New drivers Azzam, Cioci and Giudici started the session by taking advantage of series' veterans Gianni Morbidelli and Vitantonio Liuzzi, as they tried to follow their path. It wasn't long though before the newcomers fell back giving Morbidelli an early lead and placing him at the top of the times.

With twenty minutes remaining Heinz Harald Frenzten was unusually, nowhere to be seen, and appeared to be struggling with set-up problems. The German pushed as hard as he could and was looking to top the times, when he ran wide and almost lost control on the final turn. Not one to give up, Frentzen continued to complete a second consecutive flying lap and his hard work paid off when he posted the second quickest time of the session.

With Herbert and Frentzen in the lead, it was Alesi who was looking to take pole position away in the final few minutes, but with the clock ticking disaster struck and a technical issue forced Alesi to pull off and bring his car to a halt on the side of the circuit.

Qualifying Session Official Classification

Race 1 to be held tomorrow morning will begin at 9:30am local time