Hill fastest for Jordan
Damon Hill surprised everyone when he set the fastest time of the morning in the final practice session before official qualifying, the English driver fitting a set of fresh tyres and qualifying trim on his Jordan in the final minutes of the session to set his time."It's the nature of the car that it is quick when wee find a good balance. I think it is equal to the McLaren here," said Hill. Heinz-Harald Frentzen set a quick lap early in the session which left him in fourth place by the chequered flag, the German equally happy with his car which he had been running in race trim throughout Friday's practice."The setup is not yet perfect , but we are very close."
Hakkinen pushed to take another pole?
With a fresh set of tyres and low fuel early in the session Mika Hakkinen put himself at the head of the time sheets for most of the session only to be pipped by Hill in the final minutes. In the second half of the session he gave his pit a fright when he pulled off the track at one of the chicanes only to get going again after re-setting the electronics for the gear-change system. David Coulthard was sixth fastest, the Scotsman working on race set-up throughout the session and had no particular problems.
Mixed morning for the Stewart team
Johnny Herbert missed much of the first half of the session when he parked his Stewart-Ford with electrical problems. The car was repaired for the second part of the session, but after three laps he had a lucky escape when the rear wing collapsed pitching his car into a spin and along the barrier into the first chicane. The car suffered damage to the rear suspension and he was unable to take part in the rest of the session. Barrichello had no problems and was an impressive third fastest for the session.
Prost team still on track
The Prost team set about fine-tuning the set-up of their cars from yesterday, Oliver Panis setting the fifth fastest time with his team-mate Jarno Trulli back in eighth spot. "It would be good to get the cars into third place on the grid here," said a team spokesperson.
Irvine not so happy
"The track conditions are a lot different to yesterday and the balance is not as good as it was," said Eddie Irvine after a spin during the session and making a lot of aerodynamic adjustments. He was unable to better seventh fastest time. Mika Salo was ninth in the second car and happy with his car for the morning.
In brief...
Luca Badoer had a similar accident to Herbert when he glanced the barrier at the same spot, only his accident was prompted by the car getting unstable under braking. Jean Alesi was a disappointed 18th this morning complaining that his car was understeering into the corners and oversteering under power. Diniz was 16th quickest, the Brazilian only complaining of an oversteer problem and no balance. Zonta went of the track due to a clutch problem. Both Williams were out of the top 10, Schumacher 11th and Zanardi 15th unable to match their rivals in straight line speed.
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Hill Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:43.918 236.367 kmph
2. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes 1:44.001 + 0.083
3. Barrichello Stewart Ford 1:44.119 + 0.201
4. Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:44.142 + 0.224
5. Panis Prost Peugeot 1:44.442 + 0.524
6. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes 1:44.526 + 0.608
7. Irvine Ferrari 1:44.695 + 0.777
8. Trulli Prost Peugeot 1:44.726 + 0.808
9. Salo Ferrari 1:44.839 + 0.921
10. Villeneuve BAR Supertec 1:44.860 + 0.942
11. R.Schumacher Williams Supertec 1:44.960 + 1.042
12. Fisichella Benetton Playlife 1:45.428 + 1.510
13. Wurz Benetton Playlife 1:45.651 + 1.733
14. Gene Minardi Ford 1:45.651 + 1.733
15. Zanardi Williams Supertec 1:45.709 + 1.791
16. Diniz Sauber Petronas 1:45.838 + 1.920
17. Zonta BAR Supertec 1:45.894 + 1.976
18. Alesi Sauber Petronas 1:46.156 + 2.238
19. de la Rosa Arrows TWR 1:46.224 + 2.306
20. Badoer Minardi Ford 1:46.543 + 2.625
21. Takagi Arrows TWR 1:46.732 + 2.814
22. Herbert Stewart Ford 11:15.684 + 9:31.766
All timing unofficial