McLaren pulled out to the side of the Hangar Straight with an hydraulic problem – this required a suspension as the recovery vehicle got stuck in mud meaning a tractor had to pull it out—and Villeneuve nearly struck a marshal assisting Coulthard. The weather remained wet for the Saturday morning practice sessions. Coulthard was fastest in the third session, setting a time of 1:33.614; Häkkinen ended with the second-quickest lap. Michael Schumacher and Barrichello were third and fifth, respectively; they were separated by Ralf Schumacher. The Jordan drivers ended sixth and seventh with Frentzen quicker than Trulli. Mika Salo, Pedro Diniz and Jos Verstappen followed in the top ten. In the final practice session, Häkkinen ended up fastest with a time of 1:33.132, with Coulthard setting the third-quickest lap time. The pair were separated by Michael Schumacher with his teammate Barrichello fourth-fastest. Ralf Schumacher was fifth overall. Fisichella followed in sixth, having lost most of the session due to an oil leak, requiring an engine change. Frentzen, Verstappen, Trulli and Salo completed the top ten ahead of qualifying. Diniz spun off the circuit damaging his car's front suspension in a crash. Williams driver Jenson Button spun into the gravel trap at turn 14 and was subsequently hit by Irvine's Jaguar. The Williams sustained a broken front and rear suspension whilst the Jaguar's monocoque was punctured. Both drivers were unhurt. Qualifying Saturday's afternoon one hour qualifying session saw each driver limited to twelve laps, with the grid 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 cloudy weather conditions but on a drying race track. The air temperature was and the track temperature was . Barrichello clinched his third pole position of his career, his first at the circuit, with a time of 1:25.703. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Frentzen recording a lap 0.003 seconds slower. It was also his best qualifying performance of the season. Häkkinen qualified third having been forced to ease off the throttle after making a mistake during his final quick lap. He was in front of teammate Coulthard who encountered traffic on his final qualifying runs. Michael Schumacher—who made a change to his car, only to see him make