Jenson Button recorded the day's fastest lap of 1 minute and 19.808 seconds with one minute of the session remaining. Wurz was 0.440 seconds slower in second. The McLaren pair of Häkkinen and Coulthard were third and fourth. Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher, Trulli, Zonta, Heidfeld and Villeneuve followed in the top ten. An engine fault curtailed Ralf Schumacher's running and Giancarlo Fisichella of the Benetton team damaged the left-hand side of his car in a collision with a tyre barrier beside the circuit. Coulthard spun on a kerb at the Veedol chicane. The weather was cold and overcast on Saturday morning. In the third practice session, Michael Schumacher set the fastest lap of 1 minute and 18.527 seconds, ahead of Häkkinen, Frentzen, Coulthard, Pedro de la Rosa of the Arrows team, Ralf Schumacher, Zonta, Villeneuve, Button and Barrichello. Arrows driver Jos Verstappen's running was curtailed after 17 minutes due to smoke billowing from his engine. Button hit the kerbs on the track, spun, and damaged his car against the tyre barrier. Michael Schumacher did not improve his time; he remained the fastest driver in the fourth practice session. Barrichello in second was driving faster and he finished the session 0.227 seconds slower than his teammate. Häkkinen and Coulthard fell to third and fourth as Frentzen dropped to fifth. Fisichella improved to sixth, as the rest of the top ten comprised Villeneuve, Ralf Schumacher, De La Rosa and Trulli. During the session, Coulthard slid into a gravel trap at turn three though he rejoined the track without any apparent damage. He stopped at the side of the circuit at the Ford Kurve and track marshals extricated his car into an escape road. Marc Gené spun his Minardi car at the Castrol-S chicane and Ralf Schumacher drove into the grass after running deep at the Veedol chicane. Qualifying Saturday afternoon's one hour qualifying session saw every driver limited to twelve laps, with the starting order decided by their fastest qualifying laps. During this session the 107% rule was in effect, requiring each driver to remain within 107 per cent of the fastest lap time to qualify for the race. Sections of the circuit were damp from an earlier rain shower, and more rain was forecast, prompting teams to install the extra soft compound tyres on their cars and drivers ventured onto the track early in qualifying. A heavy rainstorm in the final