launch control, all of which were being re-introduced. These systems were previously banned at the end of , due to fears of cheating. There were two driver changes heading into the race. Having been in one of the two Jaguar cars since the start of the season, Luciano Burti was released from the team and replaced by Pedro de la Rosa. The second driver change was Burti moving to the Prost team replacing Gastón Mazzacane. Prost attempted to replace Mazzacane with Jordan test driver Ricardo Zonta, among others. Practice Four practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—two on Friday, and two on Saturday. The Friday morning and afternoon sessions each lasted an hour. The third and final practice sessions were held on Saturday morning and lasted 45 minutes. The first Friday session was held in dry and sunny conditions, becoming cloudier during the day. Coulthard was fastest in the first session, with a time of 1:20.107 that was half a second faster than Barrichello. Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher, Häkkinen and Olivier Panis rounded out the top six. In the second practice session, Coulthard, was quickest with a time of 1:20.107, ahead of Eddie Irvine, Barrichello, Panis, Michael Schumacher and Häkkinen, who were within a second of Coulthard's time. The Saturday morning sessions were again held in dry and sunny conditions. Michael Schumacher was quickest in the third practice session with a time of 1:18.634; Häkkinen was second fastest despite going off into the gravel late in the session. Coulthard, Barrichello, Jarno Trulli and Frentzen rounded off the top six. Michael Schumacher again set the fastest time in the fourth practice session, with a time identical to his fastest in the third practice session that was less than five thousands of a second faster than Barrichello. Coulthard was just off both Ferrari drivers pace. The Sauber drivers were running quicker—Kimi Räikkönen in fourth and Heidfeld in fifth—with Trulli completing the top six in his Jordan. Qualifying Saturday's afternoon qualifying session lasted for an hour. During this session, the 107% rule was in effect, which necessitated each driver set a time within 107% of the quickest lap to qualify for the race. Each driver was limited to twelve laps. Michael Schumacher clinched his fourth pole position of the season with a time of 1:18.201. He was joined on the front row by Häkkinen who was less than one-tenth of a second