cars due to them being underpowered; Marques first run was affected by a gear selection fault and came across a spun car during his final run. Qualifying classification Warm-up The drivers took to the track at 09:30 Central European Summer Time (UTC+2) for a 30-minute warm-up session in clear weather. Ralf Schumacher set the fastest time of the session at 1:42.621 on his final lap after leading for much of warm-up. His teammate Montoya finished with the second fastest time at the session's end. Coulthard was third quickest, and Michael Schumacher completed the top four, one-tenth of a second behind Ralf Schumacher. Alonso spun at the Sudkurve corner and skated across the gravel trap towards the tyre barriers. Trulli's engine failed exiting the Ostkurve corner during his third lap and he parked his car onto the grass before returning to the pit lane ten minutes later to drive the spare car. Not long after Zonta made contact with the tyre barrier at Sudkurve turn in the stadium section after spinning into the gravel. Alonso struck the tyre barrier sideways close to Zonta. His Minardi teammate Marques spun into the gravel at Ostkurve corner but avoided damaging his car; he narrowly avoided Burti. Race The weather conditions on the grid were dry before the race; the air temperature was and the track temperature . The race commenced at 14:00 local time. It lasted 71 laps over a distance of . Approximately 100,000 spectators attended the Grand Prix. As all 22 drivers were preparing to begin the formation lap, Alonso and Marques began from the pit lane due to fuel leaking from the refuelling values. Alonso drove the spare Minardi car with Marques using his teammate's repaired vehicle. Michael Schumacher began to be affected by an gearbox selection problem while on the parade lap which the Ferrari team had hoped was slow-speed related. Both Williams drivers maintained first and second entering the first turn. Further back, Michael Schumacher slowed due to his gearbox selection fault that prevented him from shifting out of first gear and he drove in a straight line in the middle of the circuit. This resulted in drivers being required to swerve to avoid Schumacher. As Panis was blocking his view and Zonta driving to the left, Burti was unable to view the Ferrari and struck it. Burti struck Schumacher's right-rear wheel and went five feet into the air.