In Saturday morning's free practice session Andrea Montermini, who had replaced Ratzenberger in the Simtek, had a huge crash exiting the high-speed final corner. In light of recent events, the paddock breathed a sigh of relief when it was announced Montermini had escaped with only a broken ankle and chipped heel. Schumacher took pole ahead of Hill, Häkkinen, Lehto, Barrichello and Alesi. As Simtek and Sauber both fielded only 1 car for the race, both Pacific cars were able to qualify for the race by default as they did in Monaco.