Summary

Heinz-Harald Frentzen secured his first pole position in the last couple of minutes of today's qualifying. The German just managed to squeeze his Williams-Renault in front of Michael Schumacher, who took provisional pole early in the session.

Giancarlo Fisichella felt right at home on the narrow street circuit and clocked an excellent fourth time in front of his team-mate Ralf Schumacher

Notes

• Almost all the teams have a T-car ready per driver.
• Verstappen gets a new engine build in between the morning and the qualifying session.
• Former Lola driver Rosset will probably land a Tyrrell testing seat.
• French sources say that Benetton boss Flavio Briatore has signed a provisional agreement with Mecachrome to supply the team with Renault engines just like Williams in 1998.
• Panis is using his T-car because he crashed in the morning.
• Verstappen crashes into the barriers and has to continue in the T-car.
• Hakkinen goes off and wrecks the front of his McLaren.
• Villeneuve hits the wall in the first corner because of a technical defect and retires from the practise.
  • Weather during session: Sunny, Strong winds (20 Degrees)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

Frentzen (Williams) M. Schumacher (Ferrari) Villeneuve (Williams) Fisichella (Jordan) Coulthard (McLaren) R. Schumacher (Jordan) Herbert (Sauber) Hakkinen (McLaren) Alesi (Benetton) Barrichello (Stewart) Larini (Sauber) Panis (Prost) Hill (Arrows) Salo (Tyrrell) Irvine (Ferrari) Diniz (Arrows) Berger (Benetton) Trulli (Minardi) Magnussen (Stewart) Katayama (Minardi) Nakano (Prost) Verstappen (Tyrrell) 107% rule

1m 18.216s 1m 18.235s 1m 18.583s 1m 18.665s 1m 18.779s 1m 18.943s 1m 19.105s 1m 19.119s 1m 19.263s 1m 19.295s 1m 19.468s 1m 19.626s 1m 19.674s 1m 19.694s 1m 19.723s 1m 19.860s 1m 20.199s 1m 20.349s 1m 20.516s 1m 20.606s 1m 20.961s 1m 21.290s 1m 23.691s

The Quotes

• Frentzen: "Everything came good today for me. It was brilliant. Really exciting. I really didn't expect it to be easy to catch Michael and that is why I opted for a risky set-up. It worked, thankfully. When they told me the time was an 18.2, I didn't believe them. It is wonderful to claim my first pole position. Now it is important for me to sleep well, not to drink any champagne and to be very relaxed and confident for the race."

• Schumacher: "It was a shame to lose pole in the last few minutes. On my last run, I was unable to improve my time as I had understeer in T2 (second section) especially at the Casino and at Mirabeau. Anyway the front row is a good position for tomorrow and my car handles well in race trim. It will be an interesting race. The most important things will be to have a good strategy and to get to the finish."

• Villeneuve: "Something broke at the back of the car and I didn't want to end up getting in the way. It is going to be a long race and I know that you can start anywhere and still end up on the podium so I am confident."

• Hill: "I'm not happy about being 13th but it was a good team effort and I want to finish the race. If you can do that here there's a good chance of being in the points. The thing about Monaco is it is always fun. It doesn't matter what time you are doing, it's fun and exciting."

• Verstappen: "Coming out of the swimming pool complex I just touched the armco with my left front tyre. I think it broke the steering arm and I went straight on into the barrier, making a mess of the right side of the car! The spare was set up for Mika and although the boys worked really well to give me a chance, there was not enough time to change many settings. I tried everything to post a time near what we achieved this morning, but you don't have the confidence to push hard on someone else's set up. It's going to be difficult tomorrow."

• Salo: "I was on the limit all the way on that last lap. It was so close I knew that a few tenths could make a big difference and it was a shame that Damon just beat me on his final run. The car was handling well, as it had been all morning and this is our best qualifying performance of the season so that puts us in better shape for the race tomorrow."

FIA president Max Mosley says there is no going back on the regulation changes for next year. Several drivers, including Jacques Villeneuve, opposed the new rules of grooved tyres and narrow chassis'.

Mosley said: "There is no going back now And any rumours going around in the paddock that suggest otherwise are wrong."

He also responded a bit irritated on Villeneuve's comments: "It is our responsibility to worry about safety, not his."

He stated that if it wasn't for the new rules Jos Verstappen wouldn't be around anymore after his crash during the Belgium Grand Prix last year: "His accident would have been fatal if he had been driving a car as they were two years earlier before the padding had been put in."