Friday First Free Practice - Brazilian GP
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Friday April 9th, 1999

Brazilian GP Free practice, Friday morning.

The high and low for Williams

"It was a case of being out at the right time on the right tyres," said Ralf Schumacher after he set the fastest time of the first practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix which was run under gray skies and intermittent drizzle. Ralf Schumacher was one of only two drivers to try dry weather tyres at the very end of the session as conditions improved which put his Williams-Supertech at the head of the time sheets. His team-mate Alex Zanardi was at the opposite end of the time sheet after an engine sensor failed on his first lap out of the pits.

Michael Schumacher quickest on wet tyres

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver Michael Schumacher took the third fastest time of the session and the fastest time on wet tyres only three seconds off the fastest time of the session. "I tried both the hard and soft wet weather tyres to try an compare performance, but the track conditions were changing every lap and it was hard to draw any conclusions,' said Michael. He had a problem half way through the session with one of his wheels which allowed the wheel nut to come loose forcing him to drive slowly back to the pits. Eddie Irvine was back in 18th place with the second Ferrari running just seven laps on soft tyres. "There wasn't a lot to be learned this morning," he said.

Fisichella second for Benetton

Giancarlo Fisichella was the only other driver to try dry tyres at the end of the session and quickly jumped into second spot behind the Williams. "I had a lot of understeer, but in te conditions, there wasn't much point trying to work on set- up ," he said. His team-mate Wurz stayed on rain tyres and was also well up in fifth spot.

Trulli fourth for Prost

Despite a spin which saw him brush the tyre barrier during the slippery session, Jarno Trulli returned to set the fourth fastest time of the session for Prost . Panis was sixth quickest, the Frenchman's only reaction to the session was that his car lacked traction.

Twenty laps for Diniz

Pedro Diniz ran a total of 20 laps for the Sauber team setting the seventh fastest time of the session before he spun off and stalled the engine. Jean Alesi ran only 13 laps, the Frenchman 17th fastest complaining that his car was weaving a lot in the wet.

Frentzen eighth on 'dry' set-up

Heinz Harald Frentzen set the fastest time for Jordan, eighth fastest overall despite running a dry set up on his car in case the conditions changed. Damon Hill was 12th fastest, the Englishman happy with the handling of his car, but delayed at the end by an oil leak which caused a minor fire.

In brief...

Rubens Barrichello spun off, but did no damage to his Stewart-Ford. The two McLarens were well down, both drivers running just 12 laps each with no trouble. "We thought it better to save our dry tyres for when it counts," said Team boss Ron Dennis.

Pos Driver        Nat  Team                 Time 
 1  R.Schumacher  GER  Williams Supertec    1:24.644     82.543 km/h
 2  Fisichella    ITA  Benetton Playlife    1:26.386   + 01.742  
 3  M.Schumacher  GER  Ferrari              1:27.613   + 02.969  
 4  Trulli        ITA  Prost Peugeot        1:29.449   + 04.805  
 5  Wurz          AUT  Benetton Playlife    1:29.474   + 04.830  
 6  Panis         FRA  Prost Peugeot        1:30.094   + 05.450  
 7  Frentzen      GER  Jordan Mugen-Hond    1:30.623   + 05.979  
 8  Coulthard     GBR  McLaren Mercedes     1:31.015   + 06.371  
 9  Takagi        JPN  Arrows TWR           1:31.330   + 06.686  
10  Herbert       GBR  Stewart Ford         1:31.909   + 07.265  
11  Hill          GBR  Jordan Mugen-Hond    1:32.229   + 07.585  
12  Barrichello   BRA  Stewart Ford         1:32.459   + 07.815  
13  Zonta         BRA  BAR Supertec         1:32.509   + 07.865  
14  Diniz         BRA  Sauber Petronas      1:32.690   + 08.046  
15  Hakkinen      FIN  McLaren Mercedes     1:34.192   + 09.548  
16  Sarrazin      FRA  Minardi Ford         1:34.271   + 09.627  
17  Alesi         FRA  Sauber Petronas      1:34.869   + 10.225  
18  Irvine        GBR  Ferrari              1:35.350   + 10.706  
19  Villeneuve    CAN  BAR Supertec         1:36.568   + 11.924  
20  de la Rosa    SPN  Arrows TWR           1:39.844   + 15.200  
21  Gene          SPN  Minardi Ford         1:41.892   + 17.248  

Weather: rainy, wet track.

All Time Unofficial


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