Ralf Schumacher in the Williams starts 2nd .256s off the pole with Mark Webber in the Jaguar matching his effort yesterday with a 3rd place position. Montoya in the 2nd Williams took 4th with Barrichello in the Ferrari starting from 5th being the highest placed Bridgestone.

Raikkonen in the 1st McLaren rolls off from 7th followed by World champion Michael Schumacher in the 1st Ferrari 8th for his worst starting position of the season. The 2nd McLaren of David Coulthard took 9th spot with Olivia Panis 10th after a strong qualifying effort. Nick Heidfeld put his Sauber into 11th spot with a much improved Justin Wilson along side him in his Jaguar for 12th place.

Giancarlo Fisichella in the 1st Jordan will start from 13th position followed by Jenson Button in the 1st BAR from 14th. Cristano Da Matta recovered from his problems yesterday to grid his Toyota from 15th.

The final 5 cars are all Bridgestone shod and they consist of Villeneuve in the BAR 16th, Frentzen with a disappointing run for his Sauber in 17th, and Jos Verstappen in the Minardi 18th . Ralph Firman lost the rear wing of his Jordan at speed resulting in a heavy impact. He lost consciousness briefly and was not cleared to drive. Eddie Jordan tapped his Formula 3000 driver Zsolt Baumgartner to sub for this event. This is the 1st Hungarian driver to take part in an F1 race since 1938!

Baumgartner had been in the car today so the task was made easier because of that. He starts from 19th spot. The final qualifying position went to Nicolas Kiesa in the Minardi in 20th.

With the continuation of the hot European weather it’s likely that Michelin will prevail tomorrow, but anything can happen and usually does.

Article by: Tony Moffett