Mika Hakkinen set his eighth pole of the season for the McLaren-Mercedes team, and with David Coulthard a close second fastest it was the eighth all McLaren front row of the year.
Summary
McLaren on the Front Row
Mika Hakkinen set his eighth pole of the season for the McLaren-Mercedes team, and with David Coulthard a close second fastest it was the eighth all McLaren front row of the year.
"It is extremely important to take the pole here as the track is very dirty off the line which make it very hard to overtake," said Hakkinen. "The whole qualifying session was interesting as we continued to work on the set up of the car but in the last ten minutes the strong winds meant that we were not able to go any further. That said I think we have a good package for the race tomorrow."
Coulthard, who missed his chance of pipping his team-mate in the final seconds, when he was too late out of the pits for a final run, said: "I was disappointed to be held up on my last run. I was a couple of tenths up on Mika at one stage but I didn't manage to complete the lap and that is what matters. However, the final result represents such a small gap and we will be working towards a good race finish."
Schumacher holds third place.
Michael Schumacher ended up less than half a second behind Hakkinen to take the third fastest time of the session. Schumacher chose the harder compound Goodyear tyres and will be hoping to make up in race tactics what he might lack in speed against his Championship rivals. "We did not expect to challenge for pole position today," said the German, "so this morning we concentrated on finding a good race set-up. Therefore I am quite satisfied with our work. I can have a good race starting from third position. With the right strategy we have a chance tomorrow and I believe we will make the most of it."
Eddie Irvine ran the softer tyres in a bid to get up the grid with his team-mate and to be able to support him in the race, which he will start from fifth place. "I am actually happy to be fifth rather than fourth," said Irvine, "as the other side of the track is very dirty. We could make the car better over the bumps but I had to run it stiffer for qualifying and I will run it that way for the race also. That means it will be a physically tough race for me. With two McLarens and Michael ahead of me it might be hard to make the podium, but anything could happen."
Hill a happy fourth
Damon Hill was delighted that he was able to retain fourth fastest on the grid this afternoon and able to maintain his edge through into qualifying. He was running a softer tyre which might prove a problem if it is a hot race tomorrow, but even so he was confident in the overall progress the team have made as of late.
Ralf Schumacher decided to run hard tyres for qualifying, but was still complaining of poor grip and handling. However, he admitted that he might have gone quicker had he not botched the way he brought in his tyres for the final run of the session.
Williams sixth and seventh
The Williams team were disappointed with sixth and seventh place on the grid, Villeneuve just behind Irvine while Frentzen was a full 7/10ths of a second away. The German was suffering from stomach cramps and vomiting from what is thought to be gastric flu. Villeneuve got the car working well on his last run , but didn't use his tyres properly. Frentzen was more concerned upon getting himself into the best shape possible for the long hot race to come.
In Brief...
Giancarlo Fisichella blamed himself for only eighth place on the grid. "I Should have done better,"said the Italian, "but went off on my first run." He managed to get going again and was optimistic that he would have a better race, which he will be starting on hard tyres. Wurz was happier with the handling of his car, but ran into traffic on his quick final run ending up ninth.
Ricardo Rosset did not qualify for the fourth time this year. his team-mate Tora Takagi is 18th on the gird, but still not happy with his car's handling. Jean Alesi was still complaining of a lack of downforce from his Sauber, while Johhny Herbert spun his car on his first run and then missed the chance of an extra flying lap at the end.
Timing
Weather: Partly Cloudy Air Temp: 23-25 C Track Temp: 40-42 C
POS DRIVER NATION TEAM TIME
1 Mika Hakkinen FIN McLaren-Mercedes MP4/13 1:16.973 185.769 kph
2 David Coulthard GB McLaren-Mercedes MP4/13 1:17.131 + 0.158
3 Michael Schumacher GER Ferrari F300 1:17.366 + 0.393
4 Damon Hill GB Jordan-Mugen-Honda 198 1:18.214 + 1.241
5 Eddie Irvine GB Ferrari F300 1:18.325 + 1.352
6 Jacques Villeneuve CAN Williams-Mecachrome FW20 1:18.337 + 1.364
7 Heinz-Harald Frentzen GER Williams-Mecachrome FW20 1:19.029 + 2.056
8 Giancarlo Fisichella ITA Benetton-Mecachrome B198 1:19.050 + 2.077
9 Alexander Wurz AUT Benetton-Mecachrome B198 1:19.063 + 2.090
10 Ralf Schumacher GER Jordan-Mugen-Honda 198 1:19.171 + 2.198
11 Jean Alesi FRA Sauber-Petronas C17 1:19.210 + 2.237
12 Pedro Diniz BRA Arrows A19 1:19.706 + 2.733
13 Mika Salo FIN Arrows A19 1:19.712 + 2.739
14 Rubens Barrichello BRA Stewart-Ford SF2 1:19.876 + 2.903
15 Johnny Herbert GB Sauber-Petronas C17 1:19.878 + 2.905
16 Jarno Trulli ITA Prost-Peugeot AP01 1:20.042 + 3.069
17 Jos Verstappen NED Stewart-Ford SF2 1:20.198 + 3.225
18 Toranosuke Takagi JAP Tyrrell-Ford 026 1:20.354 + 3.381
19 Sinji Nakano JAP Minardi-Ford M198 1:20.635 + 3.662
20 Olivier Panis FRA Prost-Peugeot AP01 1:20.663 + 3.690
21 Esteban Tuero ARG Minardi-Ford M198 1:21.725 + 4.752
Saturday Qualifying 107% 1:22.361 + 5.388
DNQ Ricardo Rosset BRA Tyrrell-Ford 026 1:23.140 + 6.167
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