Summary
Weather was the biggest news of Saturday's practice session in Austria.
The track stood drenched with intermittent rain and drivers played the waiting game not unlike last year's event except that the scene was dark, gloomy and wet.
Damon Hill finally and courageously opened the event half-way through the session with Toranosuke Takagi. While Takagi managed to spin several times, Hill completed a several lap run to gain provisional pole.
Soon after, Jos Verstappen found determination to face the slippery track with Eddie Irvine and Pedro Diniz following. Verstappen ran wide into the gravel as well as Diniz. The first real wave of traffic followed thereafter.
With just over 20 minutes to go, Schumacher snatched Hill's fastest time to claim provisional pole. Jean Alesi then stole the top spot with 18 minutes to go, followed by Irvine seconds later.
With 17 minutes left, Michael Schumacher goes 1.4 seconds faster than Irvine. On following laps he tops his time twice putting him 2.5 seconds above second position.
Jacques Villeneuve in his Williams locked up and managed to get stuck in the gravel.
15 minutes to go and David Coulthard gives a run that put him in second position, 8.8 seconds behind Michael Schumacher. Mika Hakkinen only managed the provisional fifth spot.
Teams played the tyre game with ten minutes remaining. The timing on when to switch from full wets to intermediates was initialized by Hakkinen and McLaren nine minutes left in the session. Coulthard followed suit only to struggle with the amount of water still on the track.
Six minutes until the end, Michael Schumacher decides to utilize intermediates but also encounters problems. Alesi in a spectacular lap, grabs second position while Mika Salo grabs fifth with five minutes remaining.
Continuing on their multiple lap runs in the remaining minutes, a major challenge to Schumacher and Ferrari occurred. Alesi, on a fantastic run, grabs pole while Giancarlo Fisichella grabs second.
On his final run, Schumacher tries to battle back but manges only fourth after Hakkinen snatches third away seconds later. Fisichella, with fantastic timing and determination, snatches pole away from Alesi on his last run to complete a marvelous session where spectators saw seven changes for the lead.
Later, Fisichella rejoiced, "It is unbelievable... I spun twice and then I decided to go out in a different set of tyres." He added, "I hope it rains tomorrow."
Benetton Team Boss David Richards stated that the session took a bit of risk right to the finish. "We knew the last car to cross the line was probably going to get it. The timing was impeccable -- great teamwork." He added that pole today wasn't about the tyres; it was about the driver and having the right opportunity at the right time.
The Times
POS DRIVER NATION TEAM TIME
1 Giancarlo Fisichella ITA Benetton Playlife 1:29.598 POLE
2 Jean Alesi FRA Sauber Petronas 1:30.317 + 0.719
3 Mika Hakkinen FIN McLaren Mercedes 1:30.517 + 0.919
4 Michael Schumacher GER Ferrari 1:30.551 + 0.953
5 Rubens Barrichello BRA Stewart Ford 1:31.005 + 1.407
6 Mika Salo FIN Arrows TWR 1:31.028 + 1.430
7 Heinz-Harald Frentzen GER Williams Mecachrome 1:31.515 + 1.917
8 Eddie Irvine GB Ferrari 1:31.651 + 2.053
9 Ralf Schumacher GER Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:31.917 + 2.319
10 Olivier Panis FRA Prost Peugeot 1:32.081 + 2.483
11 Jacques Villeneuve CAN Williams Mecachrome 1:32.083 + 2.485
12 Jos Verstappen HOL Stewart Ford 1:32.099 + 2.501
13 Pedro Diniz BRA Arrows TWR 1:32.206 + 2.608
14 David Coulthard GB McLaren Mercedes 1:32.399 + 2.801
15 Damon Hill GB Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:32.718 + 3.120
16 Jarno Trulli ITA Prost Peugeot 1:32.906 + 3.308
17 Alexander Wurz AUT Benetton Playlife 1:33.185 + 3.587
18 Johnny Herbert GB Sauber Petronas 1:33.205 + 3.607
19 Esteban Tuero ARG Minardi Ford 1:33.399 + 3.801
20 Toranosuke Takagi JAP Tyrrell Ford 1:34.090 + 4.492
21 Sinji Nakano JAP Minardi Ford 1:34.536 + 4.938
22 Ricardo Rosset BRA Tyrrell Ford 1:34.910 + 5.312
Saturday Qualifying 107% 1:35.870 + 6.272
All Times Unofficial