Although David Coulthard is not the man the Italians at the Monza want to see as the one on top, he clocked the fastest time of today's testing session there, 1.2 seconds faster than second best Giancarlo Fisichella.
Michael Schumacher was sixth behind McLaren, Benetton and his brother Ralf. Many others were also preparing for the forthcoming Italian Grand Prix.
Driver Team Time Laps David Coulthard McLaren 1:23.597 89 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton 1:24.784 93 Mika Hakkinen McLaren 1:24.820 79 Alexander Wurz Benetton 1:25.135 76 Ralf Schumacher Jordan 1:25.240 66 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:25.287 60 Jacques Villeneuve Williams 1:25.362 57 Jarno Trulli Prost 1:25.542 45 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams 1:25.615 79 Eddie Irvine Ferrari 1:25.772 07 Jos Verstappen Stewart 1:26.031 52 Olivier Panis Prost 1:26.032 56 Pedro de la Rosa Williams 1:26.613 43 Jean Alesi Sauber 1:26.857 63 Shinji Nakano Minardi 1:27.421 50 Johnny Herbert Sauber 1:27.619 53
Ralf Schumacher has denied the reports that he his free to leave Jordan. He stated: "It has not changed since the Belgian Grand Prix. These reports are untrue."
Ralf Schumacher saw a Mugen-Honda go up in smoke today. This Mugen-Honda V10 could normally do about 18.000 rpm.