Hakkinen wins Belgian thriller

Mike Hakkinen (centre) extended his championship lead

Click here for full Belgian GP result.

Mika Hakkinen won the Belgian Grand Prix after a dramatic duel with rival Michael Schumacher.

It is the Finn's fourth win of the season and keeps him ahead of the driver's table going into the next Grand Prix at Monza.

Hakkinen, in his McLaren, overtook Schumacher with just four laps having tailed the German's Ferrari for some laps.

Schumacher's brother Ralf finished in third, with Scotland's David Coulthard in fourth and rookie Jenson Button in fifth.

Hakkinen's win will be all the sweeter given the changeable conditions, which often left drivers with wet weather tyres on a dry track.

Michael Schumacher: Just failed to hold on

The race began with a rolling start, to avoid any first corner crashes given the poor visibility.

Both Button and Jordan's Jarno Trulli quickly slipped out of the top three as the more experienced Schumacher and Coulthard passed them on the wet corners.

Indeed, Trulli was soon out of the race altogether after a nudge from the Williams youngster.

Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella, who was already in his spare car after crashing heavily in the morning warm-up, completed a miserable day when he was hit by Jos Verstappen and forced to retire.

Control

However, it was lap 13 that saw the first major shift in the race, Hakkinen losing control of his Mercedes-powered car at Stavelot corner.

The Finn did well to keep some control of his car as it drifted into the grass, but by the time he got back on track, Schumacher had roared past him into the lead.

The safety car leads into the first corner

Schumacher's ability to clock very fast lap times allowed him to make two pit stops without losing too much touch with the lead.

But Hakkinen was refusing to let up and gradually reeled the German in, reducing the gap from ten seconds to less than a second with seven laps remaining.

The crucial moment came when Hakkinen's engine demonstrated its real power and took the Finn past the helpless Schumacher in his Ferrari.

From there, Hakkinen had little difficulty in holding the lead to the chequered flag and duly completing a dramatic triumph.