Summary

Mika Hakkinen was the fastest man of the day at the Montreal track. But he was just quicker than Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari. Jean Alesi, who took his one and only win here, clocked an excellent third time.

Notes

• Frentzen is not going for the title this but to beat his team-mate Villeneuve: "If I can't win the championship I want to win against Jacques. Winning against your team-mate is always really good. This year the McLaren are too strong and Ferrari still in front of us. Jacques must say goodbye to the title. My contract ends at the end of the season, but Williams has an option to keep me for another year. They will decide by August."
• While Frentzen likes to stay Panis is not so sure: "My contract with Prost ends this year, although they have an option for next year. This option has to be confirmed by June. My wish is to stay. I believe in the Prost-Peugeot team, but I'd also like to win. I can't wait many years for a team to give me a competitive car to get to my goal. They promised me things but if it doesn't happen in three or four years time it will be too late."
• Goodyear have announced that their decision to leave Formula One is final: "It was a business decision we made last fall, for a couple of different reasons. The cost of Formula One kept increasing at a very high rate. And they were changing the rules. The rule change forced us to spend a tremendous amount of resources trying to make a tire that would comply. Every other area of racing we compete in is smooth tires."
• Rosset has engine problems in the first session on the first lap. He does not drive at all.
• Ferrari is using a new front wing.
• The session was stopped for 5 minutes when Villeneuve blocked the track because of an hydraulic problem.
  • Weather during sessions: Partly Cloudy (14 Degrees C)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

Hakkinen (McLaren-Mercedes) B M. Schumacher (Ferrari) G Alesi (Sauber-Petronas) G Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes) B Fisichella (Benetton-Playlife) B Frentzen (Winfield-Williams) G Irvine (Ferrari) G Barrichello (Stewart-Ford) B Hill (Jordan-Mugen) G Panis (Prost-Peugeot) B Herbert (Sauber-Petronas) G Wurz (Benetton-Playlife) B Trulli (Prost-Peugeot) B R. Schumacher (Jordan-Mugen) G Takagi (Tyrrell-Ford) G Villeneuve (Winfield-Williams) G Salo (Arrows) B Diniz (Arrows) B Nakano (Minardi-Ford) B Tuero (Minardi-Ford) B Rosset (Tyrrell-Ford)B Magnussen (Stewart-Ford) B 107% rule B: Bridgestone G: Goodyear

1m 19.613s 1m 19.999s 1m 20.252s 1m 20.316s 1m 20.480s 1m 20.622s 1m 20.821s 1m 20.937s 1m 21.069s 1m 21.191s 1m 21.239s 1m 21.274s 1m 21.282s 1m 21.294s 1m 21.370s 1m 21.597s 1m 21.962s 1m 22.100s 1m 22.137s 1m 22.425s 1m 23.011s 1m 23.460s 1m 25.186s

The Quotes

• Hakkinen: "I would expect it to be really competitive. What we have seen earlier this season is that it has been myself, David, Ferrari and Benetton fighting for the wins. I don't think that will be changing for this weekend. The order is quite similar to what it has been for the last few Grands Prix and I think it indicates just how good our car is."

• M. Schumacher: "The car felt quite good today. We are where I hoped we would be. It is not easy to find the right set-up at the moment because of the windy conditions. As always on Friday, our positions mean little as we do not know what fuel loads the other cars are running, but I am quite optimistic for tomorrow. Maybe we can get onto the front row. Goodyear has made a good step forward and because of this and some improvements to the car we appear to have partly closed the gap to the front."