Summary
Troubled start for Hakkinen
While David Coulthard set the pace for the McLaren-Mercedes team in the opening practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix, Mika Hakkinen's weekend did not begin well when the Finn crashed shortly before the end of the session. "I got a wheel up on the kerb at the exit of turn 13 which was still wet and the rear end got way from me," said Hakkinen, who did well to keep his car off the barriers until the track turned right for turn 14. He slid across the gravel trap and slammed sideways into the barrier damaging the left side of the car suspension and sidepods. The team are now working flat out to try and repair the damage in time for the afternoon session.
Good start for Schumacher
Michael Schumacher got off to a good start for the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team with the third fastest time of the session just behind the two McLarens. The German had no problems to report as he worked on the set-up for his favorite circuit of the season, the team running a new front wing especially developed for this track.
Eddie Irvine, fifth fastest, was having problems locking up his front brakes and missed the chicane on one of his quick laps. All three Ferrari chassis were fitted with the revised longer wheelbase set-up and the team are planning to run a more powerful qualifying engine tomorrow. Customs delays saw Goodyear's intermediate tyres arrive too late to be used at the start of the session when the track was still a little damp. However, dry tyres were used by everyone not long after the session when a dry line developed.
Williams happy
Both the Williams drivers were happy at the end of the first session, neither reporting any problems and both finding their cars well suited to the high speed corners of Spa. Villeneuve was in fourth place just a few hundredth's of a second behind Schumacher, Frentzen sixth behind Irvine, the German now feeling a lot better after being hospitalized for a week following the Hungarian Grand Prix where he contracted salmonella poisoning.
Mixed fortunes for Jordan
Damon Hill had no complaints after his initial seventh place with the Jordan-Mugen Honda this morning, but Ralf Schumacher was at the bottom of the timing sheets , the German only able to run three slow laps because of a gearbox selection problem.
In brief...
Mika Salo was troubled by electrical problems with his Arrows, fourteenth fastest two places behind his team-mate Diniz who was also slowed by a slipping clutch. Both the Tyrrell drivers complained of understeer. Minardi were trying a new diffuser at this race. The Prost drivers were happier with the balance of their chassis after running a new front wing and rear wing end plates this morning. Alesi complained of understeer from his Sauber. Johnny Herbert was working with a new race engineer Tim Preston, former Williams race engineer to Frentzen. There are still fears of gearbox overheating with the Stewart cars.
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