Schumacher secured pole position after setting the fastest lap time in the one-hour qualifying session, with Häkkinen starting second.

The Grand Prix result increased Schumacher's World Drivers' Championship lead to points over Coulthard, who retired on lap three due to a suspension failure caused by a collision with Jordan's Jarno Trulli.

[13][14][15] The Jordan, McLaren, Sauber, British American Racing (BAR) and Jaguar teams tested for four days at Italy's Monza Circuit.

[13][16] Jaguar's Eddie Irvine withdrew early from testing due to a reoccurring pain in the upper part of his cervical spine he had been suffering since June and was replaced by British Formula Three driver André Lotterer from the afternoon of the second day.

[21] Luca Badoer spent two days at Fiorano testing the F2001's electronic launch control system and practice standing starts for the Silverstone race.

[15][24] Michael Schumacher, the bookmakers' pre-race favourite for the win,[25][26] had the chance to tie Alain Prost's all-time record of 51 career victories at Silverstone.

[27] Coulthard had won the British Grand Prix twice in succession in 1999 and 2000 and said he wanted to become the first driver to win the race three years running since Jim Clark in 1964.

[28] He added "I really need to win the British GP this year" because it would return him to championship contention and prevent Michael Schumacher from attaining an unassailable points advantage after securing one podium result in the previous four races.

[31] Jaguar added a revised floor and new bargeboards, while McLaren made minor aerodynamic changes, including new front brake ducts.

Irvine, the BAR duo Olivier Panis and Jacques Villeneuve, Frentzen's teammate Jarno Trulli and Kimi Räikkönen (Sauber) were in positions three to ten.

[37] Pedro de la Rosa stopped his Jaguar in the centre of the track with a fuel supply issue and set no lap times in the session.

[40] The second session began sunny and windy, but heavy clouds formed low around Silverstone, and rain fell in the final ten minutes,[39][41] creating a slippery track surface that slowed drivers.

[47] After 11 minutes,[46] Villeneuve failed to set a lap owing to a gearbox issue, causing him to halt on the grass near the pit lane exit.

[48] Tarso Marques was the only driver who did not set a lap time in the session when he lost control of his Minardi car while scrubbing his tyres and spun backwards into the gravel trap at Abbey chicane.

[56] He noted that qualifying was challenging for him, and he used his first two quick laps to fine-tune his car's set-up because of the lack of dry track running during Saturday practice.

[54][55][59] Ralf Schumacher, tenth, expressed disappointment that his quickest lap was set on his second run and was slowed by traffic as track conditions improved.

[54] Panis came 11th and said that his car's balance was good, although he experienced an accelerator pedal sensor problem on his first lap, which his team promptly resolved.

[31][54] Irvine qualified 15th but had a front-left suspension pushrod failure, forcing him to drive the spare Jaguar set up for De La Rosa.

[53][60] His teammate Marques failed to set a lap within 107% of Michael Schumacher's pole time and was barred from starting the race after Minardi's appeal on his behalf was rejected by the stewards because there were "no exceptional circumstances" to explain his qualifying performance.

[63] Except for Heidfeld losing control of his car over a bump into Stowe corner and going into the gravel trap eleven minutes in, the session was generally incident-free.

[57][76] Both drivers spun with Trulli going into the gravel trap on the outside at Copse turn,[76] and Coulthard veering right across the grass verge and onto the pit lane exit road.

[74] He then drove in a gear he did not plan to drive in, hit his brakes hard, locking his front wheels, rendering him unable to steer, and collided with teammate Panis, who retired from the race after entering the gravel trap at Copse next to Trulli's car.

[80] Although McLaren were confident that Coulthard could safely stay on the track,[82] his right rear suspension collapsed on that lap due to his earlier accident with Trulli.

[57][71] Burti became the Grand Prix's fourth retirement when his engine failed on lap seven and spilt oil at Woodcote ciorner, leading the marshals to wave the red and yellow striped warning flag.

[57] Seven laps later,[57] Williams team manager Dickie Stanford repeatedly asked Ralf Schumacher by radio and a switch sign on a pit board to let Montoya past.

[68][79] Montoya's stop took two to three seconds longer than usual due to undershooting his pit box by 2 ft (0.61 m), tyre installation troubles and fuel nozzle removal.

[76] On that lap,[81] Alonso, who was battling the Benetton drivers and Bernoldi for position,[84] had his left-front wheel become detached from his Minardi without warning near the pit lane entry.

[31] The wheel rolled into a gravel trap before hitting a tyre wall at Woodcote corner, making his pit stop longer than intended.

[68] At the end of the same lap, after the scheduled pit stops, Häkkinen led Michael Schumacher by 23.9 seconds, followed by Barrichello, Montoya, Räikkönen, and Heidfeld.

"[91] Ferrari sporting director Jean Todt acknowledged that a one-stop strategy was the incorrect one but he was also complimentary of Häkkinen, saying, "McLaren are strong and Mika is a great driver.