Hakkinen pips Schumacher

Michael Schumacher held sway for most of the session, being only briefly displaced at the head of the times by David Coulthard halfway through the session. The Scot ended up third.

An impressive performance was recorded by Jaguar's Eddie Irvine, who was fourth in the Jaguar. The Ulsterman recorded a lap of 1'22"260, despite a car that appeared to be handling less than perfectly.

Heinz Harald Frentzen ended up some 0.2 seconds behind the Jaguar, in a steadily improving Jordan Mugen.

Jean Alesi held fifth for much of the session, clearly pushing the ill-handling Prost Peugeot faster than it cared to go. Frentzen and Ralf Schumacher bumped the Frenchman down to seventh late in the session. Ralf bounced back from an appalling first session, where he crashed, to record sixth quickest time in a car with some radical aerodynamic appendages.

Both Minardis had a poor session, with Mazzacane spinning in the morning and afternoon, and Gene bringing out the yellow flags with a spin at Rascasse. The Argentinian was last, but Gene salvaged 18th quickest time.

1. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes 1'21"387
2. M Schumacher Ferrari 1'21"486
3. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes 1'22"098
4. Irvine Jaguar Ford 1'22"260
5. Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda 1'22"497
6. R Schumacher Williams BMW 1'22"700
7. Alesi Prost Peugeot 1'22"708
8. De la Rosa Arrows Supertec 1'22"944
9. Trulli Jordan Mugen-Honda 1'23"066
10. Barrichello Ferrari 1'23"095
11. Salo Sauber Petronas 1'23"356
12. Villeneuve BAR Honda 1'23"438
13. Button Williams BMW 1'23"578
14. Fisichella Benetton Supertec 1'23"783
15. Herbert Jaguar Ford 1'23"828
16. Diniz Sauber Petronas 1'23"872
17. Zonta BAR Honda 1'23"976
18. Gene Minardi Fondmetal 1'24"552
19. Verstappen Arrows Supertec 1'24"587
20. Wurz Benetton Supertec 1'25"325
21. Heidfeld Prost Peugeot 1'25"462
22. Mazzacane Minardi Fondmetal 1'27"031