Summary

In what evolved to a stunning Friday session, Damon Hill just eclipsed Michael Schumacher to set the fastest time of the day, 1m 21.144s. Schumacher was only 0.22 of a second back, with a impressive 3rd from Jacques Villeneuve in his first ever apperance at the Hungaroring.

In contrast to the Afternoon session, the Morning session left the crowd booing and complaining. Due to the dusty nature of the track, few cars had bothered to compete. In the first 30 minutes, Villeneuve and Giovanni Lavaggi were the only compeditors on track.

Notes

• Mclaren and Jordan both ran mid-wings on their cars.
• Some drivers used Wet tyres in the first session to conserve their 7 sets of slicks.
• The Ferrari's sported a new diffuser.
• Forti Corse appear to be at the end of the road, and have not attended this Grand Prix.

Hill:"It was like a Mexican stand-off at first, nobody wanted to go out early and clean the track surface because the real problem is that the tires will start to grain badly."

Schumacher:"The car is handling quite well, and better than I expected, pole position is not out of the question ... but my main objective is a place on the front row."

Top Ten of the day

1. D.Hill 1m 21.144s
2. M.Schumacher 1m 21.166s
3. J.Villeneuve 1m 21.369s
4. E.Irvine 1m 22.332s
5. G.Berger 1m 22.617s
6. J.Alesi 1m 22.790s
7. O.Panis 1m 22.889s
8. J.Herbert 1m 23.076s
9. R.Barrichello 1m 23.360s
10. M.Hakkinen 1m 23.400s