front wing in the process. However, he still set the fastest time of the session (1:23.607) after a change to his car's ride height proved beneficial to its performance. The top six was completed by Berger, Hill, Häkkinen, Alesi, and Olivier Panis' Ligier. Schumacher also set the fastest time in the second qualifying session with a lap of 1:20.382, but it was not good enough to beat Hill's fastest time overall set in the first session. Hill made a set-up change that he turned out not to be happy with, but maintained his pole position, his first since the 1994 British Grand Prix. The Williams and Benetton formation continued on the second row, as Coulthard was third, with Herbert qualifying fourth after a late flying lap, equalling his best-ever qualifying position, achieved at the 1994 Italian Grand Prix for the Lotus team. However, a hole was punched in the bottom of Herbert's monocoque chassis during the session as a result of damage, leading to a night of repairs in order for him to be able to take the start in his designated race car. The work required to repair both Benetton cars caused Schumacher's race engineer, Pat Symonds, to describe the weekend as "one of the hardest [...] I can remember for many years". It also meant that three British drivers started in the top four, leading Hill to joke that "the English [sic] have got Michael surrounded". Behind the leading four, the two Ferrari cars were fifth and sixth, Berger qualifying in front of Alesi. Both were optimistic on their race prospects, despite the fact that the former suffered an engine failure during the session. The two McLaren cars of Häkkinen and Blundell were seventh and ninth, the two split by Eddie Irvine in a Jordan car. Irvine set his time despite spinning off during the session; his teammate Barrichello suffered the season's first engine failure during a timed session on Friday and then gearbox problems on Saturday, before also spinning off during that day's qualifying session, restricting him to a disappointing 16th position on the grid at his home race. Katayama and Salo proved evenly-matched for Tyrrell, qualifying in 11th and 12th respectively, behind Panis. The Minardi drivers were also close, with Pierluigi Martini and Luca Badoer taking 17th and 18th positions on the grid respectively, separated from the Tyrrell drivers by Gianni Morbidelli (Footwork), Frentzen, Aguri Suzuki