first time since the 1997 British Grand Prix that both Williams cars began a Formula One race from the first two starting positions. Häkkinen used three sets of tyres in qualifying third and praised the handling of his car for his good performance. Michael Schumacher secured fourth and was disappointed not to be ahead of the two McLaren cars. Coulthard, fifth, had tyre blistering caused by a loose rear and conserved his tyre use by abandoning his final run. Barrichello managed sixth having been unable to improve his time because of a spin. Behind the leading six, the two Sauber cars were seventh and eighth, Heidfeld qualifying in front of Räikkönen, with both drivers having their cars modified helping them to run faster (Heidfeld adjusted his set-up while Räikkönen raised his ride height for his third run). De La Rosa and Irvine qualified in ninth and eleventh positions respectively for Jaguar; the pair were separated by Trulli whose engine failed on his third run and could not return to the pit lane to use his team's spare car. The three drivers were ahead of Villeneuve in the faster BAR car, who in turn, was ahead of teammate Panis; both drivers struggled to find grip throughout qualifying. Alesi qualified 14th, more than four-tenths of a second in front of Prost teammate Luciano Burti due to a setup change by Burti for his first run; the latter spun off in the circuit's stadium section and hit the barrier backwards which caused a yellow flag to be shown and prevented any lap time improvement. The two were split by Zonta's slower Jordan car who mounted a kerb at the Senna chicane on his third run, which lost him time and he encountered Panis in the stadium section. Fisichella took 17th and his teammate Button was 18th. Button's car had its gearbox changed in the morning and he pulled to the side of the track with a failed engine on his final timed lap. Fisichella encountered a slower car on his final lap. Behind them, the Arrows drivers managed to qualify in 18th and 19th because their cars lacked power; Enrique Bernoldi qualifying ahead of Jos Verstappen. Bernoldi improved his car's handling although his potential best run was disrupted because of Button's engine failure and Verstappen spun on his final timed lap. The starting order was completed by Alonso and Marques in the Minardi