The invention relates to a process for hot rolling and for heat treatment of a strip (1) of steel. To make it possible to produce high-strength and very high-strength strips having satisfactory toughnesses more economically in a continuous production plant, the process provides the steps: a) heating of the slab to be rolled; b) rolling of the slab to the desired strip thickness; c) cooling of the strip (1), with the strip (1) having a temperature above ambient temperature (T0) after cooling; d) rolling up of the strip (1) to produce a coil (2); e) rolling off of the strip (1) from the coil (2); f) heating of the strip (1); g) cooling of the strip (1) and h) transport of the strip (1) to a further destination, with the strip (1) having a temperature above ambient temperature (T0) before heating as per step T).