European GP: Coulthard Tops Rain-Shortened Qualifying


Nurburg, Germany, May 20 – Sometimes, timing is everything. Thus it was today for McLaren’s David Coulthard, who had just snuck in what would turn out to be the fastest lap of qualifying for the European Grand Prix as it was starting to rain.

As the hour-long session reached its halfway point, Coulthard clocked a 1:17.529/131.453mph lap around the 2.83mi Nurburgring circuit, nipping his teammate Mika Hakkinen’s 1:17.785 as rain began to fall on parts of the circuit. On the following circuit, Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher contributed a 1:17.667 to take second, although a couple of errors on the laps cost him a likely pole.

Rubens Barrichello qualified the second Ferrari in fourth, with Ralf Schumacher continuing to lurk in the top five with the surprisingly potent Williams/BMW.

Jordan’s Jarno Trulli was one of a very few drivers to improve their time when the garage emptied out with two minutes to go in the session, and wound up sixth. Giancarlo Fisichella was an impressive seventh for Benetton, with Jaguar’s Eddie Irvine eighth after struggling in the lower teens all weekend.

Jacques Villeneuve has run well since the cars his the ground Friday morning, and his ninth-place qualifying effort was not as high in the order as he’d spent most of the weekend. Trulli’s more experienced teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen likewise spent much of practice in the top five, but got caught out in qualifying and had to settle for 10th.

Williams’ rookie Jenson Button, who was fastest in Friday practice, wound up 11th in qualifying, one of those making a slight gain in the final lap. The Arrows team struggled in qualifying after showing flashes of brilliance in practice, placing 12th and 14th, flanking the Prost of Nick Heidfeld and ahead of the Benetton of Alexander Wurz, who hoped to fight off rumors of his impending departure by running second-quick in Friday practice.

The back of the field finds few surprises. Johnny Herbert continues to struggled with his Jaguar; Jean Alesi ditto at Prost; Zonta could have been a top-six car, based on practice; and the Saubers and Minardis are just mired.

The race itself presents some interesting possibilities. With the McLarens lined up together on the good side of the grid, they’ll be hoping to shut out the Ferraris as they head into the first corner for the first time. If they’re successful, it could be a boring race. If not, well...

European GP: Qualifying Results

Nurburg, Germany, May 20 – Qualifying results, European Grand Prix:

1) David Coulthard, No. 2 McLaren/Mercedes, 1:17.529/131.453mph
2) Michael Schumacher, No. 3 Ferrari, 1:17.667
3) Mika Hakkinen, No. 1 McLaren/Mercedes, 1:17.785
4) Rubens Barrichello, No. 4 Ferrari, 1:18.227
5) Ralf Schumacher, No. 9 Williams/BMW, 1:18.515
6) Jarno Trulli, No. 6 Jordan/Mugen-Honda, 1:18.612
7) Giancarlo Fisichella, No. 11 Benetton/Supertec, 1:18.697
8) Eddie Irvine, No. 7 Jaguar/Cosworth, 1:18.703
9) Jacques Villeneuve, No. 22 BAR/Honda, 1:18.742
10) Heinz-Harald Frentzen, No. 5 Jordan/Mugen-Honda, 1:18.830
11) Jenson Button, No. 10 Williams/BMW, 1:18.887
12) Pedro de la Rosa, No. 18 Arrows/Supertec, 1:19.024
13) Nick Heidfeld, No. 15 Prost/Peugeot, 1:19.147
14) Jos Verstappen, No. 19 Arrows/Supertec, 1:19.190
15) Alexander Wurz, No. 12 Benetton/Supertec, 1:19.378
16) Pedro Diniz, No. 16 Sauber/Petronas, 1:19.422
17) Johnny Herbert, No. 8 Jaguar/Cosworth, 1:19.638
18) Jean Alesi, No. 14 Prost/Peugeot, 1:19.651
19) Ricardo Zonta, No. 23 BAR/Honda, 1:19.766
20) Mika Salo, No. 17 Sauber/Petronas, 1:19.814
21) Marc Gene, No. 20 Minardi/Fondmetal, 1:20.162
22) Gaston Mazzacane, No. 21 Minardi/Fondmetal, 1:21.015

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