Qualifying update

(all in London time)

13.00: Hill, Hakkinen, Frentzen and Coulthard all put in last minute lap and fail to improve

12.59: Villeneuve goes 11th then has mega moment in the first corner and backs off

12.58: Panis improves to 7th, pushing Hill down another place

12.57: Irvine tries to regain 4th but is blocked by several cars and makes a few mistakes and cannot improve. Trulli, now in the spare car, again stops out on circuit in almost the same place as he pulled off earlier.

12.52: Mika Salo goes 4th, faster than Irvine by 0.2s

12.50: Coulthard puts in a messy lap and fails to improve. Schumacher back up to 11th

12.47: Hakkinen reclaims pole by just 0.050s, putting in the first lap in the 1m42s bracket. Irvine improves his time but stays 4th

12.45: Fisichella flies through the gravel on the exit of the Ostkurve and loses his front wing. He returns to the pits. Rubens Barrichello goes back up to 5th and demotes Hill

12.44: Zanardi improves but stays 13th

12.41: Frentzen moves into provisional pole, 0.093s faster than Hakkinen. The other home hero has also made progress, Ralf Schumacher is up to 11th.

12.39: David Coulthard puts in a lap over 0.5s slower than Hakkinen so makes no impression

12.35: Irvine goes 4th quickest, Hakkinen narrowly fails to improve on his pole time. Hill on a quick lap but fails to improve. Track temperature is rising all the time. Trulli pulls off with what looks like an engine failure.

12.32: Big improvement from Alex Zanardi, who moves from 19th to 11th. Irvine is back out on track

12.31: Barrichello moves from 8th to 5th

12.28: Qualifying order: Hakkinen, Coulthard, Frentzen, Hill, Salo, Panis, Trulli, Barrichello, Fisichella, Wurz, Villeneuve, Gene (!), Diniz, Herbert, Schumacher, Zonta, Alesi, Badoer, Zanardi, De la Rosa, Takagi, Irvine. Coulthard's problem could have been a delaminating tyre

12.23: Heinz-Harald Frentzen now 3rd, just 0.3s off the McLarens. Irvine goes through the gravel on the way into the stadium section on his first quick lap. David Coulthard has a problem with his race car and is cruising slowly back to the pits.

12.21: David Coulthard moves up to 2nd, Damon Hill to 3rd. Coulthard is 0.195s slower than Hakkinen, Hill is 0.908s down.

12.19: Mika Salo goes 2nd quickest but is still a second off Hakkinen's pace. He also escaped a big moment at the Ostkurve on his quick lap

12.18: Rubens Barrichello goes 3rd, behind Hakkinen and Trulli. Johnny Herbert has also been out on track for the first time since his big accident in morning practice, 8th quickest after his first flying lap

12.16: Hakkinen takes provisional pole by 1.239s, despite a huge slide at the second chicane. His time is 1m43.093s, fastest lap of the weekend by a long way

12.14: Trulli goes fastest by 0.189s from Panis

12.13: Panis fastest from Fisichella, Wurz, Gene, Zanardi, Badoer. Hakkinen and Trulli now out on track