Hakkinen claims seventh pole of the season
Despite parking his McLaren-Mercedes race chassis just two corners into the qualifying session when the engine lost power, Mika Hakkinen hitched a lift back to the pits and took over his spare chassis to take his seventh pole position of the season and the 17th of his F1 career. "We changed something on the engine and it lost power. I thought it was all over, but then I thought there is still 50 minutes to go, keep calm and do the job in the T-car which should be the same anyway," said Hakkinen.
Coulthard came in after one lap, " To check and reset an electronic problem," said the Scot, who then went back out to set the second quickest time to make it an all McLaren front row.
Irvine heads row two for Marlboro-Ferrari
Eddie Irvine took third place for Scuderia Ferrari-Marlboro half way through the session, but was disappointed to be a full second behind his rivals. "I should have been only less than a second away. The car was well balanced and handling well, but I had a problem with the brake temperatures since this morning when you are doing longer runs. The fronts and rears were locking up, but never in the same way into the same corner, so I could not go in as deep under braking as I wanted to and that cost me the extra time," said Eddie.
Mika Salo took seventh place on the grid in his first race for Ferrari. " I am not disappointed to be seventh. It's a very hard track to get the most out of the car and I do not have the confidence yet to push to the maximum. It's getting better all the time though, which is encouraging," he said.
Frentzen fourth for Jordan
Heinz Harald Frentzen was delighted and surprised to have taken a fourth place time for Jordan on his final run when the track was not as quick. "I also lost a couple of tenth's on the final sector with a slight mistake, although it would not have made any difference to my grid position," he said after improving the balance of his chassis since the morning. Damon Hill, fastest yesterday, ended up a disappointed 11th to-day, unable to maintain his Friday form.
Third row to Stewart-Ford
Rubens Barrichello and Johnny Herbert claimed the third row for the Stewart-Ford team , Barrichello hoping to have done better on his last run, but delayed by traffic. Herbert felt he was on top of things for the first time this year, his best run spoiled by a yellow flag for Zonta.
In brief...
Williams, who had been trying steel brakes this morning reverted back to carbon for qualifying. However, Schumacher didn't get a good lap together and could not better eighth, while Zanardi couldn't better 14th fastest. Jacques Villeneuve got his BAR into the top ten with ninth spot, but Zonta's day ended in a gravel trap after he locked up and went off on his final run leaving him in 15th place. Sauber dropped well of the pace. Diniz was 16th and Alesi 17th, but had to use his spare car when his race chassis had engine problems. De La Rosa had to use his spare car when his race Arrows blew up its engine on his first flying lap.
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes 1:10.954 219.134 kmph
2. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes 1:11.153 + 0.199
3. Irvine Ferrari 1:11.973 + 1.019
4. Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:12.266 + 1.312
5. Barrichello Stewart Ford 1:12.342 + 1.388
6. Herbert Stewart Ford 1:12.488 + 1.534
7. Salo Ferrari 1:12.514 + 1.560
8. R.Schumacher Williams Supertec 1:12.515 + 1.561
9. Villeneuve BAR Supertec 1:12.833 + 1.879
10. Wurz Benetton Playlife 1:12.850 + 1.896
11. Hill Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:12.901 + 1.947
12. Fisichella Benetton Playlife 1:12.924 + 1.970
13. Trulli Prost Peugeot 1:12.999 + 2.045
14. Zanardi Williams Supertec 1:13.101 + 2.147
15. Zonta BAR Supertec 1:13.172 + 2.218
16. Diniz Sauber Petronas 1:13.223 + 2.269
17. Alesi Sauber Petronas 1:13.226 + 2.272
18. Panis Prost Peugeot 1:13.457 + 2.503
19. Badoer Minardi Ford 1:13.606 + 2.652
20. Takagi Arrows TWR 1:13.641 + 2.687
21. de la Rosa Arrows TWR 1:14.139 + 3.185
22. Gene Minardi Ford 1:14.363 + 3.409
All timing unofficial