Before the race, it emerged that Villeneuve had been put to the back of the grid, for having ignored waved yellow flags on two consecutive laps during a practice session for the race.
Antes da carreira, destacou que Villeneuve fora sanciaonado a saír na parte traseira da grella, por ignorar as bandeiras amarelas dúas voltas consecutivas durante unha sesión de prácticas para a carreira.