Summary

Jacques Villeneuve ended the day in front of his rival Michael Schumacher on the weekend which will decide this year's championship. But it seems Bridgestone are striking back after last Grand Prix' failure in Japan. Three of the four top positions were Bridgestone runners.

Today's best was set by Olivier Panis followed by Damon Hill and with Rubens Barrichello fourth.

Villeneuve was third fastest and M. Schumacher 9th.

The Notes

• As reported: Fontana replaces Morbidelli at Sauber, because Morbidelli hasn't totally recovered from his crash during the last Grand Prix. Nakano could finish his season at Prost.

  • Weather during sessions: Sunny (23-25°C)

The Times

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

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

1m 22.735s 1m 22.898s 1m 22.922s 1m 22.964s 1m 23.024s 1m 23.124s 1m 23.174s 1m 23.440s 1m 23.532s 1m 23.678s 1m 23.685s 1m 23.695s 1m 23.923s 1m 24.263s 1m 24.329s 1m 24.507s 1m 24.735s 1m 24.797s 1m 25.025s 1m 25.134s 1m 25.327s 1m 26.816s 1m 28.526s

The Quotes

• M. Schumacher: "We concentrated on our race set-up today and the car generally feels good, so I am quite happy. Today's position means nothing as I only used one set of tyres, while the front runners either used new tyres or went out late when there was rubber on the track, which improved grip. I am fairly optimistic for tomorrow and hope I can get on the front row."

• Villeneuve: "I feel very good about how the sessions have gone today. Usually, we have not been so quick during the Friday practices, but here in Jerez, our homework has come together very well. It is very important to be at the front of the starting grid too on this circuit, because the tyres are likely to go off very quickly -- and it is a very difficult track for overtaking."

• Hill: "We have asked Bridgestone for something a bit more adventurous this weekend, but of course we have to wait and see what happens tomorrow to see whether it has really happened. Fridays are notoriously unreliable as a guide to the outcome."

• Salo: "The car is quite a lot better than it was this morning and we have started to find a good balance. We still have a little understeer and we need to improve the traction, but in all it was OK. The circuit is still a bit dirty and there are a few bumps, but it is nice to drive, except for the one chicane which interrupts the flow of the lap."

• Verstappen: "I made a mistake under braking going into the last corner and the back of the car started to come round. It was a shame because we had made some progress this afternoon on one set of tyres and we were about to fit fresh rubber. We do, however, have some good reference points for the weekend."

• Marques: "I only managed a few timed laps this morning, so it's been a fairly frustrating day. I know that the problems with my clutch will be fixed for tomorrow's qualifying session."

• Katayama: "I am very happy with the set-up work we carried out on my car. We changed the central diffuser to increase rear downforce and my times instantly improved. I finished 15th and could have been even quicker if it hadn't been for Irvine's Ferrari leaking oil in front of me on my final lap."

• Herbert: "This morning we had too much understeer and the car was bouncing a bit over the bumps. This afternoon we tried a new undertray with a revised diffusor. It made the car feel more nervous, so after we changed the mechanical set-up to improve the behaviour over the bumpier sections we spent the rest of the time working to try and balance the handling."

• Fontana: "I mainly concentrated today on learning the track, which I have never raced on before. The car felt good on new tyres and my second flying lap felt better than the first, on which I set my quickest time, until they started to lose their edge."

• Alesi: "I am not at all happy with my car today. For some reason, we have not been able to find a satisfactory set-up. We are so far away that I am sure there is something wrong. But, hopefully, the engineers will detect it tonight and we will be in good shape for tomorrow's qualifying."

• Berger: "I had a good session today. I am quite happy with the balance of my car and I worked in preparation for the race. As temperature are very high here, I expect a race with many stops. Therefore, I tried to save my tyres, by using only one set."

• Fisichella: "I feel quite happy about the work we did today. We concentrated on set up work and we were not trying to go for a good time. I am not concerned about being 14th. The main problems at the start of the sessions were understeer, but we made a lot of improvements and I then had a puncture on a rear tyre which lost me some time. The balance is not yet perfect, but it is nearly there."

• R. Schumacher: "The car felt good right from the start and I think we could be quite competitive on this circuit. We had no major problems today, just a little understeer and lack of traction, but apart from that things are just fine."