Saturday March 3rd, 2001

Defending world champion Michael Schumacher showed no ill-effects from his high-speed shunt in Friday's practice by topping the times on Saturday in the first morning free session, ahead of Sunday's season opening Australian Grand Prix.

The triple world champion, in his Ferrari, clocked a best time of 1:28.134 seconds to finish ahead of nearest rival Briton David Coulthard, on another dry and clear day at the Albert Park street circuit.

Coulthard's McLaren teammate Mika Hakkinen was third fastest ahead of Jarno Trulli in a Jordan Honda, Jacques Villeneuve in a BAR Honda and Olivier Panis in the second BAR.

Schumacher's lap was the fastest all-time unofficial time recorded at the track, cutting nearly half a second off the previous best set in 1997 by Villeneuve, in a Williams, when 'slick' tyres were permitted.

Schumacher's Ferrari teammate Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was down in eighth place on the time sheets, after suffering an engine failure during the session and pulling to a halt. Dutchman Jos Verstappen in an Arrows also halted early on, and German Heinz-Harald Frentzen, in a Jordan, pulled up after a wild spin in the closing stages.

Pos. Driver        Team                  Times                 
 1.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari          (B)  1:28.134  216.611 km/h
 2.  Coulthard     McLaren Mercedes (B)  1:28.852    +    0.718
 3.  Hakkinen      McLaren Mercedes (B)  1:29.231    +    1.097
 4.  Trulli        Jordan Honda     (B)  1:29.459    +    1.325
 5.  Villeneuve    BAR Honda        (B)  1:29.465    +    1.331
 6.  Panis         BAR Honda        (B)  1:29.600    +    1.466
 7.  Frentzen      Jordan Honda     (B)  1:29.868    +    1.734
 8.  Barrichello   Ferrari          (B)  1:29.945    +    1.811
 9.  Montoya       Williams BMW     (M)  1:30.188    +    2.054
10.  Irvine        Jaguar Cosworth  (M)  1:30.190    +    2.056
11.  R.Schumacher  Williams BMW     (M)  1:30.208    +    2.074
12.  Heidfeld      Sauber Petronas  (B)  1:30.360    +    2.226
13.  Verstappen    Arrows Asiatech  (B)  1:31.590    +    3.456
14.  Bernoldi      Arrows Asiatech  (B)  1:31.599    +    3.465
15.  Alesi         Prost Acer       (M)  1:32.113    +    3.979
16.  Fisichella    Benetton Renault (M)  1:32.130    +    3.996
17.  Burti         Jaguar Cosworth  (M)  1:32.274    +    4.140
18.  Alonso        European Minardi (M)  1:32.350    +    4.216
19.  Mazzacane     Prost Acer       (M)  1:34.431    +    6.297
20.  Marques       European Minardi (M)  1:35.028    +    6.894
21.  Button        Benetton Renault (M)  1:57.479    +   29.345
22.  Raikkonen     Sauber Petronas  (B)  13:51.787  + 12:23.653

All timing unofficial

Latest Headlines:	<<  Previous  |  Mar News  |  News Index |  Next  >>
(03-16-2005): Badoer Continues Testing at Fiorano (03-16-2005): Fisichella Aims to Win Again in Malaysia (03-16-2005): Davidson Lined Up for Villeneuve's Drive (03-16-2005): Preview: Raikkonen Aims to Stop Renault (03-16-2005): Malaysia Preview Quotes: Jordan

© 1995-2005 Kaizar.Com, Inc. Copyright & Terms