stop on the track while Wurz did not record any laps due to a fuel pick-up issue. Frentzen set no lap times during the session while his car was being repaired. Qualifying Saturday's afternoon one hour qualifying session saw each driver limited to twelve laps, with the starting order decided by their fastest laps. During this session, the 107% rule was in effect, which necessitated each driver set a time within 107 per cent of the quickest lap to qualify for the race. The session was held in dry weather. Michael Schumacher achieved his sixth pole position of the season, and the 29th of his career, with a time of 1:23.770. Although he was happy with his car and tyres, he said that he did not make the best of session due to his making a mistake at the first chicane during his first run. Michael Schumacher was joined on the front row by Barrichello who recorded a lap time 0.027 seconds slower with ten minutes left and was happy to start alongside his teammate. Häkkinen qualified third after having handling difficulties and his McLaren misfiring with a fuel pressure fault which distracted him during his final two timed laps. Villeneuve achieved BAR's best qualifying performance at the time in fourth on his final fast lap with 12 minutes remaining, nearly half a second behind Michael Schumacher. He said he was happy with his performance despite a minor error on his first run. Häkkinen's teammate Coulthard took fifth after encountering traffic during qualifying and vehicle balance problems. He was blocked by Frentzen leaving the Rettifilo chicane on his last run. Trulli and Frentzen set the sixth and eighth fastest times respectively for Jordan; Trulli reported no problems while Frentzen was impeded by De La Rosa, losing him approximately four-tenths of a second. Ralf Schumacher, seventh, expressed disappointment in his performance that saw him abort two runs due to his braking position. De La Rosa's made some adjustments to his vehicle that saw him qualify tenth with a fast lap which he recorded with two minutes remaining. His teammate Verstappen qualified eleventh having been required to drive two of his team's cars when they developed hydraulic and engine problems that saw him stop in the gravel at Ascari corner. Button qualified twelfth after overheating his tyres and being unable to control his car after reducing its downforce. Wurz, 13th, used the