in the tunnel after completing 29 laps and Zonta crashed into the Sainte Devote tyre barrier on lap 48 after entering the corner too quickly. He also stated that he wanted to avoid needless repairs to his car by waiting until the pit stops to pass Michael Schumacher and Trulli. Barrichello revealed that he was conserving tyres and fuel and that Brawn had advised him to slow due to an issue.
Irvine described the Grand Prix as one of the most difficult of his Formula One career, owing to a malfunctioning drink bottle and a blistering foot. He also said that the team's issues were not fully rectified and it would take "six months or so to solve... hopefully we can do it quicker." Salo said that his hands were bruised during the race because his car lacked power steering. Nevertheless, he was happy to finish fifth, saying, "I knew that he would find it very tough to overtake here but I made extra sure I didn't leave the slightest gap or make any mistakes. An enjoyable race for me and for the team, who really deserved this result." Michael Schumacher admitted to feeling disappointed after the race, having led most of it until his lap 56 retirement, saying: "The exhaust was too hot and that was why the rest went wrong. It basically cooked the suspension. I felt a few laps before that something was wrong but there was nothing I could do about it."
Ralf Schumacher suffered a gash on his left calf. He was taken to Princess Grace Hospital for a routine check-up and his cut was stitched. Ralf Schumacher was later cleared to race in the next Grand Prix, two weeks later. He said he had no prior knowledge of the source of his injuries.
As a result of the race, Michael Schumacher retained the World Drivers' Championship lead, albeit by ten championship points to twelve. Coulthard's victory and Michael Schumacher's retirement along with teammate Häkkinen not scoring put him in second with 34 championship points. He was ahead of teammate Häkkinen, who had 29 championship points. With 22 and 14 championship points, respectively, Barrichello and Fisichella remained fourth and fifth.
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Notes:
- — Pedro de la Rosa is listed as Did Not Start even though he took part in the original start.
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;Constructors' Championship standings
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%;"
|-
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" | Constructor
! scope="col" | Points
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center" | 1
| Ferrari
| 68
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center" | 2
| McLaren-Mercedes
| 63
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center" | 3
| Williams-BMW
| 15
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center" | 4
| Benetton-Playlife
| 14
|-
|align="left"| 10px
|align="center" | 5
| Jordan-Mugen-Honda
| 9
|-
!colspan=4|Sources: