Qualifying

[Jay]

P. No Driver Team - Engine Times Moy/Ecarts
1. 1 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1'35"220 209.565 Km/h
2. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1'35"319 + 0'00"099
3. 5 R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW 1'35"511 + 0'00"291
4. 3 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes 1'36"040 + 0'00"820
5. 12 TRULLI Jordan Honda 1'36"180 + 0'00"960
6. 6 MONTOYA Williams BMW 1'36"218 + 0'00"998
7. 10 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 1'36"397 + 0'01"177
8. 4 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1'36"417 + 0'01"197
9. 11 FRENTZEN Jordan Honda 1'36"578 + 0'01"358
10. 9 PANIS BAR Honda 1'36"681 + 0'01"461
11. 16 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas 1'36"913 + 0'01"693
12. 18 IRVINE Jaguar 1'37"140 + 0'01"920
13. 22 ALESI Prost Acer 1'37"406 + 0'02"186
14. 17 RAIKKONEN Sauber Petronas 1'37"728 + 0'02"508
15. 19 BURTI Jaguar 1'38"035 + 0'02"815
16. 7 FISICHELLA Benetton Renault 1'38"086 + 0'02"866
17. 8 BUTTON Benetton Renault 1'38"258 + 0'03"038
18. 14 VERSTAPPEN Arrows Asiatech 1'38"509 + 0'03"289
19. 15 BERNOLDI Arrows Asiatech 1'38"708 + 0'03"488
20. 23 MAZZACANE Prost Acer 1'39"006 + 0'03"786
21. 20 MARQUES Minardi European 1'39"714 + 0'04"494
22. 21 ALONSO Minardi European 1'40"249 + 0'05"029

What a session! I don't like either of their drivers, but go Williams! (And of course BAR, Jordan, and anything else that isn't red or sliver).

[Mania]

WHAT A DRIVE BY RALF SCHUMACHER!! UNbelievable! That Williams looked totally lost on Friday but full credit to the Williams boys and Ralf for pulling of a great session. I really thought Ralf would keep pole position after he beat Michael the second time around but Michael proved why he is..simply the best

Still, third place is a great position to start and Im gonna go out on a limb here and predict that tomorrow RALF SCHUMACHER will WIN his first race for BMW WIlliams!!

Great drive by Montoya, backing up his team mate - The Mclarens...well...they were really of the pace, worse than Australia. This was one of the best sessions Ive ever seen...and tomorrows race can only be better if Ralf can pick up the win (which I believe he will)

[Liz]

Never mind Juan Pablo "backing up his teammate" - remember this boy has had virtually NO TIME ON THIS TRACK! Considering that to be the case, I'd say that what he did today was at least as outstanding as what Ralfie did.

And I hope Ron Dennis has enough hankies and protest forms stocked up for the race tomorrow. Looks as if he will need both!

What was that about "Sore Losers", Uncle Ron?

Despite the fact that we didn't get to see the first 25 minutes due to "technical difficulties" of some kind (thank GOD for the Internet!) it was well worth staying up to watch.

[djb]

I followed the qualifying on F1-live, and even though there were no images, it was even exciting to follow it with written blurbs popping up regularly.

Tomorrow should yeild a very interesting start, to say the least, not to mention some interesting braking into the two hairpins!

[gomick]

good to see the times are sort of close - hope rubens has the lead in the first corner followed by ralf......otherwise schumi benefit=boring!

[Valve Bounce]

I think I'll start warming those humble pies for Dino and AM. : : :

[bella]

i'm about to eat my hat - what's best - ketchup or mayo? and is that with chips or mash?

juan did whoop (excuse the expression..)some serious ass, though. and i'm proud to say - i told you so.

ha!

now, back to that hat...

[Wrex]

F1 drivers & also-rans.

Ferrari in general continue to demonstrate there superiority over everybody else, hogging the front row.

The best performance has to be from Ralf, so close to pole, but 3rd is excellent. 6th for Montoya after such little track time is outstanding.

Mika, David & Mclaren, what are you doing? Thats two very poor showings in a row from David, two weeks ago 6th, now 8th. Mika & TGF may be older, but your retirement from F1 could be closer.

Villeneuve has shown us again he does'nt officially start getting paid until qualifying starts.

Nick Kimmi in 11th & 14th, great to see Melbourne was'nt a fluke, & Eddie shows that there are still one or two tracks he is willing to drive hard on (whats this revenge business with JV, get a life).

Fissi & Bunsen continue to waide at the shallow end of the pool, and Arrows prove that changing the badge on an engine does'nt make it go faster.

And finally Minardi, bringing up the rear, but well within the 107%. Shame on all you people who said they would'nt qualify this year (Mr Bounce, I'm talking to you ).

Really close times all the way through, should be a fantastic race.

[R]

I'll go with what Gomick said about the start. If that happens, we'll be in for an interesting race!

It was a great qualifying session. Seldom can I remember having hoped more intensely for TGF to be beaten, it would have been great if he had been upstaged by his little brother! I was really hoping for Ralf to get pole, and when that didn't happen, I was hoping for Rubinho to beat TGF. That didn't happen either.

Still, a great qualifying performance by Ralf, and also by Montoya, after having all those problems on Friday. McLaren seems to have lost a lot of ground, I think Mika must have dug deep to qualify 4th after all. Credit to Jacques as well. Yes, Wrex, it doesn't start counting until Saturday qualifying. To do well when it counts, isn't that what matters? Let's just hope he doesn't tangle with Montoya.

[Tristan]

...and Alonso being outqualified by TARSO!!!!! Told you he wasn't that bad!!

[MichaelC]

Overall, it's certainly good to see that both Honda-backed teams and Williams seem to be coming up fast behind McLaren and Ferarri. It was indeed a little embarassing for the former of the two there!

Now if only Benetton/Renault can get their act together, perhaps we might start seeing a few more close races.

[Ralf's Girl]

Originally posted by Valve Bounce
I think I'll start warming those humble pies for Dino and AM. : : :

I think I'll join you, VB...

[Bononi]

Eh... Benettons back on the grid ! I guess they have a hard time with the Arrows.
and...
Jaguar will remain as last year ?

[TeddyG]

Awesome qualifying!!! Too bad Michael took it back in the end, I was hoping Ralf would hold on to pole. But finally a legitimate challenge from another team to take some of the glory away from Ferrari and McLaren who have held it for so long. The Honda teams are only going to get better as well and McLaren seem to be struggling, I can't wait for the race!! Hopfully we will see a new face (and new team) on the top of the podium!!

[Liz]

Did anyone actually see the Prosts on track? Our feed never showed either of them.

Although I think TGF is mega boring, I have to say that save of the car in Turn 12 was impressive. Not many in the current field could have done it.

I'm hoping to see the Jordans pick up their feet a bit in the race. It should be excellent.

[R]

I saw Jean Alesi! Once...

TGF saving it in turn 12 was great stuff. When the cars are absolutely on the limit, that turn offers spectacular watching. I remember one of the Jordans was absolutely on the limit in that turn too, almost "snapping" through the corner. Fantastic!

[Bononi]

Prost ? The big fake of the season...

[Schumacher]

Looks like they ran a light fuel load and fooled everyone during testing. Heck, they certainly got me. Even the Saubers seem to be far quicker than the Prosts.

[Liz]

Time will tell, Prost-wise.

But as for Alonso, a word in his defence: he had to make his first two runs in the spare car, and then his final one in the race car. The handling was substantially different in each and he never came to terms with this. For a 19 year old kid he still did a good job to qualify well within the times.

One more hour to go. I hope I can stay awake.....zzzzzzzz

[Jay]

30 min now... I'm fine, but then again I have yet to adjust to the Eastern Time. To me it is 10:30pm...

Happy viewing!