Qualifying - French GP

Saturday June 26th, 1999

Barrichello takes pole in the wet

Just like his first pole position in Spa in 1994, Rubens Barrichello timed his run on the wet track perfectly to capture pole position for the Stewart-Ford team in Sunday's French Grand Prix at Magny Cours.

Amazingly, only a handful of cars took to the track in the opening minutes of practice, so when the rain worsened it was three of those first four drivers who took the three fastest times in qualifying. "I was just a bit slower than Jean Alesi on my first flying lap and on my second lap I thought it would be all or nothing to beat Jean," said Barrichello, who managed it by just under half a second. "Besides a bit more wing, the car was still set up for the dry, but it was the right time to go out and good enough for the pole," he added.

Team-mate Johnny Herbert waited longer. He had planned to stay out for the full 12 laps, but an electrical problem brought him back for the T-car with which he spun into a gravel trap. He ended up in ninth spot.

Alesi up front for Sauber

Jean Alesi was a delighted second quickest after being the first man out on the track. "It was a good reward for the mechanics who had to work all night to repair my car after the crash yesterday," said Alesi. His team-mate Diniz waited too long and then went off into a gravel trap after setting the 11th fastest time. After running a full wet set-up at the end of the session, Alesi finished his practice stalled in a gravel trap after spinning off.

Panis heads row two for Prost

Olivier Panis was delighted with a third place for the Prost team, "We had a good meteorologist who predicted the rain would get worse so we started early with a full wet set-p on the car," he said. His team-mate Trulli ended up eighth with his best lap.

Coulthard impressive fourth for McLaren

Despite waiting almost 40 minutes before taking to the track, David Coulthard set an impressive fourth fastest time in between trips off the side of the track, the Scotsman easily the fastest when the conditions were at their worst. Mika Hakkinen will start the race from 14th place on the grid, complaining that spinning cars and yellow flags spoiled every attempt at a quicker lap.

Frentzen fifth for Jordan

"It was a mistake not to go out sooner," admitted Heinz-Harald Frentzen after setting the fifth fastest time on his first lap 35 minutes into the session. Damon Hill didn't make the cut-off time after his first car caught fire from a broken exhaust. He took the spare chassis which also suffered a broken exhaust after several laps, but several spins prevented him taking a quick time. Though Hill has set a time marginally lower than the allowed 107%, the stewards of the French Grand Prix have decided that due to the extreme weather conditions he will start tomorrow's race, as will the two Minardis and two Arrows that qualified behind Hill.

Schumacher starts from row three

Michael Schumacher described the conditions as very dangerous when he set his sixth fastest time at the end of the session, the German having a trip across a gravel trap on one of his laps. "If the conditions are the same for the race it will be very dangerous indeed," he said. "I almost lost it on the straight." Eddie Irvine had two spins before a third put him out for good in a gravel trap. "The aquaplaning was crazy," said Eddie who did not better 17th time.

In brief...

Neither Williams driver could better 15th quickest time, Alex Zanardi just ahead of his teammate despite parking his race car following two spins on the same lap and ending the session in the spare car.

Qualifying Results

Pos  Driver        Team                 Time                   
 1.  Barrichello   Stewart Ford         1:38.441   155.423 kmph
 2.  Alesi         Sauber Petronas      1:38.881   + 0.440     
 3.  Panis         Prost Peugeot        1:40.400   + 1.959     
 4.  Coulthard     Mclaren Mercedes     1:40.403   + 1.962     
 5.  Frentzen      Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:40.690   + 2.249     
 6.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari              1:41.127   + 2.686     
 7.  Fisichella    Benetton Playlife    1:41.250   + 2.809     
 8.  Trulli        Prost Peugeot        1:42.096   + 3.655     
 9.  Herbert       Stewart Ford         1:42.199   + 3.758     
10.  Zonta         BAR Supertec         1:42.228   + 3.787     
11.  Diniz         Sauber Petronas      1:42.942   + 4.501     
12.  Villeneuve    BAR Supertec         1:43.748   + 5.307     
13.  Wurz          Benetton Playlife    1:44.319   + 5.878     
14.  Hakkinen      Mclaren Mercedes     1:44.368   + 5.927     
15.  Zanardi       Williams Supertec    1:44.912   + 6.471     
16.  R.Schumacher  Williams Supertec    1:45.189   + 6.748     
17.  Irvine        Ferrari              1:45.218   + 6.777     
                                        --107%--               
18.  Hill          Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:45.334   + 6.893     
19.  Gene          Minardi Ford         1:46.324   + 7.883     
20.  Badoer        Minardi Ford         1:46.784   + 8.343     
21.  de la Rosa    Arrows TWR           1:48.215   + 9.774     
22.  Takagi        Arrows TWR           1:48.322   + 9.881     

Weather: heavy rain

All timing unofficial


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