Summary

Jacques Villeneuve was again superior in qualifying for the Grand Prix of Argentina. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was fastest in the morning free practice and was fast again in the afternoon with a nice second place.

The most remarkable results were from Olivier Panis in the Prost-Mugen and Rubens Barrichello in the Stewart-Ford who were third and fifth, both on Bridgestone tyres.

Disappointing results were there from both the Benetton's and the McLaren's.

Notes

• Villeneuve was still slightly ill.
• Spins were there by: Nakano, R. Schumacher and Hakkinen. Hakkinen had to run back to the pits to get the T-car.
• Herbert goes through gravel trap but can continue.
• The Stewart team has got some problems. Magnussen had some hydraulic problems and Barrichello had problems with the Ford V10. Both drivers needed to use the spare car so they switched after each drive.
• All the Goodyear drivers are using the soft compound except: Coulthard, Benetton and Jordan.
• All Bridgestone drivers are using the soft compound.
• The Jordan team is using a new rear wing to increase down force.
• Eddie Jordan has settled the dispute with Michael Schumacher on the start of Schumacher's career at Jordan.
• Former Ferrari designer Barnard will be joining Walkinshaw Racing.
• It's still reported that the TWR team is going to use Honda engine's next year. Benetton is also linked to a deal with Honda because the Honda will leave Prost this year.
• All drivers within the 107% rule time of 1m 30.386s

• Weather during session: Dry, Sunny, Partly Cloudy (24 Degrees)

Villeneuve (Williams) Frentzen (Williams) Panis (Prost) Schumacher (Ferrari) Barrichello (Stewart) R. Schumacher (Jordan) Irvine (Ferrari) Herbert (Sauber) Fisichella (Jordan) Coulthard (McLaren) Alesi (Benetton) Berger (Benetton) Hill (Arrows) Larini (Sauber) Magnussen (Stewart) Verstappen (Tyrrell) Hakkinen (McLaren) Trulli (Minardi) Salo (Tyrrell) Nakano (Prost) Katayama (Minardi) Diniz (Arrows) 107% rule

1m 24.473s 1m 25.271s 1m 25.491s 1m 25.773s 1m 25.942s 1m 26.218s 1m 26.327s 1m 26.564s 1m 26.619s 1m 26.799s 1m 27.076s 1m 27.259s 1m 27.281s 1m 27.690s 1m 28.035s 1m 28.094s 1m 28.135s 1m 28.160s 1m 28.224s 1m 28.366s 1m 28.413s 1m 28.969s 1m 30.386s

The Quotes

• Jordan will start his 100th Grand Prix this weekend: "This has to be the start of a new era for the team. We have grown up now. At the start we were just fighting to survive and it was difficult for us. Now we have to start winning and to join the teams at the highest echelon of our sport."

• Villeneuve: "It's looking good. The car feels great and there wasn't one area that was weak. I thought I would be OK today, but I wasn't. I'm worried because I can't keep fluids in. That's OK for qualifying, but not in a race in hot and humid conditions."

• Hill: "It was difficult for me because we never had a set-up from the morning session when I had a radiator problem, so we were guessing as we qualified. I thought we would be doing well to get in the top 10 here, so 13 is not too bad. I think we did the best we could under the circumstances."

• Jackie Stewart: "This is fantastic. To qualify in the top six for the first time after translating our second position in Friday's practice to fifth on the grid is wonderful."

• Schumacher: "As I thought, the arrival of a second tyre company has shuffled the pack. I had none of the problems I experienced in Brazil, so I am confident for the race. This circuit calls for continuous concentration as there are no long straights where you can relax a bit. We are ahead of Benetton and McLaren so our performance is not bad. Tomorrow's objective is to maintain or improve position in order to finish on the podium."

• Irvine:"I had no problem today. This morning I got some of my settings slightly wrong, but I did succeed in reducing the instability of the back end. I still have a little mid-corner understeer. With more fuel on board, my F 310 B is balanced and easy to drive. Tomorrow I must make a good start in order to be in the running for points."

• Verstappen: "It is a shame that we could not have gone better this afternoon because the car felt good in free practice and I was hopeful of qualifying higher. It is disappointing to be over half a second slower than I managed this morning, but I think when the temperature increased, we lost some grip. I am looking forward to the race and hope we can get back to where we were in practice."

• Salo:"We tossed a coin for the use of the modified engine last night, but unfortunately I lost! This afternoon, the back of the car was sliding away on the exit from the corners because I did not have enough traction, so I was using up the grip on my tyres before I had even started the flying lap. I hope we can go better tomorrow."

A car raced by the late Ayrton Senna has been put up for auction to help victims of a mutual aid society fraud. 33 people were swindled out of a total of 5.2 million dollars.

The car belongs to one of the indicted of the Orange Kyosai Kumiai, Momoo Tombe, a lawyer said: "The car is the only asset of Orange Kyosai Kumiai. We want to sell it at as high a price as possible to compensate the victims of the fraud."

There already some people interested in the car and are willing to pay 100 million yen for it.