Ferrari head first practice
Although Eddie Irvine's first practice session ended abruptly with a high speed spin out of the Ostkurve chicane after just 7 laps, the Irishman had already set what was to be the fastest time of the morning free practice session. "It was a shame as it cut short our work programme for the morning," said Eddie who stalled the car on the track and did not continue.
The only other driver to get close was his own teammate Mika Salo, who ran 15 laps setting the second fastest time of the session just before the end to make it Marlboro-Ferraris in the first two places. "I am still getting used to the braking limits of the car," but otherwise everything was OK," said Salo. Both cars were running a new revised rear wing for this track which they had first tried at the recent Monza test.
Fisichella third for Benetton
Giancarlo Fisichella was going well for the Benetton team which were running revised aerodynamics here. The Italian was third fastest overall while his team-mate's practice ended early when he took a high speed trip across the gravel trap after he ran wide coming into the stadium section, Wurz complaining that his car lacked grip.
McLaren-Mercedes fourth and fifth
David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen were concentrating on race set-up and bedding brakes this morning, the two setting only the fourth and fifth fastest times of the session. Coulthard had one moment when he ran straight ahead at one of the chicanes, but did not damage his car. They were also reported to be trying some new minor modifications to the cars.
In brief...
Heinz-Harald Frentzen's day started badly when he went off under braking coming into the stadium on his first flying lap. He ended up backwards into the tyre barrier which knocked the rear wing off and damaged the under-tray of his Jordan which he was able to drive back to the pits for repairs. He was back in the session after 30 minutes and was able to run another 9 laps for what was to be the 15th fastest time.
Williams worried about drag
The Williams team were concerned that their two cars were considerably slower on straight line speed than their other Supertec rivals, the team looking at a way to reduce drag in the coming sessions. Schumacher and Zanardi were ninth and tenth fastest for the session.
Ricardo Zonta parked his BAR after just seven laps when the engine blew up. Jean Alesi stopped early in his Sauber, the Frenchman driving slowly back to the pits and stopping for the rest of the session after a high-speed straight-on across the chicane which he said was due to a soft brake pedal. The Prost team were happier here than usual, Trulli seventh and Panis eighth, the Italian working hard to find the best brake balance and a good set-up for the chicane bumps. Panis had problems with more oversteer than he would have liked, but was generally happier than usual.
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Irvine Ferrari 1:46.496 230.645 kmph
2. Salo Ferrari 1:46.542 + 0.046
3. Fisichella Benetton Playlife 1:46.877 + 0.381
4. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes 1:46.935 + 0.439
5. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes 1:46.995 + 0.499
6. Barrichello Stewart Ford 1:47.070 + 0.574
7. Trulli Prost Peugeot 1:47.202 + 0.706
8. Panis Prost Peugeot 1:47.305 + 0.809
9. R.Schumacher Williams Supertec 1:47.334 + 0.838
10. Zanardi Williams Supertec 1:47.380 + 0.884
11. Diniz Sauber Petronas 1:47.513 + 1.017
12. Alesi Sauber Petronas 1:47.551 + 1.055
13. Hill Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:47.560 + 1.064
14. Villeneuve BAR Supertec 1:47.666 + 1.170
15. Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:47.874 + 1.378
16. Wurz Benetton Playlife 1:47.946 + 1.450
17. Herbert Stewart Ford 1:47.985 + 1.489
18. Gene Minardi Ford 1:48.781 + 2.285
19. Badoer Minardi Ford 1:48.953 + 2.457
20. Zonta BAR Supertec 1:49.526 + 3.030
21. de la Rosa Arrows TWR 1:49.603 + 3.107
22. Takagi Arrows TWR 1:50.418 + 3.922
All timing unofficial