drivers agreed to be an improvement. Practice and qualifying This was the first Formula One race to be held at the Nürburgring since the 1985 German Grand Prix, so an additional familiarisation session was held prior to the usual practice and qualifying sessions. In this session, Schumacher set a benchmark time of 1:20.418, ahead of Hill in second, Coulthard, Häkkinen, Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Sauber), Gerhard Berger (Ferrari) and the rest of the field. The drivers, were uninspired by the circuit: Schumacher described it as "dull" and "easy to learn, with no real challenges" and Coulthard predicted a processional race without much overtaking. Two practice sessions were held before the race: on Friday morning and on Saturday morning. Both sessions lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes with weather conditions dry in the first session, but wet for the second session. Hill set the fastest time in the first session, posting a lap of 1:19.343, three-hundredths of a second quicker than teammate Coulthard in second place. The Benettons were third and fifth fastest; Schumacher ahead of Herbert, with Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger fourth, over a second behind Hill. Häkkinen rounded out the top six in his McLaren. The wet conditions for the second practice session meant that lap times were slower as there was less grip on the track. In the second session, Hill was again fastest with a time of 1:34.906. Coulthard was second, with Frentzen third in the Sauber, two seconds slower than Hill. The Ferraris were fourth and fifth, Berger in front of Alesi. Schumacher and Herbert were sixth and seventh respectively, with Barrichello eighth. Olivier Panis in the Ligier and Mika Salo in the Tyrrell rounded out the top ten, both three and a half seconds off the fastest lap time. Amongst the slower runners, Andrea Montermini suffered a worrying moment when his Pacific car shed its left-rear wheel, but he was able to return to his pit garage. The was split into two one-hour sessions; the first of which was held on Friday afternoon and the second on Saturday afternoon. The fastest time from either session counted towards the drivers' final grid positions. Both sessions were interrupted by rain, which led to little action on the track. Coulthard took his third consecutive pole position in his Williams, with a time of 1:18.738. He was joined on the by teammate Hill, who was two-tenths of a second behind. Schumacher