Summary

David Coulthard took pole for tomorrows Grand Prix today. Michael Schumacher seems to have broken the McLaren domination: splitting the team on the grid with second place. The new Goodyear tyres really seem to be working. Most of the Goodyear drivers, including Schumacher, use the soft compound while Bridgestone drivers use the hard compound. This could result in less pitstops for the Bridgestone drivers, if it doesn't rain.

Notes

• Tyrell, Sauber, Prost and Jordan all use the Tyrrell mid wing construction.
  • Weather during qualifying: Overcast, dry

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

Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes) B M. Schumacher (Ferrari) G Hakkinen (McLaren-Mercedes) B Irvine (Ferrari) G R. Schumacher (Jordan-Mugen) G Frentzen (Williams-Mecachrome) G Villeneuve (Williams-Mecachrome) G Wurz (Benetton-Mecachrome) B Hill (Jordan-Mugen) G Fisichella (Benetton-Mecachrome) B Alesi (Sauber-Petronas) G Herbert (Sauber-Petronas) G Takagi (Tyrrell-Ford) G Barrichello (Stewart-Ford) B Panis (Prost-Peugeot) B Trulli (Prost-Peugeot) B Salo (Arrows) G Diniz (Arrows) B Nakano (Minardi-Ford) B Tuero (Minardi-Ford) B Rosset (Tyrrell-Ford)B Magnussen (Stewart-Ford) B 107% rule B: Bridgestone G: Goodyear

1m 25.852s 1m 26.251s 1m 26.632s 1m 26.780s 1m 26.827s 1m 26.876s 1m 26.941s 1m 27.198s 1m 27.483s 1m 27.836s 1m 27.839s 1m 28.016s 1m 28.811s 1m 29.249s 1m 29.320s 1m 29.352s 1m 29.617s 1m 30.022s 1m 30.054s 1m 30.158s 1m 30.437s 1m 31.178s 1m 31.862s

The Quotes

• Hakkinen: "A great result for the team once again. I did not have a 100% opportunity to get a clear run in the whole of the qualifying session, partly through my own fault, but I am hopeful however, that if we change the set up for tomorrow in order to make the car a little more forgiving in the middle and last sections I will go better. Apart from that, well done David."

• M. Schumacher: "We can see the results of the improvements we made at the last Barcelona test and I would also say a big thank you to Goodyear for giving us a good tyre which has allowed us to improve our set-up. The engine is much the same as in Brazil although we have improved the mapping. A miracle has happened so that I am between the two McLarens and not so far behind the pole. I feel that maybe now we can go where we want to go. Tomorrow I hope we have a clean race with dry weather. The first corner will be very important and I am happy we have improved our starts at the last test."

• Coulthard: "It was a difficult qualifying session but we kept working on the car which allowed me to improve my line and gradually the lap time came. It is a very much closer result than in the first two races but we still have a small advantage. The nature of the track is low grip with many different surfaces and very dusty off line which makes it a difficult circuit to drive. Tyres will naturally play a large part in tomorrow's performance and our strategy for the race."