McLaren dominate final free practice
If the final free practice session was any indication of what we can expect during the qualifying session this afternoon, the Mclaren-Mercedes team should end up clear leaders of the pack as Mika Hakkinen and team-mate David Coulthard ended up over two seconds faster than their rivals. McLaren reported a trouble free session , Hakkinen using his repaired car from the previous day which had new right-side suspension , gearbox and rear wing and bodywork. Coulthard finished 0,6 seconds behind his team-mate, the Scot having a couple of minor off road excursions without any damage.
Herbert third for Stewart
Johnny Herbert took the third fastest time of the session for Jackie Stewart after a trouble free session. His team-mate Rubens Barrichello was also well up in seventh spot, but complaining that he still had excessive understeer to cure before qualifying.
Hill takes fourth fastest
Despite a spin which left his Jordan stuck in a gravel trap for much of the first half of the session, Damon Hill later took the fourth fastest time just behind Herbert. Heinz-Harald Frentzen had a good morning but failed to better eighth quickest when his qualifying run was spoiled by an engine problem.
Villeneuve well up for BAR
Jacques Villeneuve surprised everyone with a last minute fifth fastest for the BAR team, the Canadian improving the car throughout the session. Ricardo Zonta had another miserable session, the Brazilian completing only three laps this morning before another transmission failure.
Ferrari struggling for grip
Michael Schumacher tried several different set-ups this morning, but could find nothing to improve a general lack of grip which saw him a disappointed sixth fastest. Eddie Irvine had similar problems trying different tyres as well as set-ups , but unable to better 10th quickest.
In brief...
Giancarlo Fisichella was happier with the progress made with his Benetton, which he took to ninth fastest time. His team-mate Alexander Wurz ran only 16 laps before spinning off and knocking the front right hand corner off his car against the wall. The team had removed their special braking system from the front of his car considering the advantages only marginal.
Most of the drivers had a spin at one stage or another, the latest tyre regulations seemingly having narrowed the performance margin to a point where it is very hard to over step the limit of grip. Jean Alesi lost part of the session when he spun into a gravel trap and then more laps later when his engine cut out. Both Prost drivers were struggling for grip, Trulli spinning off on his fast lap and Panis back in 16th spot.
Australian GP Saturday Free Practice Results:
Pos Name Nat. Team Time
1 Mika Hakkinen FIN McLaren-Mercedes 1:30.324 211.319kmh
2 David Coulthard GBR McLaren-Mercedes 1:30.969 + 0:00.645
3 Johnny Herbert GBR Stewart-Ford 1:32.569 + 0:02.245
4 Damon Hill GBR Jordan-Mugen Honda 1:32.661 + 0:02.337
5 Jacques Villeneuve CAN BAR-Supertec 1:32.717 + 0:02.393
6 Michael Schumacher GER Ferrari 1:32.722 + 0:02.398
7 Rubens Barrichello BRA Stewart-Ford 1:32.828 + 0:02.504
8 HH Frentzen GER Jordan-Mugen Honda 1:32.876 + 0:02.552
9 Giancarlo Fisichella ITA Benetton-Playlife 1:32.975 + 0:02.651
10 Eddy Irvine GBR Ferrari 1:32.994 + 0:02.670
11 Pedro Diniz BRA Sauber-Petronas 1:32.999 + 0:02.675
12 Alexander Wurz AUS Benetton-Playlife 1:33.110 + 0:02.786
13 Jarno Trulli ITA Prost-Peugeot 1:33.252 + 0:02.928
14 Jean Alesi FRA Sauber-Petronas 1:33.305 + 0:02.981
15 Ralf Schumacher GER Williams-Mecachrome 1:33.323 + 0:02.999
16 Olivier Panis FRA Prost-Peugeot 1:34.129 + 0:03.805
17 Pedro de la Rosa SPA Arrows 1:34.194 + 0:03.870
18 Toranosuke Takagi JPN Arrows 1:34.386 + 0:04.062
19 Alessandro Zanardi ITA Williams-Mecachrome 1:35.444 + 0:05.120
20 Luca Badoer ITA Minardi-Ford 1:35.839 + 0:05.515
21 Marc Gene SPA Minardi-Ford 1:36.848 + 0:06.524
22 Ricardo Zonta BRA BAR-Supertec 1:48.227 + 0:17.903
All Times Unofficial