Irvine stays on top
In a session where strong winds and warmer track temperatures saw most drivers struggling to improve on their morning times, Eddie Irvine retained his top spot for Scuderia-Ferrari for the day without improving on his morning time. "We made small adjustments to the car during the session and it was better than I expected in the wind as it was a disaster last week in similar conditions," said Irvine.
Michael Schumacher also failed to improve upon his time, the German working on a different programme to Irvine, working for the race, but he slipped back to third fastest for the day.
Frentzen impressive for Jordan
One of the few drivers to show much improvement this afternoon was Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the Jordan. He ran a quick lap with fresh tyres right at the start of the session and set what was to be the second fastest time of the day and the quickest time of the afternoon session in which he ran 21 laps. Damon Hill ran another 24 laps this afternoon, but was unable to better his morning time, the English driver frustrated by the lack of balance from his car and the difficulty to find the right one in the windy conditions to end up sixth.
McLaren working for the wind
Despite some pretty spectacular driving from Mika Hakkinen, who remained in race trim due to the conditions, he failed to improve upon his morning times slipping back to fourth fastest. They were trying a different set-up on their cars, but failed to find any improvement. "We were trying to optimise the car for the windy conditions in case it is windy for the race" said Coulthard ,who improved his time slightly but ended up seventh fastest.
Zanardi jumps to fifth quickest
A new set of tyres and a low fuel run saw Alex Zanardi leap from seventeenth to fifth fastest in the afternoon, although the Italian was cautious about his performance. I hope it means we are making a move in the right direction. I didn't expect to be fifth, but we will see tomorrow if we have made an real improvement or not.
In brief...
With fresh tyres this afternoon, Rubens Barrichello set the eighth fastest time for Stewart, Johnny Herbert back in 17th place having remained on one set of tyres all day. The Prost drivers were still complaining about instability from the rear end due to the wind. Mika Salo managed only 11 laps this 8 laps this afternoon , his team changing the engine in his car in 1h 15m. Marc Gene spun off in the Minardi damaging the rear wing and rear suspension.
Jean Alesi was late on the track because of an hydraulic problem. His car also had repairs to a crack in the monocoque caused when he ran wide over a kerb this morning and hit a sunken TV camera that wasn't sunk enough. Pedro Diniz parked early in the session with fuel pressure problems.
Friday Free Practice, Accumulated Times
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Irvine Ferrari 1:23.577 203.654 Kmph
2. Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:23.790 + 0.213
3. M.Schumacher Ferrari 1:23.895 + 0.318
4. Hakkinen Mclaren Mercedes 1:23.982 + 0.405
5. Zanardi Williams Supertec 1:24.312 + 0.735
6. Hill Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:24.318 + 0.741
7. Coulthard Mclaren Mercedes 1:24.339 + 0.762
8. Barrichello Stewart Ford 1:24.347 + 0.770
9. Villeneuve BAR Supertec 1:24.458 + 0.881
10. R.Schumacher Williams Supertec 1:24.559 + 0.982
11. Alesi Sauber Petronas 1:24.642 + 1.065
12. Diniz Sauber Petronas 1:24.823 + 1.246
13. Trulli Prost Peugeot 1:24.957 + 1.380
14. Panis Prost Peugeot 1:25.140 + 1.563
15. Fisichella Benetton Playlife 1:25.448 + 1.871
16. Herbert Stewart Ford 1:25.667 + 2.090
17. Wurz Benetton Playlife 1:25.901 + 2.324
18. Salo BAR Supertec 1:26.323 + 2.746
19. De La Rosa Arrows TWR 1:26.595 + 3.018
20. Takagi Arrows TWR 1:27.296 + 3.719
21. Gene Minardi Ford 1:27.506 + 3.929
22. Badoer Minardi Ford 1:27.763 + 4.186
Weather: Dry, Sunny, Strong wind
All timing unofficial