Friday May 11th, 2001

McLaren drivers Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard dominated Friday's first practice session for the Austrian Grand Prix as they occupied the top two places on the timesheet. Finn Hakkinen was quickest, just under three tenths of a second faster than team mate Coulthard.

Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello was one of the last drivers on track, but managed to move up to third place by the end, almost four tenths of a second faster than Sauber's Kimi Raikkonen in an impressive fourth.

Ralf Schumacher managed to beat his brother Michael to fifth spot after the latter's car slowed on his final run while Enrique Bernoldi and Jos Verstappen brightened the mood at Arrows by finishing the session comfortably in the top ten.

Soon after the session began Juan Pablo Montoya slid off the circuit after completing just four laps but recovered and returned his Williams to the pits. Verstappen also had a slight off and Jordan's Jarno Trulli was close to hitting the barriers when he spun at turn one, but he too recovered to return to the pits.

Almost half the session was gone before there was any sight of a Ferrari or a McLaren, and Trulli led Ralf Schumacher and Nick Heidfeld at the top. Eddie Irvine continued to suffer in the Jaguar, and he struggled to control the car he could only put into the lower midfield placings.

Briton Jenson Button once again struggled in an inefficient-looking Benetton which remains well off the pace. After moving into third fastest position, Ralf Schumacher had a little spin in the Williams and just managed to keep his car out of the gravel to continue.

But Jean Alesi had a more terminal problem when his Acer engine blew on the pit straight. In the late position shuffles Hakkinen, Barrichello and Raikkonen all benefitted but Coulthard's late run moved him up to second in the end.

Pos  Driver        Team                    Times                 
 1.  Hakkinen      Mclaren Mercedes   (B)  1:11.751  217.051 km/h
 2.  Coulthard     Mclaren Mercedes   (B)  1:12.036    +    0.285   
 3.  Barrichello   Ferrari            (B)  1:12.222    +    0.471
 4.  Raikkonen     Sauber Petronas    (B)  1:12.617    +    0.866
 5.  R.Schumacher  Williams BMW       (M)  1:12.668    +    0.917
 6.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari            (B)  1:12.851    +    1.100
 7.  Bernoldi      Arrows Asiatech    (B)  1:12.853    +    1.102
 8.  Panis         BAR Honda          (B)  1:12.954    +    1.203
 9.  Verstappen    Arrows Asiatech    (B)  1:13.024    +    1.273
10.  Heidfeld      Sauber Petronas    (B)  1:13.259    +    1.508
11.  Trulli        Jordan Honda       (B)  1:13.315    +    1.564
12.  Montoya       Williams BMW       (M)  1:13.366    +    1.615
13.  Villeneuve    BAR Honda          (B)  1:13.492    +    1.741
14.  Irvine        Jaguar Cosworth    (M)  1:14.027    +    2.276
15.  de la Rosa    Jaguar Cosworth    (M)  1:14.636    +    2.885
16.  Alesi         Prost Acer         (M)  1:14.742    +    2.991
17.  Burti         Prost Acer         (M)  1:15.086    +    3.335
18.  Fisichella    Benetton Renault   (M)  1:15.256    +    3.505
19.  Button        Benetton Renault   (M)  1:15.570    +    3.819
20.  Alonso        Minardi European   (M)  1:15.945    +    4.194
21.  Marques       Minardi European   (M)  1:15.965    +    4.214
22.  Frentzen      Jordan Honda       (B)  1:21.728    +    9.977

All Timing Unofficial

Latest Headlines:	<<  Previous  |  May 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