seconds to go, Sato lost control of the rear of his Jordan EJ12 car on the entry to Stewart turn and crashed into the left-hand side tyre barrier at . Sato was unhurt; practice was stopped for nine minutes to allow marshals to clean the track. Since spare cars could not be used in free practice, Sato missed the fourth session since his car required repairs. In the fourth session, a brief rain shower dampened the circuit, which prevented an improvement in lap times as some drivers went off the track. Hence, no driver bettered Michael Schumacher's fastest time, as Barrichello in second halved the gap to his teammate. The Williams duo of Montoya and Ralf Schumacher improved to third and fourth and the McLaren pair of Coulthard and Räikkönen fell to fifth and sixth. Heidfeld, the BAR duo of Jacques Villeneuve and Panis and Fisichella were seventh to tenth. Qualifying Saturday's afternoon one-hour qualifying session saw each competitor limited to twelve laps, with the starting 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 began on a dry track until a heavy rainstorm fell halfway through, making the circuit slippery and prevented any improvement in lap time. Barrichello completed two laps before it rained (the first was compromised by slower traffic); he took the fourth pole position of his career and his first since the 2000 British Grand Prix with a time of 1 minute, 25.843 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by Michael Schumacher, who made an error on a kerb in the first third of a lap. Ralf Schumacher, third, remained in the garage for the first three minutes to avoid slower traffic. Fourth-placed Coulthard attempted to pass an unsighted Villeneuve on the outside at the final turn and they made contact. Coulthard hit the wall with his right-rear wheel and spun onto a run-off area. An error put his teammate Räikkönen fifth. Montoya in sixth lost six-tenths of a second after Fisichella slowed his first timed lap. Trulli in seventh was slowed by a Jaguar car on his first lap. Fisichella in eighth expressed satisfaction with the balance and performance of his car. Massa was the highest-placed rookie in ninth after two errors. His teammate