Monaco Grand Prix, which left him in a coma for weeks. The second driver change was Mika Häkkinen's return to McLaren after missing the Pacific Grand Prix because of an operation for appendicitis. Practice and qualifying Two practice sessions were held before the race; the first was held on Friday morning and the second on Saturday morning. Both sessions lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes with weather conditions dry throughout. Schumacher was fastest in the first session, posting a time of 1:40.410, two-tenths of a second quicker than Häkkinen. The Williams and Ferrari cars occupied the remaining top six positions; Williams drivers Hill and David Coulthard third and fifth respectively. The Ferrari cars were fourth and sixth fastest; Jean Alesi ahead of Berger. Häkkinen lapped faster than Schumacher in the second practice session with a time of 1:40.389. Eddie Irvine took second place in the Jordan car, three-tenths of a second behind Häkkinen. Hill was third in the Williams, two-tenths behind Häkkinen, with Schumacher fourth behind Hill. The Ferrari cars were fifth and eighth; Alesi in front of Berger. Frentzen's Sauber and Coulthard's Williams split the Ferrari drivers. Despite both the Williams cars going off into the gravel, Hill and Coulthard made the top 10. The qualifying session was split into two one-hour sessions; the first was held on Friday afternoon with the second held on Saturday afternoon. The fastest time from either sessions counted towards their final grid position. Schumacher clinched his tenth career pole position, in his Benetton B195, with a time of 1:38.023. He was joined on the front row by Alesi, who was eight-tenths of a second behind. Schumacher was particularly pleased with the performance of his Benetton, saying that "I have rarely had such a good car ... I think I can be confident for the race". Alesi was satisfied about his performance, but worried about a mechanical problem which had caused him to crash on Friday, accusing the Ferrari team of withholding information from him. Alesi was scheduled to leave Ferrari for Benetton in a swap with Schumacher at the end of the season, and the relationship between him and the team was becoming increasingly strained. Häkkinen was third in the McLaren, with Hill fourth, a second slower than Schumacher. Despite Häkkinen's best qualifying effort of the season alongside his Belgium third place, his teammate, Mark Blundell, had a disappointing qualifying session. In the