Both WilliamsF1 drivers would wait until the second half of qualifying before they would make an attempt to set a quick lap. On Ralf's first flying lap he would set a time of 1m:17.355 and take provisional pole. Juan Pablo Montoya would be  down in eighth position, a full second behind his team-mate. But with just minutes to go Juan Pablo would set a time of 1m:17.425 and jump into fourth position on the grid.

Despite the drivers improvement in times both Ralf and Juan Pablo are going to find the race difficult s they are over half a second slower than third placed Rubens.

But in what was not that surprising, after their practice performances, the Ferrari pair of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello would finish first and second on the grid. In securing pole Michael would set his career pole position record at forty-six. After been behind Rubens during the Saturday practice Michael would set blistering lap time of 1m:16.364 some three tenths faster than his team-mate.

McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen was also to improve his times during qualifying. After making further changes to his car Kimi was able to finish fifth. For his team-mate David Coulthard his season is going from bad to worse with the Scot been outqualified and was down in seventh.

For Renault’s Jenson Button his good form continued with a sixth quickest time of 1m:17.638, just ahead of Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld, and Renault’s other man Jarno Trulli, who resurged after problems earlier in the weekend.

For Arrow's driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen his tenth fastest must have been a bit of a disappointment but still it showed that the Arrows’ pace was improving and had benefited from the extra engine power from Cosworth and chassis developments. Sauber’s Brazilian Felipe Massa was eleventh, followed by Honda powered drivers Giancarlo Fisichella, Olivier Panis, and the other Arrows of Enrique Bernoldi. Eddie Irvine in the Jaguar that still struggles finished fifteenth. The story was much the same for Jacques Villeneuve down in sixteenth position.

Local driver Pedro de la Rosa was seventeenth in his Jaguar, ahead of Toyota’s Mika Salo, Jordan’s Takuma Sato, Alan McNish, and Mark Webber. For Minardi's Alex Yoong he would qualify for this race, despite having a moment going over the kerb's.

The prospects for the race are certainly open with both BMW WilliamsF1 drivers in a  position where they can score points but with such a big margin to the Ferrari's the prospects for a race victory seem remote.