Friday September 10th, 1999
Schumacher heads Friday times for Williams
Ralf Schumacher ended up heading the field at the end of the first day's free practice for the Italian Grand Prix, the German running a quick lap and working on qualifying set-up for Williams while most of the opposition contented themselves to save their tyres for qualifying and the race. 
Alex Zanardi set the third fastest time. "The car is not bad, but still not as good as it was last week," said Alex.
Trulli second fastest for Prost
Jarno Trulli took the second fastest time of the day for Prost, the Italian still complaining that the rear end of his car felt a little light, but otherwise happy with the overall handling. Olivier Panis was also well up, sixth fastest after his fourth fastest time was deleted when he cut the chicane. He then stopped early when he parked his car with an engine problem. Both drivers are confident of improving tomorrow when their cars will be fitted with top mounted exhaust outlets which are said to add 10 hp to performance.
Alesi slips to fourth for Sauber
After a late start while his team located a loose electrical plug, Jean Alesi got going in his Sauber only to be sidelined for good with an engine failure. He retained fourth fastest with his morning time, while Pedro Diniz ended up ninth, happier this afternoon with the balance of his car despite oversteer problems as his tyres wore down.
Villeneuve takes seventh for BAR
Victim of what turned out to be a clutch problem in the morning, Jacques Villeneuve was back on the track this afternoon to set the seventh fastest time for BAR. Ricardo Zonta was a distant 19th fastest complaining of brake problems and a chassis that changed from oversteer to understeer during the session.
McLaren work for the race
Despite the fact that Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard were no higher than fifth and eighth for McLaren respectively, the two McLaren men were confident that they would qualify well up after running high fuel loads for most of the session.
Irvine and Salo well down for Ferrari
Although Eddie Irvine and Mika Salo were concentrating on race set-ups this afternoon, Irvine was not happy after setting no better than 16th fastest time following a spin and another trip across one of the chicanes. He was finding his car very nervous to drive, as was Salo, who was 17th quickest. "The car didn't feel as well balanced as it did during the test last week," said Salo.
In brief...
Heinz-Harald Frentzen's practice was cut short after a few laps when he got the power down too soon out of the first chicane and spun. He didn't hit anything, but knocked off the ignition switch during the spin which caused the engine to cut out. Damon Hill was back in tenth place, unable to cure a turn-in understeer problem at the chicanes.
The two Stewart drivers were 11th and 12th, both hoping that their high fuel loads to-day would see them move much higher up the grid in qualifying. Both Arrows drivers were well off the pace, both complaining of a lack of straight line speed.
Pos Driver Team Time
1. R.Schumacher Williams Supertec 1:24.507 245.802 kmph
2. Trulli Prost Peugeot 1:24.692 + 0.185
3. Zanardi Williams Supertec 1:24.823 + 0.316
4. Panis Prost Peugeot 1:25.007 + 0.500
5. Alesi Sauber Petronas 1:25.030 + 0.523
6. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes 1:25.103 + 0.596
7. Villeneuve BAR Supertec 1:25.307 + 0.800
8. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes 1:25.347 + 0.840
9. Diniz Sauber Petronas 1:25.388 + 0.881
10. Hill Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:25.397 + 0.890
11. Barrichello Stewart Ford 1:25.499 + 0.992
12. Herbert Stewart Ford 1:25.551 + 1.044
13. Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:25.577 + 1.070
14. Fisichella Benetton Supertec 1:25.701 + 1.194
15. Wurz Benetton Supertec 1:25.742 + 1.235
16. Irvine Ferrari 1:25.897 + 1.390
17. Salo Ferrari 1:25.931 + 1.424
18. Gene Minardi Ford 1:26.069 + 1.562
19. Zonta BAR Supertec 1:26.181 + 1.674
20. Badoer Minardi Ford 1:26.633 + 2.126
21. de la Rosa Arrows TWR 1:27.542 + 3.035
22. Takagi Arrows TWR 1:28.806 + 4.299
All Timing Unofficial