One of the "most competitive" practice sessions of the year saw Michael Schumacher taking top time in Montreal with 1:18.034. Michael nearly ran over a ground hog which suddenly ran across the track in front of his Ferrari during the session. Olivier Panis of Prost came second with a time of 1:18.514. Although Schumacher managed almost a half-second gap between the Frenchman, the next nine drivers fell within one-second of the top time.

2nd Free Practice Timing by Gale Force F1

Summary

Michael Schumacher grabbed pole in the last second of today's qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix. The sunny session started uneventful when teams played a waiting game due to warm track temperatures and a dusty circuit. Eventually, Rubens Barrichello and Jan Magnussen broke the tension as the first cars out.

British driver David Coulthard was the first driver to turn heads when climbed to provisional pole half-way through the session with a time of 1:18.466. Heinz-Harald Frentzen temporarily claimed provisional pole with a final time of 1:18.464.

However, home star Jacques Villeneuve seemed to have ultimate control of the session when he claimed top spot late into the session with a time of 1:18.108. Because of the his times set earlier in practice, all eyes focused on Michael Schumacher to upset Villeneuve's time and Williams' 11 race pole position domination. With approximately 5 minutes left in the race, Alex Wurz (replacing Gerhard Berger at Benetton) crashed along the start/finish line which brought out a red flag and the session stopped.

The session resumed with a train of cars taking their last shot at an improved position. Schumacher calmly waited for the last seconds to expire when starting his final flying lap. His aggressiveness almost brought him to destruction in the last corner when he barely missed a concrete barrier. However, his determination prevailed in spectacular fashion. He took pole away from Villeneuve with a time of 1:18.095 and put Ferrari in a ideal situation for Sunday's race.

The Ford works-team Stewart also improved when Barrichello brought his car across the line with the 3rd best time of 1:18.388. Frentzen and Coulthard remained fourth and fifth respectively.

Villeneuve said after the session, "It's disappointing to lose pole to Michael, but there are two races to come in Germany so there are two times I can pay him back... The support from the crowd has been great. I could see their reaction while I was on the circuit, but I always knew that it was going to be tough... It's a little frustrating not getting pole."

Notes

• Recoverable spins were made by: Trulli, Salo
• Unrecoverable spins were made by: Hill, Trulli (second time).
• Wurz crashed into the barriers at high speed. A front wheel was ripped off. He walked away unhurt
• Coulthard parks his car beside the track. They declared that they didn't know what was wrong. What they do know is that the engine sometimes shuts down by itself. Coulthard did suffer some hydraulic problems in the morning.

  • Weather during session: Sunny, 20 Degrees Celsius

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

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

1m 18.095s 1m 18.108s 1m 18.388s 1m 18.464s 1m 18.466s 1m 18.750s 1m 18.869s 1m 18.899s 1m 18.916s 1m 19.034s 1m 19.286s 1m 19.503s 1m 19.622s 1m 20.102s 1m 20.129s 1m 20.175s 1m 20.336s 1m 20.357s 1m 20.370s 1m 20.370s 1m 20.491s 1m 21.034s 1m 23.562s

The Quotes

• M. Schumacher: "I am happy, especially as the team put in a big effort to improve my F 310 B and these modifications contributed to my getting pole position. We have worked out a good set-up for tomorrow's race. I hope that, as has been the case since the start of the season, my car will be better in the race than in qualifying. I am confident that tomorrow I can get on the podium and bring home some important points for the team. Having set the fastest time in the first few laps and after Villeneuve had beaten me by a fraction, I went out once again to find the tenth I needed for pole and I managed it."

• Verstappen: "I was a good day for me today with my best qualifying position with the team this year. It was an eventful session and on my last flying lap somebody came out of the pits in front of me. I decided to back off and save this set of tyres for the race tomorrow. It is a shame because the circuit was quicker at the end of the session as more rubber went down. The race will be hard tomorrow, especially for the tyres just as it was in Spain."

• Salo: "I did not get any clear laps during qualifying. There was always someone in front of me or going off the track. The only time I had a clear lap I went off myself! At the last chicane I lost the rear on the bumps and felt I was going to spin so I let it go backwards into the sand trap so I could get out of it. We should have done a lot better so I am not satisfied. My last full lap was my best but I was held up by Ukyo Katayama twice and it cost me a lot of time."

• Wurz on his accident: "It was my mistake and I feel bad about it."