Hakkinen on Pole; Qualifying Results - Austrian GP

Hakkinen back on top

A holiday and a new set-up for his car at this race is what Mika Hakkinen claims has brought him back on form for the Austrian GP where he took his first pole since Imola, the fourth of the season and the 25th of his career to date. "The team gave me some time off and we tried a new set-up for the car at this race. This is the result," said Mika, delighted with his pole which was almost 4 tenths of a second quicker than his own teammate David Coulthard, who was second on the grid.

Coulthard reckoned he could have challenged for the pole, but on his last run when he had his car at its best, he clipped a kerb going into the first corner and that lost him enough time to lose his chances of taking the pole. "I was having problems on the last sector and was pretty good on the first one. When I messed that up, there was no chance for a quick lap," said David.

Barrichello heads Schumacher on the second row

Rubens Barrichello took the third fastest time on the grid, heading his teammate Michael Schumacher who was over two tenths slower in fourth spot. "I don't know why I was quicker. I like this track and my car was handling well all weekend, while I feel pretty relaxed after a holiday in Brazil," said Rubens.

In contrast, Michael Schumacher did not find the ideal set-up for his car for qualifying. He had a high-speed spin during the session and was not happy with his car's handling through the first and third sectors. "Unlike our rivals, I have not been able to find the right balance between the slow and the quick corners and that is very important at this track," said Michael, who admitted he was worried about being so far away from the pole time here. Any chance of getting closer went out the window on his final run when he made a mistake at Turn 4 and decided to abort the run.

Trulli quick for Jordan

While Jarno Trulli had a good session with two good runs at the end of the session to take fifth place for Jordan, it was a miserable session for Heinz-Harald Frentzen who ended up back in 15th spot. He was one of the few drivers to run the harder compound tyres and then ran all his laps too early before track conditions improved at the end. Frentzen is hoping the harder tyres will pay off in the race.

Zonta heads Villeneuve for BAR

Both BAR cars were well up in sixth and seventh place here, but like Ferrari it was a surprise to see Zonta ahead of his teammate, Zonta delighted with his car here despite a spin, while Villeneuve had not been able to find a good balance and also had a spin. "I did not get a perfect lap or get the maximum from the car," said Jacques.

Fisichella heads row four

Despite an off which knocked a barge board off his Benetton and then a yellow flag on his best lap, Giancarlo Fisichella managed eighth fastest, his team mate back in 14th place still complaining of too much understeer.

In brief...

The worst day for the Williams-BMW team this year. Ralf Schumacher did not better 19th time complaining of no grip as he has been all weekend. Jenson Button was happier with his car, but had engine problems and had to use Ralf's T-car, which he could not drive properly. He was 18th quickest.

Burti did a good job to take 21st place for Jaguar, only six tenths off Herbert's 16th place, Herbert stopping on one run with a collapsed rear suspension. Salo made the top 10 for Sauber with ninth fastest, his teammate Diniz 11th after they both spun off on their best laps. Heidfeld, 13th, out-qualified Alesi in 17th. Verstappen was happy with 10th on the grid for Arrows, de la Rosa was 12th. "The new qualifying engine we have here is a lot better than the previous one," confirmed Jos.

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