Summary

Jacques Villeneuve sent a warning shot today to Damon Hill, that the championship is not over yet. Villeneuve was top of the times in the 32nd minute, before rain started to fall. For ten minutes, nobody ventured on to the track. The sun made a brief appearance late in the session, but by then Villeneuve had carved his name into the grid before La Source, as a rookie Pole Position holder at Spa.

Notes

• Schumacher made no attempt to set a time until the 20th minute, despite the bad looking sky overhead.
• Other teammates that upset the team qualifying trend were Coulthard and Brundle, both out-qualifying their usually quicker team mates.
• Few drivers ventured out on to the wet track to test in case of a wet race day.
• The only non-qualifyer was Giovanni Lavaggi, due to the 107% rule.

Top Ten on the Grid

1. J.Villeneuve 1m 50.574s
2. D.Hill 1m 50.980s
3. M.Schumacher 1m 51.778s
4. D.Coulthard 1m 51.884s
5. G.Berger 1m 51.960s
6. M.Hakkinen 1m 52.318s
7. J.Alesi 1m 52.354s
8. M.Brundle 1m 52.977s
9. E.Irvine 1m 53.043s
10. R.Barrichello 1m 53.152s