Coulthard closes on Hakkinen for top spot
Although the McLaren team fitted new tyres to their cars at the end of the session, Mika Hakkinen was unable to improve upon his morning time although he still remained at the top of the time sheets. David Coulthard also found traffic, but got in a better lap that was just two tenth's slower than his team-mate after improving half a second.
Irvine heads the Ferrari charge
Eddie Irvine continued to run the fastest laps for the Scuderia-Ferrari Marlboro team, the Irishman knocking three tenth's off his morning time on the same set of tyres. He tried several set-up on his chassis and apparently was happiest with the last one which was similar to the qualifying set-up he used in Australia. Michael Schumacher slipped back to fifth spot with his time from the morning session. He worked on different race set-ups and was cu short 10 minutes before the end of the session by a punctured rear tyre when he tried to make a back-to-back run with the old front wing against the new front wing.
Hill jumps to fourth place
After improving the set-up of his Jordan Honda during the break, Damon Hill jumped up the field into fourth place tis afternoon to move ahead of Michael Schumacher. "It's not my time that I am particularly pleased about, but the fact that I could do the same times consistently," he said. Heinz Harald Frentzen was still languishing back in 17th place, his team taking too long to make changes to his car which he was unable to run before the end of the session. "At least it is encouraging to know that the car is competitive here," he said.
Williams well up
The two Williams drivers were running better this afternoon. Despite a trip across the grass, Alex Zanardi took the sixth fastest time. His team-mate also had a trip across a gravel trap because of braking problems, the German seventh fastest a few hundredth's slower than his team-mate.
Villeneuve happy with eighth
"We are improving the car every time we run it and I am happy with eighth place. I just hope we can keep that for tomorrow," said Villeneuve who put his BAR into eighth fastest time of the day. Mika Salo improved his car from this morning and his time which was 14th fastest.
In brief...
A black day for the Arrows team. Tora Takagi went off and damaged the left side of his car against the barrier. Pedro De La Rosa also had an off, but was finally stopped by an hydraulic failure.
Things went from bad to worse for the Benetton team. Alexander Wurz slipped back to 15th place , while Giancarlo Fisichella was 16th after crashing into the barriers and damaging the front right corner of his Benetton. Jean Alesi fell back to 11th spot after a spin and then stopping out on the track because of a gearbox problem. Pedro Diniz changed his Sauber , but found it worse, ending up 13th quickest.
Friday Free Practice, Accumulated Times
Pos Driver Nat Team Time
1 Hakkinen FIN Mclaren Mercedes 1'28"467 200.617 Km/H
2 Coulthard GBR Mclaren Mercedes 1'28"605 + 0'00"138
3 Irvine GBR Ferrari 1'29"046 + 0'00"579
4 Hill GBR Jordan Mugen-Hond 1'29"452 + 0'00"985
5 M.Schumacher GER Ferrari 1'29"534 + 0'01"067
6 Zanardi ITA Williams Supertec 1'29"614 + 0'01"147
7 R.Schumacher GER Williams Supertec 1'29"630 + 0'01"163
8 Villeneuve CAN BAR Supertec 1'29"765 + 0'01"298
9 Barrichello BRA Stewart Ford 1'29"792 + 0'01"325
10 Trulli ITA Prost Peugeot 1'29"808 + 0'01"341
11 Alesi FRA Sauber Petronas 1'30"182 + 0'01"715
12 Panis FRA Prost Peugeot 1'30"408 + 0'01"941
13 Diniz BRA Sauber Petronas 1'30"482 + 0'02"015
14 Salo FIN BAR Supertec 1'30"569 + 0'02"102
15 Wurz AUT Benetton Playlife 1'30"830 + 0'02"363
16 Fisichella ITA Benetton Playlife 1'30"854 + 0'02"387
17 Frentzen GER Jordan Mugen-Hond 1'30"991 + 0'02"524
18 Herbert GBR Stewart Ford 1'31"046 + 0'02"579
19 de la Rosa SPN Arrows TWR 1'31"257 + 0'02"790
20 Badoer ITA Minardi Ford 1'31"547 + 0'03"080
21 Takagi JPN Arrows TWR 1'31"557 + 0'03"090
22 Gene SPN Minardi Ford 1'33"529 + 0'05"062
Weather: dry, sunny with some clouds.
Temperature: Air - 22C, Track - 38C
All timing unofficial