by Michele Lupini

The Silver Arrows were up to their old one-two from the outset this weekend, despite practice conditions leading up to qualifying, which were far from ideal. The first session, always vital for getting a good start towards a setup that will work in qualifying and then the race, was washed out. Ralf Schumacher made the most of drying conditions to put Williams on top for the time sheets for a GP weekend practice session for the first time in a while. But McLaren were quickest when it was wettest, just to prove the practise kings really are the World Champions.

That fact was brought home in the Friday afternoon session, Mika leading a familiar silver and red first four positions, with Coulthard second from the Ferraris, headed by Michael. Fisichella further proved that there wasn't really all that much wrong with the Playlife?Mecachrome?Supertec? engine, with a promising Barrichello next up.

Saturday morning's session was abandoned almost before it had even started, after Ricardo Zonta took himself out of the reckoning for the weekend with fractures and cuts to his feet and legs. But after just 15 minutes, the status quo was still in place, with Frentzen showing continued good form in the revised Jordan and Rubens starting to show the pace of the Stewart - which many are waiting to see. Michael Schumacher was fifth when the session was prematurely stopped.

So most teams went into qualifying without as good a setup as they'd have liked. But The McLarens opened their account early, Mika quickly going out and setting the fastest lap of the weekend until then, with a circuit quicker than his last year's three-groove pole, with Coulthard close behind. Barrichello was third, improving as the session progressed - by mid-session he was half a second behind David and about the same ahead of Fisichella, Irvine, Frentzen, Herbert and Micheael Schumacher, all within twenty-five thousandths of a second of each other...

But in the end, the McLarens secured another front row, with Hakkinen half a second quicker than last year's time and about the same amount of time off Villeneuve's `97 slick-shod pole. Coulthard ended up under tenths adrift, with Barrichello confirming his testing pace, by keeping out Michael Schumacher, who couldn't get within a second of the McLaren on pole. Fisichella was next up, from Irvine and the Jordans of Hill, for once ahead of Frentzen. Wurz and Herbert rounded off the top ten.

Ralf Schumacher, who's been blaming his Mecachrome engine for all kinds of things all weekend, was next up, ahead of the Prosts and Saubers, and then the man who preferred to sulk alone rather than attend the party thrown for him by his team, `97 pole man, Jacques Villeneuve. Zanardi was seventeenth, from a gaggle of Arrows and Minardis. Zonta will miss the race as a result of his shunt earlier today.

So, what does tomorrow hold?

Yes, the McLarens are on pole, again, like they've been for just about every race for the past year. And Barrichello's the man closest to them, and Schumacher (the elder one) is fourth. Barrichello has everything to prove. He's a position up on the grid over last race, but that came to nought last time, as did the man he's swapped positions with this time round.

Michael Schumacher is a racing driver, before a pole man. Ferrari are renowned for their race setup, not worrying too much about qualifying other than being near enough to the front. Of his five victories last year, Schumacher was on pole once, second twice and third twice, so he can never be ignored. Don't forget, too, that he set the fastest lap of the race in Aussie, after qualifying a second off the pace there too...

So Lets hope that both Barrichello and Schumacher can start from the positions on the grid that they earned, especially Michael, who's bound to sleep restlessly tonight, under the sceptre of stalled Ferraris and blown out rear tyres. After all, both those were symptoms of both his last races...

Eddie Irvine started his previous Grand Prix from the same position he does tomorrow, and we all know where he finished, while Benetton, with two cars in the top ten, definitely seem to be making the best of an engine others are complaining about. They would be ecstatic, if they were to return to form... Jordan make it five marques in the top ten - both their drivers are capable of making a race of it too.

But to win, the rest clearly have to beat the McLarens tomorrow. But it would be great to see whoever can, do it at the front of the pack this time...