Summary
The fans had to wait a long time to see some action on the circuit but action they got. Because the tyres were at their best after three or four laps, or even later, all drivers did just two runs of six laps.
Bridgestone again showed tyres are very important, with both the Stewart cars in the top six and Jarno Trulli even on grid position three. While the Goodyear drivers had some grip problems.
In the end however it was the Williams car of Villeneuve who led the pack and will start the race from the first position on the grid. He was just a little bit faster than second place man Mika Hakkinen. Eddie Irvine outpaced Michael Schumacher for the first time this season. It was a very bad day for the Benetton team qualifying 15th and 18th.
The race is going to be a tough one for the material. There have been numerous mechanical failures over the last couple of days and we have seen many engines go up in smoke.
Notes
The Times
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Villeneuve (Williams-Renault) G Hakkinen (McLaren-Mercedes) G Trulli (Prost-Mugen) B Frentzen (Williams-Renault) G Barrichello (Stewart-Ford) B Magnussen (Stewart-Ford) B Hill (Arrows-Yamaha) B Irvine (Ferrari) G M. Schumacher (Ferrari) G Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes) G R. Schumacher (Jordan-Peugeot) G Herbert (Sauber-Petronas) G Morbidelli (Sauber-Petronas) G Fisichella (Jordan-Peugeot) G Alesi (Benetton-Renault) G Nakano (Prost-Mugen) B Diniz (Arrows-Yamaha) B Berger (Benetton-Renault) G Katayama (Minardi-Hart) B Verstappen (Tyrrell-Ford) G Marques (Minardi-Hart) B Salo (Tyrrell-Ford) G 107% rule B: Bridgestone G: Goodyear |
1m 10.304s 1m 10.398s 1m 10.511s 1m 10.670s 1m 10.700s 1m 10.893s 1m 11.025s 1m 11.051s 1m 11.056s 1m 11.076s 1m 11.186s 1m 11.210s 1m 11.261s 1m 11.299s 1m 11.382s 1m 11.596s 1m 11.615s 1m 11.620s 1m 12.036s 1m 12.230s 1m 12.304s 1m 14.246s 1m 15.225s
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