 Four practice sessions were held before the Sunday race — two on Friday, and two on Saturday. The Friday morning and afternoon sessions each lasted an hour. The third and final practice sessions were held on Saturday morning and lasted 45 minutes. The Friday morning and afternoon practice sessions took place in dry and hot weather conditions. Michael Schumacher set the quickest time of the first practice session, a 1: 21.304, almost one-tenth of a second faster than teammate Barrichello. The two McLaren drivers were third and fourth respectively; Coulthard ahead of Häkkinen. Jaguar driver Eddie Irvine was fifth fastest, in front of Johnny Herbert. Jos Verstappen, Fisichella, Jacques Villeneuve and Marc Gené completed the top ten fastest drivers in the session. Nick Heidfeld damaged his left front suspension in a crash early in the session. In the second practice session, Coulthard was fastest with a time of 1: 20.602, the quickest of the day. Michael Schumacher and Barrichello ended with the second and third quickest times. Herbert was running quicker and set the fourth fastest time. Häkkinen was fifth quickest. Jarno Trulli, Mika Salo, Irvine, Fisichella and Villeneuve followed in the top ten.
