Qualifying was to be run under 25 degrees Celsius temperatures giving an advantage to the Michelin runners. Justin Wilson was the first driver out after finishing in 20th place yesterday, with electrical problems that stopped him before he could qualify. he would set a time of 1m:25.468.

Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello would qualify next but would his Bridgestone's like the rising temperatures? At the first sector Rubens was already 1.7 seconds up on Wilson. Through Bridge and he was now 3.4 seconds ahead. Rubens would finish with a lap of 1m:21.209, making him look good for somewhere near the front row. His time would two tenths faster than Juan Pablo's earlier practice time.

The Minardi of Jos Verstappen was next but he would go slower than his team-mate Wilson, finishing with a lap of 1m:25.759. Next came Jordan's Ralph Firman. Despite a big slide through Abbey he would beat the times of the Minardi's but was 3.1secs behind Rubens. Team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella was hoping out-qualify Firman and he would be a tenth faster at sector one and eight tenths faster at the end of the lap to move into second.

Next would be Sauber's Heinz Harald Frentzen. He would have a A very fast first sector, just six tenths slower than Rubens. He would easily move into second place pushing Fisichella down to third. For team-mate Nick Heidfeld he would struggle to match his team -mate's time, ending his lap in fourth Seven tenths slower than Frentzen, but they could be running different strategies.

Villeneuve was next out on the track. Jacques changed his type of tyres after yesterday's qualifying. He would beat all but the Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello, moving into second. Kimi Raikkonen he has to look to beat Rubens. His lap would see him two tenths down at sector two and at the end of the lap five tenths behind Rubens, but good enough for second. His time would most likely not see him on the front two rows.

Antonio Pizzonia would start his run. His lap would see him a full second down after the second sector. His time would not be good enough to beat Villeneuve but he did move into fourth. But he was a huge 1.4secs behind Barrichello.

The next group of ten was lead off by Toyota's Cristiano Da Matta. He would be half a second down after the first sector. A lock up in the second sector would see him lose even more time. He would complete the lap and finish in third, 0.8secs behind Rubens. BAR's Jenson Button was next to qualify. He would slide his car through Becketts, but he would not complete his lap as he had what appeared to be a suspension problem forcing him to stop his car. It may have come from striking a kerb very hard. He will start tomorrow's race from the back of the grid.

Jaguar's Mark Webber would begin his qualifying lap. After the first sector he was almost 5 tenths slower but he did have third best first sector time of the session. Despite this a poor middle and last sector would mean that he would end up slower than team-mate Pizzonia, only good enough for sixth. Home-driver David Coulthard would begin his hot lap. It was a tidy lap but he was down 3 tenths in sector one and a huge 1.1 seconds behind at the second sector. he would complete his lap with a time only good enough for seventh and some
1.6secs behind Rubens.

For Renault's Jarno Trulli he was hoping to head the McLaren of Kimi Raikkonen. After the first sector he was only 2 tenths down. he would finish in second pushing Kimi down to third. Jarno's time was just 0.172 behind Rubens after setting the best third sector time. With just the final five left to run Rubens time was looking very competitive.

Next came Toyota's Olivier Panis. Could he maintain the good from he has show so far this weekend? He would be 0.5secs behind at the first sector. He would lose further time at sector two and his lap would see him move into a disappointing ninth. His time was a second slower than team-mate Da Matta. Next came Renault's Fernando Alonso. he also would lose time to Rubens in the first sector, already some six tenths down. He would just scrap into fifth pushing Villeneuve down to sixth.

Now it was the turn of the BMW WilliamsF1 drivers with Ralf taking to the track first. Ralf would be looking to secure pole from Barrichello but windy conditions were making conditions difficult. He could only manage a time that would see him finish fourth, 0.5 secs behind the Ferrari. Understeer looked to be have cost Ralf his time. Next was Juan Pablo and his opening sector would see him, like his team-mate, struggle to match the time of Rubens. He would finish a full second slower than Barrichello, only good enough for sixth.

The final runner was Michael Schumacher and his lap would see him fastest at sector one but he would lose 0.5secs at the end of sector two. He was to run wide at Bridge. He would drop down the order to be only in fifth.

So at the end of qualifying the order would be Barrichello leading Trulli, Raikkonen, Ralf Schumacher, Michael Schumacher, Da Matta, and then Montoya. Some what of a mixed up grid. The top three in the championship would line up close together but with Montoya starting in seventh.