Summary

Eddie Irvine reacted to the critisism he's been getting over the last few weeks with setting the fastest time of the day at the Suzuka (Japan) circuit.

Bridgestone, who had prepared a special Suzuka tyre, was not as competitive as they had claimed before this weekend. However Panis was third, just behind Irvine's time, and Hill seventh.

Bridgestone technical director Hirohide Hamashima said: "We know it's extremely difficult to grab the centre spot on the podium although we have finished second three times this year. We have sufficient data on the home track. We have stretched our idea to the limit. We have used new materials for the tire compound and it must have cost a lot but I don't know how much."

But because this is 'just' the Friday session and it's unclear what everybody is working on qualifying could be a real thrill, especially with the championship coming to a climax.

The Notes

• Morbidelli and Hakkinen spin off ending their second session.
• Panis and Marques have engine troubles leaving it impossible for them to improve.

  • Weather during sessions: Sunny (21 Degrees Celsius)

The Times

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21.   22.

Irvine (Ferrari) G R. Schumacher (Jordan-Peugeot) G Panis (Prost-Mugen) B Frentzen (Williams-Renault) G Alesi (Benetton-Renault) G Herbert (Sauber-Petronas) G Hill (Arrows-Yamaha) B Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes) G Berger (Benetton-Renault) G M. Schumacher (Ferrari) G Villeneuve (Williams-Renault) G Nakano (Prost-Mugen) B Fisichella (Jordan-Peugeot) G Hakkinen (McLaren-Mercedes) G Barrichello (Stewart-Ford) B Katayama (Minardi-Hart) B Magnussen (Stewart-Ford) B Verstappen (Tyrrell-Ford) G Salo (Tyrrell-Ford) G Diniz (Arrows-Yamaha) B Morbidelli (Sauber-Petronas) G 107% rule Marques (Minardi-Hart) B B: Bridgestone G: Goodyear

1m 38.903s 1m 38.911s 1m 38.941s 1m 39.398s 1m 39.454s 1m 39.840s 1m 39.898s 1m 39.945s 1m 40.422s 1m 40.460s 1m 40.616s 1m 40.653s 1m 40.720s 1m 40.724s 1m 40.937s 1m 41.158s 1m 42.000s 1m 42.290s 1m 42.587s 1m 42.893s 1m 44.736s 1m 45.826s 1m 46.282s

The Quotes

• M. Schumacher: "We worked on the basic set-up today. The car feels quite good and Eddie put up a fine performance and I congratulate him on it. I stopped early this afternoon, because I had finished today's planned programme and I did not want to use another set of tyres."

• Irvine: "Today's position is not important. What counts is tomorrow. As usual on Friday, I was tasked with testing the tyres. I am not very happy with the set-up of the car. It is unstable and jumps around. After we changed my dampers there was a noticeable improvement. I have always gone well at Suzuka and I hope that I will be able to pick up some points here again this weekend."

• Villeneuve: "Everything went well and I feel confident for the weekend."

• Katayama "I worked hard on set-ups today and I'm fairly sure that I will gain a second tomorrow. I'm very happy with the performance of my Bridgestone tyres on this track."

• Marques: "This morning I had minor brake problems which my mechanics solved. Then my engine failed putting a stop to my work. It's a pity because I needed the session to learn the track in time for qualifying tomorrow."

• Alesi: "I am very satisfied with today's practice. Our set-up at the start was very close to the one we finished the session with - which means our simulation went very well. Now we need to work hard for tomorrow's qualifying. As usual, I think the gap between us and our competitors is very close and we have to watch out for all the Bridgestone-equipped cars. I am totally focused on my battle with Frentzen and the McLarens for 3rd place in the Championship. That is my objective and I will do all I can to get to it!"

• Berger: "It could have been better today. It took us some time to find a good set-up but towards the end of the session things turned around and I was quite happy with it. Unfortunately, I locked up the front wheels and I had to use another set of tyres. I expected a little more performance from my car and therefore I am not happy with my lap time. But we are moving in the right direction and I am confident I can improve tomorrow."

• Verstappen:"I only raced here for the first time last year, so I am still getting used to the circuit again. It takes a little while to remember where all the bumps and things are, so naturally my times have got better throughout the day. We have also made some big changes to the car and that has improved some of the handling problems we had earlier."

• Salo: "This is a great circuit and it is good to be back here, but it was extremely dirty out there this morning. It was difficult to find any traction and it made the handling of the car very unpredictable and inconsistent, giving a strange combination of under- and oversteer. We have managed to find a reasonable balance this afternoon which is encouraging."

• Herbert: "Sixth place looks good but this is a Friday, remember, and I ran new tyres right at the end. The car has its usual problem, it understeers whenever you push it hard. It's an aggressive thing; every time you get aggressive with it, the front end pushes and the car can't give you anything more. We need to wait and see until tomorrow just where we really are."

• Morbidelli: "To begin with I was struggling to get the balance of the car to my liking. We changed the set-up, which improved the handling, but unfortunately I spun off just after setting my fastest time, so that was the end of my running for today. It was disappointing, because I haven't run here for a few years and need as much track time as I can get."

• R. Schumacher: "The run on the last set of tyres felt really good. There was much more grip than I expected and so I was able to attack the corners exactly in the way I wanted. If I was being really honest, driving a Formula Nippon car around this circuit was more fun because you have a flat floor and more aerodynamics which makes the 'S' section better to drive through. But it still felt good today and I really like this circuit."

• Fisichella: "I found it quite difficult today as the circuit is new for me and I really need to do some more laps before I feel comfortable. I felt I was picking up speed towards the end of the session though, but I have not found the perfect driving line yet. The main problems I had with the car were snap oversteering in the first part of the circuit and some nervousness in the rear. The grip improved consistently throughout the session."