Irvine stays on top

Eddie Irvine continued to head the list of times at the end of the first day's practice for Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix, the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver continuing to improve his car and his times despite a harmless spin at one stage during the session. "On my best lap I had to lift off for Alesi otherwise I could have been even quicker," says Eddie. Michael Schumacher slipped back to third fastest, 0.7s slower than Irvine, but reported that he was happy with his car on which he ran the same tyres all day. "So far things are looking quite good," said the German, "It should be OK tomorrow." Ferrari are planning a more powerful engine for their cars to use in qualifying tomorrow.

Coulthard second, Hakkinen struggles in seventh

David Coulthard set the second fastest time of the session for the McLaren-Mercedes team after a good session of improving the car. Mika Hakkinen got "lost" on his car's set-up. He finally found a better balance at the end of the session, but was unable to take advantage of it because of a gearbox problem.

Alesi having a ball

Jean Alesi was delighted with the performance of his Sauber this afternoon after setting the fourth fastest time of the day despite two spins and two trips over the grass during the session. Pedro Diniz' car was found to have a damaged monocoque after his morning accident, the Brazilian unable to take part in the session. He said a lack of front brakes was the cause of his morning accident.

Fisichella encouraged with fifth

Despite a bit too much understeer and poor traction from his Benetton, Giancarlo Fisichella was delighted with his fifth place his afternoon. "If we can improve the problems with the car for tomorrow, I don't see why we cannot keep the same place on the grid,' said Giancarlo. His team mate Wurz was unable to find a good balance however and did not better 13th fastest. Following a rear suspension failure in the morning session, both Fisichella and Wurz's cars were modified.

Impressive comeback for Zonta

Ricardo Zonta continued to make an impressive F1 comeback following his accident in Brazil, the Brazilian taking the sixth fastest time and reporting no problems from his injured left foot. Jacques Villeneuve was ninth fastest, his team delighted with their top ten placings on a track which they have not run on before.

Frentzen happy, Hill in trouble

Heinz Harald Frentzen had a trouble free session setting the eighth fastest time of the session in which he said he "Did his homework for the race, and improved the set-up, particularly the brake balance." Hill had a minor off, but was able to continue. He tried new tyres, but found the handling worse, unable to better 14th place.

In brief...

Olivier Panis slipped down the field after he locked his brakes, slid straight on and then got his Prost jammed in reverse gear. However, he was happy with its performance, unlike Trulli who was still suffering from oversteer with his car which he put in 11th place. More problems saw Zanardi back in 18th spot for Williams, his car better after changing the brakes.

Friday Free Practice - Accumulated Times

Pos  Driver        Team                 Time                   
 1.  Irvine        Ferrari              1:20.576   197.523 kmph
 2.  Coulthard     Mclaren Mercedes     1:20.664   + 0.088     
 3.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari              1:21.276   + 0.700     
 4.  Alesi         Sauber Petronas      1:21.510   + 0.934     
 5.  Fisichella    Benetton Playlife    1:21.724   + 1.148     
 6.  Zonta         BAR Supertec         1:21.810   + 1.234     
 7.  Hakkinen      Mclaren Mercedes     1:21.950   + 1.374     
 8.  Frentzen      Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:22.002   + 1.426     
 9.  Villeneuve    BAR Supertec         1:22.021   + 1.445     
10.  Barrichello   Stewart Ford         1:22.167   + 1.591     
11.  Trulli        Prost Peugeot        1:22.454   + 1.878     
12.  R.Schumacher  Williams Supertec    1:22.506   + 1.930     
13.  Wurz          Benetton Playlife    1:22.650   + 2.074     
14.  Hill          Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:22.734   + 2.158     
15.  Panis         Prost Peugeot        1:22.892   + 2.316     
16.  Herbert       Stewart Ford         1:23.177   + 2.601     
17.  Badoer        Minardi Ford         1:23.778   + 3.202     
18.  Zanardi       Williams Supertec    1:23.824   + 3.248     
19.  Gene          Minardi Ford         1:23.826   + 3.250     
20.  de la Rosa    Arrows TWR           1:23.996   + 3.420     
21.  Takagi        Arrows TWR           1:24.131   + 3.555     
22.  Diniz         Sauber Petronas      1:24.462   + 3.886     

Temperature: Air 25°C Track 49°C
All timing unofficial