In a superb last lap battle between the two McLaren drivers it was
once again Mika Hakkinen who finally got the pole for Sunday's
Belgian Grand Prix , his ninth of the season and the team's ninth
one-two start.
Summary
McLaren Again on the Front Row
In a superb last lap battle between the two McLaren drivers it was
once again Mika Hakkinen who finally got the pole for Sunday's
Belgian Grand Prix , his ninth of the season and the team's ninth
one-two start.
"I thought I might have had the pole, but I got too greedy at the last chicane and used too much of the kerb going in. That threw the car off balance and that's where I lost all my time," said David. Hakkinen admitted he was surprised to get pole ,"because David had been so strong all day," the Finn's time almost a full second quicker than last year's pole winning time. The only other time this year where the cars have been quicker was at Hockenheim.
Hill heads the second row.
Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher had an equally exciting battle for the second row of the grid, Hill just managing to beat Schumacher's time to take third fastest time of the day. "It was great fun. Michael is the acknowledged expert around Spa, so it was very satisfying to beat his time," said Hill. "The team have done a great job of improving the car. I am delighted about today's performance, but tomorrow is going to be all about tyre performance," predicted Hill. Ralf Schumacher was unable to better eighth, the German losing out to Hill in the fast corners , but had no idea why.
Scuderia Ferrari fourth and fifth.
Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine were both disappointed with
fourth and fifth place on the grid for different reasons. Not so
much the time, but the 1,1 secs gap between his best time and the
pole time. In fact, his best time was later removed for having been
set under a yellow flag because of a stationary car, but it did not
alter his fourth place on the grid. "I lifted and lost time for the
yellow flag on my third run, but it's hard to convince the marshals
of that," said Michael. His chances of improving on his last run
were spoiled by a flat spotted tyre at the first corner.
Eddie Irvine was also upset with his time. "We improved the car,
especially under braking, but my best lap was slowed by Rosset as
he went into the pits. Looking at my split times, I could have
been one or maybe two places higher," said the Irishman. "I have
another thing to try for the warm up to try and improve the grip,
but I do not know if it will work," he added.
Villeneuve on row three for Williams.
Although Jacques Villeneuve was unable to better sixth fastest time of the session, the Canadian was delighted with the fact that he had taken Eau Rouge corner flat-out, the corner he had crashed at on Friday. He had also done it with less rear wing than the start of the session, the team reducing the wing a little with every run to improve speed on the straight. "It was a bit too much on the last run , because the car was sliding around down the hill," explained Jacques. Heinz-Harald Frentzen did not better ninth fastest , his best final run spoiled by Takagi. "I don't understand why he did not look in his mirrors," said Frentzen who was forced to return to the pits.
In brief...
Both Benetton's stopped on the track. Wurz with a gearbox problem. He took the T-car, but it was not set-up. Fisichella stopped with suspected electrical problems after setting his best lap which was an improved seventh fastest overall.
Timing
POS DRIVER NATION TEAM TIME
1 Mika Hakkinen FIN McLaren-Mercedes MP4/13 1:48.682 230.809 kph
2 David Coulthard GBR McLaren-Mercedes MP4/13 1:48.845 + 0.163
3 Damon Hill GBR Jordan-Mugen-Honda 198 1:49.728 + 1.046
4 Michael Schumacher GER Ferrari F300 1:50.027 + 1.345
5 Eddie Irvine GBR Ferrari F300 1:50.189 + 1.507
6 Jacques Villeneuve CAN Williams-Mecachrome FW20 1:50.204 + 1.522
7 Giancarlo Fisichella ITA Benetton-Mecachrome B198 1:50.462 + 1.780
8 Ralf Schumacher GER Jordan-Mugen-Honda 198 1:50.501 + 1.819
9 Heinz Harald Frentzen GER Williams-Mecachrome FW20 1:50.686 + 2.004
10 Jean Alesi FRA Sauber-Petronas C17 1:51.189 + 2.507
11 Alexander Wurz AUT Benetton-Mecachrome B198 1:51.648 + 2.966
12 Johnny Herbert GBR Sauber-Petronas C17 1:51.851 + 3.169
13 Jarno Trulli ITA Prost-Peugeot AP01 1:52.572 + 3.890
14 Rubens Barrichello BRA Stewart-Ford SF2 1:52.670 + 3.988
15 Olivier Panis FRA Prost-Peugeot AP01 1:52.784 + 4.102
16 Pedro Diniz BRA Arrows A19 1:53.037 + 4.355
17 Jos Verstappen NED Stewart-Ford SF2 1:53.149 + 4.467
18 Mika Salo FIN Arrows A19 1:53.207 + 4.525
19 Toranosuke Takagi JPN Tyrrell-Ford 026 1:53.237 + 4.555
20 Ricardo Rosset BRA Tyrrell-Ford 026 1:54.850 + 6.168
21 Sinji Nakano JAP Minardi-Ford M198 1:55.084 + 6.402
22 Esteban Tuero ARG Minardi-Ford M198 1:55.520 + 6.838
Saturday Qualifying 107% 1:56.290 + 7.608
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