The battle between Benetton and Jordan over which team has the services of Giancarlo Fisichella for 1998 will begin in a London High Court next week.

Both teams lawyers were successful in convincing the Judge hearing that case that an immediate date for the hearing should be set.

Benetton's Lawyer sited that "The resolution of the dispute is urgent because one party or other must find a replacement driver for next year and it is affecting sponsorship."

The Hon Justice Laddie replied, "Hill's available"

The hearing is expected to begin on Wednesday or Thursday of next week.

Summary

Heinz-Harald Frentzen topped today's free practice times on the Monza circuit. Followed by his team-mate Jacques Villeneuve and Jean Alesi.

Notes

• The Session was stopped for 25 minutes due to a crash by Ukyo Katayama. Who missed his break point at the end of the straight before the Parabolica and slammed into the tyre barriers. He seemed to be OK but needed some time to get out of the car.
• Berger, Irvine and Schumacher went through the gravel.
• Alesi and Hakkinen spun.
• Princess Diana's death has impact everywhere. Damon Hill stated he will observe one minute of silence in memory of her on Saturday. Something like this was also stated by other British drivers and Jackie Stewart.

  Hill stated: "At 12 noon exactly. I will stand in the pit lane for one minute of silence in her memory. In 1994 I was presented the winner's trophy at the British Grand Prix by Diana, Princess of Wales. I was particularly proud of that victory and I felt that her presence on the podium was a tribute to British motorsport. In this very sad moment, I would like to pay my respects to her memory. I invite all of my British fellow competitors and anyone else who wants to join, to do the same."

• Hill seems to know where he wants to go next season: Prost Grand Prix. He is likely to sign a two year deal next week, it has been reported. Hill stated: "Leaving it until the last minute to do a deal is a bit like braking late into a corner. You just hope you don't end up in the gravel. Money has never been the sole issue with me, although it is obviously part of the equation. I am looking for the environment that gives me the best opportunity."
  • Weather during sessions: Sunny, dry (27 °C)

			Friday
		1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.	Frentzen (Williams-Renault) G Villeneuve (Williams-Renault) G Alesi (Benetton-Renault) G Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes) G Fisichella (Jordan-Peugeot) G Hakkinen (McLaren-Mercedes) G Trulli (Prost-Mugen) B Irvine (Ferrari) G R. Schumacher (Jordan-Peugeot) G Magnussen (Stewart-Ford) B Berger (Benetton-Renault) G Herbert (Sauber-Petronas) G M. Schumacher (Ferrari) G Diniz (Arrows-Yamaha) B Barrichello (Stewart-Ford) B Hill (Arrows-Yamaha) B Salo (Tyrrell-Ford) G Morbidelli (Sauber-Petronas) G Nakano (Prost-Mugen) B Verstappen (Tyrrell-Ford) G Katayama (Minardi-Hart) B Marques (Minardi-Hart) B 107% rule B: Bridgestone G: Goodyear	1m 23.991s 1m 24.837s 1m 24.847s 1m 25.050s 1m 25.050s 1m 25.096s 1m 25.317s 1m 25.340s 1m 25.422s 1m 25.488s 1m 25.559s 1m 25.845s 1m 26.224s 1m 26.246s 1m 26.421s 1m 26.502s 1m 26.608s 1m 26.696s 1m 26.727s 1m 26.755s 1m 26.891s 1m 28.388s 1m 29.870s

The Quotes

• M. Schumacher: "When I went to out on my second set of tyres, I could not do a fast time because my right rear suspension was bent. We must find out how and when this happened; I would think it got damaged on a kerb. I think I was running with more fuel than the other drivers. I could not repeat my times from last week's test and I also know that it will be impossible for me to match the performance of some of the other cars. I have always felt it would be difficult to get on the front row of the grid, but I will try and make it to the second row in qualifying tomorrow."

• Katayama: "I was doing a long run when my front right-hand wheel locked under braking. I spun off hitting the tyre wall at about 313 kilometres per hour. I didn't hurt myself and I feel fine at the moment. Unfortunately I wasn't able to complete the session. "

• Marques: "I stopped running after Ukyo's accident because the team wanted to examine his car. It will be a long night for the mechanics."

• Verstappen: "We started today with the car set up as it was when we set our best time last week in testing, but we changed quite a lot this afternoon and made big improvements. The car seems to be well balanced and I am quite happy. Coulthard left a lot of oil on the circuit when he went off, but there were no flags shown by the marshals. It was a bit of a surprise when I came across it and I had to run wide through the gravel trap."

• Salo: "We have got the car well balanced today but the brakes don't seem to have as much bite as usual, so we will be looking at that tonight and I am sure we will improve it for tomorrow. It is always useful to have tested at a circuit just before the race weekend because it gives you a good starting point on Friday morning."

• Alesi: "We started the session with some problems. The car did not respond as well as it did at last week's test on this circuit. We were extremely happy with the set-up we found then and our aim for this weekend is to capitalise on that by repeating that situation rather than looking for something new. It seems that now we are going in the right direction and I am satisfied with my first day of practice."

• Berger: "After this morning's session, when the car did not seem to be as balanced as during last week's test here in Monza, we identified the problem and we seemed to be on the right track. Unfortunately, Katayama's accident brought some dirt onto the circuit and I could not get a better lap. I am not too optimistic, but, overall, the car is not too bad. We will see tomorrow."

• Irvine: "My car felt good right from the start, I tried different set-ups and different wing settings, while using only one set of tyres. We tried making the car much stiffer, but this was not the right way to go, as I lost grip. This is the first time I have driven the new chassis at Monza and I immediately felt comfortable with it."