Hakkinen makes his mark

Mika Hakkinen took the fastest time of the day for the McLaren- Mercedes team right at the end of the session when he ran a quick lap on fresh tyres seven-tenth's faster than any of his rivals and the first driver to break into the 1:19 seconds bracket with a time that was still three seconds off his 1997 pole winning time. David Coulthard was unable to better the fifth fastest time almost a second of the time of his team-mate, the Scot's attempts at bettering his time upset by yellow flags on his quick runs.

Fisichella fast for Benetton

Giancarlo Fisichella was an impressive second fastest in the session for Benetton-Playlife, the Italian later surviving a spin into the gravel trap from which he was able to drive clear. " I spun because of Michael Schumacher, but he came an apologized to me afterwards," said Giancarlo. Alexander Wurz also had an off during the session, the Austrian unable to better eighth fastest although he had improved his car from this morning.

Villeneuve third fastest for Williams

Despite a spin from which he was able to stay on the circuit, Jacques Villeneuve managed to set an impressive third fastest time of the session on used tyres for the Williams-Mecachrome team . His team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen also spinning off while on a quick lap just before the end of the session, but unable to get going again after his car got stuck in the gravel trap.

Schumacher slips to fourth for Ferrari

Michael Schumacher did not better the fourth fastest time this afternoon, the German only improving by a few thousandth's of a second on his fastest morning time, although he stayed on an old set of tyres and was thus happy with his relative performance. Eddie Irvine was sixth fastest in the second after improving his morning time by almost a second.

Schumacher OK, Hill in trouble

Despite more oversteer and understeer than he would like, Ralf Schumacher was happy with his ninth fastest time for Jordan as he was running a heavy fuel load and old tyres."We know how to improve the car tomorrow," he said. On the other hand, Damon Hill was in trouble back in 12th place, saying later that he had major work to do on the set-up of his car.

In brief...

Both Tyrrell drivers went off, Takagi when he spun exiting the last corner and parked against the barrier near the pits. Rosset spun again into the gravel, drove out and then stalled his engine. Both Prost drivers were happier with their car's handling this afternoon, Trulli surviving a minor off with no damage on his way to 13th place. Jean Alesi was upset with his car's excessive understeer while Johnny Herbert stopped with smoke in his Sauber's cockpit after a short circuit killed his car's dashboard while the engine also suffered a fuel pick-up problem. Mika Salo stopped with an hydraulic problem with his Arrows. ends.

Timing

POS  DRIVER              NATION    TEAM                        TIME             
  1. M.Hakkinen             FIN      McLaren-Mercedes MP4/13     1:19.689  205,820 kph
  2. G.Fisichella           ITA      Benetton-Mecachrome B198    1:20.325  +0.636     
  3. J.Villeneuve           CAN      Williams-Mecachrome FW20    1:20.326  +0.637     
  4. M.Schumacher           GER      Ferrari F300                1:20.461  +0.772     
  5. D.Coulthard            GBR      McLaren-Mercedes MP4/13     1:20.577  +0.888     
  6. E.Irvine               GBR      Ferrari F300                1:20.841  +1.152     
  7. A.Wurz                 AUT      Benetton-Mecachrome B198    1:21.014  +1.325     
  8. H.H.Frentzen           GER      Williams-Mecachrome FW20    1:21.174  +1.485     
  9. R.Schumacher           GER      Jordan-Mugen-Honda 198      1:21.351  +1.662     
 10. O.Panis                FRA      Prost-Peugeot AP01          1:21,391  +1.702     
 11. R.Barrichello          BRA      Stewart-Ford SF2            1:21.538  +1.849     
 12. D.Hill                 GBR      Jordan-Mugen-Honda 198      1:21.738  +2.049     
 13. J.Trulli               ITA      Prost-Peugeot AP01          1:21.764  +2.075     
 14. J.Alesi                FRA      Sauber-Petronas C17         1:21.952  +2.263     
 15. P.Diniz                BRA      Arrows A19                  1:22.485  +2.796     
 16. J.Verstappen           NED      Stewart-Ford SF2            1:22.566  +2.877     
 17. J.Herbert              GBR      Sauber-Petronas C17         1:22.603  +2.914     
 18. T.Takagi               JPN      Tyrrell-Ford 026            1:22.792  +3.103     
 19. S.Nakano               JPN      Minardi-Ford M198           1:22,967  +3.278     
 20. E.Tuero                ARG      Minardi-Ford M198           1:23.331  +3.642     
 21. R.Rosset               BRA      Tyrrell-Ford 026            1:23.644  +3.955     
 22. M.Salo                 FIN      Arrows A19                  1:24.004  +4.315     
                                                                                     
All timing is unofficial                                                             

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