Summary

Gerhard Berger dominated qualifying today in a stunning return to Formula One after a 3 race abscense.

Williams again displayed a problem in pace which saw Frentzen and Villeneuve qualify 5th and 9th respectively.

Notes

• Mia Hakkinen lead the time sheet early on.
• In the closing minutes, Alesi car stopped on track
• Frentzen and Berger both spun.
  • Weather during session: Sunny, some clouds

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

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

1m 41.598s 1m 41.873s 1m 41.896s 1m 42.034s 1m 42.181s 1m 42.421s 1m 42.493s 1m 42.498s 1m 42.687s 1m 42.967s 1m 43.209s 1m 43.226s 1m 43.272s 1m 43.660s 1m 43.927s 1m 44.069s 1m 44.112s 1m 44.552s 1m 45.372s 1m 45.811s 1m 45.942s 1m 46.499s 1m 49.004s

The Quotes

• Berger: "I have to tell you that after the Monza test last week I wasn't feeling very confident about coming here. But we studied what the car had been doing at Monza, and we have taken it in the right direction."

• Fisichella: " It is incredible. The car is very good and this is an excellent place to start. I raced here in an ITC car, but the line is completely different in an F1. It still feels very good"

• Hakkinen: "We did a positive test at Monza, so we are well prepared for the race. We have covered the race distance and worked on the car with low downforce"