fastest with a 1-minute, 47.974 seconds lap and Ralf Schumacher in second. Häkkinen, Coulthard. Barrichello, Fisichella, Irvine, BAR driver Jacques Villeneuve, Button and Alesi completed the top ten ahead of qualifying. Several drivers ran off the slippery track surface during the session. De La Rosa, Irvine and Häkkinen went wide into the grass at the Bus Stop chicane, while Heinz-Harald Frentzen of the Prost team and Button ran off at Les Combes turn. Qualifying Saturday afternoon's one-hour qualifying session saw drivers limited to twelve laps, with the starting order decided by their fastest laps. During this session the 107% rule was in effect, requiring each driver to remain within 107 per cent of the fastest lap time to qualify for the race. Heavy rain at the start meant the field stayed in their garages for 26 minutes before cars on intermediate tyres ventured onto the track. By then, sunny weather allowed the track to progressively dry and cars were fitted with dry tyres in the last five minutes. Williams were the first team to switch their cars onto the dry tyres. Montoya traded the fastest lap with his teammate Ralf Schumacher and took the second pole position of his career with a 1-minute, 52.072 seconds lap, with Ralf Schumacher second. Michael Schumacher in third drove the spare Ferrari before switching to his race car when the track dried. Frentzen was hesitant to switch to the dry tyres until his team owner Alain Prost convinced him to do so and qualified fourth. Barrichello, fifth, used the intermediate tyres throughout. Villeneuve ran conservatively because he feared making an error and took sixth. Häkkinen qualified in seventh, bemoaning his conservative driving style due to the timing of the switch from intermediate to dry tyres. Eighth-placed Fisichella reported that the feel of his car was adequate in changeable weather. Coulthard fell from third to ninth in qualifying's final seconds due to his team telling him there was insufficient time to have the dry tyres fitted to his car and traffic slowed him. De La Rosa, tenth, experienced a loss in oil pressure. Panis in 11th was affected by an electrical fault that a change of steering wheel failed to rectify; his third timed lap was set too late to improve his position. Räikkönen was 6th in the final ten seconds until a reoccurring transmission fault left him in 12th. Alesi chose not to switch