Schumacher heads first day in Monaco
Michael Schumacher put the Marlboro-Ferrari team at the top by the end of the first day's free practice before Sunday's Monaco GP, the German using the same set of tyres as he worked on improving his car's mechanical grip on the slowly improving track surface. Eddie Irvine ran two sets of tyres setting the fourth fastest time of the day with the second Ferrari. Schumacher's time is still some three seconds off last year's pole position.
McLaren back on track
"We got a bit lost in our set-up this morning, but we are back on track now," said McLaren boss Ron Dennis after Mika Hakkinen set the second fastest time of the day this afternoon. David Coulthard was back in sixth spot, neither driver having any problems throughout the afternoon other than traffic for David Coulthard when he was trying to set his fastest lap.
Panis an impressive third for Prost
1996 Monaco GP winner Olivier Panis surprised everyone with an impressive third fastest time of the session for the Prost team. Despite a straight-on on one occasion and still complaining of too much understeer, he was delighted with the performance of his Peugeot engine around the tight streets of Monaco. Jarno Trulli might well have been at the top end of the time sheets with him, but a straight on into the barriers at St Devote while holding down fifth place saw the Italian out for the rest of the day and back in 12th place at the end with suspension and bodywork damage.
Barrichello back to seventh
Rubens Barrichello slipped back to seventh overall this afternoon, the Brazilian still complaining of some understeer from his Stewart-Ford, but otherwise happy that he had run the whole day with little problem from his car. Johnny Herbert was happier with his car and tenth place, but said that it would need the same work all over again when practice resumed on Saturday.
Salo ahead of Villeneuve for BAR
Mika Salo and Jacques Villeneuve set the eighth and ninth fastest times of the session, neither driver running new tyres. "It was quite an encouraging performance for our first time here," said Craig Pollock.
In brief...
Alex Zanardi was unable to improve dropping back to 13th place with his Williams. Ralf Schumacher only got to run for the final 20 minutes after what turned out to be an oil leak on his engine this morning was rectified. "I changed the set-up in a bid to improve the car and set my fastest lap on the final lap, although I didn't really get the chance to evaluate it," said Ralf.
Although Damon Hill was back in 11th spot for Jordan by the end of the session, he was delighted with the way his car was performing here and confident he could be back up front in qualifying trim. It was another bad session for his team-mate Frentzen . A spin at the start of the session which saw him clip the barrier at Rascals caused him to get another push from the marshals which prevented him running for most of the session. He was 19th fastest with his morning time after just 12 laps all day.
Takagi took 20th time despite a straight on and stalling. Marc Gene was still learning his way around the track in 21st place, his team-mate Badoer last after stopping with an oil pump problem in the gearbox.
Thursday Free Practice, Accumulated Times
Pos Driver Team Time
1. M.Schumacher Ferrari 1:22.718 146.536 Kmph
2. Hakkinen Mclaren Mercedes 1:22.854 + 0.136
3. Panis Prost Peugeot 1:23.318 + 0.600
4. Irvine Ferrari 1:23.396 + 0.678
5. Fisichella Benetton Playlife 1:23.458 + 0.740
6. Coulthard Mclaren Mercedes 1:23.503 + 0.785
7. Barrichello Stewart Ford 1:23.545 + 0.827
8. Salo BAR Supertec 1:23.793 + 1.075
9. Villeneuve BAR Supertec 1:23.862 + 1.144
10. Herbert Stewart Ford 1:23.865 + 1.147
11. Hill Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:23.874 + 1.156
12. Trulli Prost Peugeot 1:23.958 + 1.240
13. Zanardi Williams Supertec 1:24.065 + 1.347
14. Wurz Benetton Playlife 1:24.263 + 1.545
15. Alesi Sauber Petronas 1:24.492 + 1.774
16. R.Schumacher Williams Supertec 1:24.906 + 2.188
17. Diniz Sauber Petronas 1:25.094 + 2.376
18. de la Rosa Arrows TWR 1:26.148 + 3.430
19. Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:26.336 + 3.618
20. Takagi Arrows TWR 1:27.618 + 4.900
21. Gene Minardi Ford 1:27.667 + 4.949
22. Badoer Minardi Ford 1:28.316 + 5.598
All timing unofficial