Can McLaren take the pole?
It was David Coulthard who ended up with the fastest time of the final free practice session before this afternoon's warm- up, but the Scot ended the morning in the pits after the rear right suspension of his McLaren-Mercedes failed through the fast right hand corner before the pits. It threw Coulthard's car into a spin and he was lucky to come to a stop at the pit entrance from where he was able to drive the car back to his pit. Mika worked on the set-up but was unable to better third fastest this morning .
Schumacher looking strong, Irvine off
Some changes to the differential set-up to improve traction of his Ferrari saw Michael Schumacher improve to second fastest time of the session this morning, just one-tenth of a second slower than Coulthard's fastest time. Eddie Irvine started out the day on yesterday's tyres. He had planned to run a fresh set before the end of the session , but never got the chance when he spun off and ended up parked gently into the tyre barrier five minutes into the second half of the session. He ended up 17th fastest and without the benefit of a "qualifying" run before qualifying.
Frentzen still strong for Jordan
After setting the second fastest time for Jordan yesterday, Heinz Harald Frentzen made changes to his car to compensate for today's windless track conditions. " I am very happy with the way the car is going here, we shall see this afternoon," said Frentzen who was fourth fastest for the session. Hill was back in eighth place with the other Jordan, a misfire at the end of the session preventing him putting in a quicker lap.
Alesi well up for Sauber
After setting the fifth fastest time Jean Alesi was not surprisingly happy with the way his Sauber-Petronas was performing, but was quick to point out that the set-up was so critical between good and bad , a small change to the track conditions could also see him struggling to set a good grid time. Pedro Diniz was battling with understeer , the Brazilian having missed most of the first half of the session when he spun off into a gravel trap.
Stewart up in the top 10
Rubens Barrichello and Johnny Herbert were seventh and ninth quickest this morning, the pair of them working on reducing understeer.
In brief...
Luca Badoer lost time when his Minardi suffered a broken drive-shaft. Both Williams drivers were still struggling to find a good balance unable to better 11th and 15th fastest. Jacques Villeneuve stopped twice on te track with fuel pressure problems, but still managed sixth fastest time of the session. Salo was also well placed in tenth. Both Prost drivers had improved the balance of their cars , but still complained of a lack of grip.
Pos Driver Team Time
1 Coulthard Mclaren Mercedes 1:22.138 207.222 Kmph
2. M.Schumacher Ferrari 1:22.212 + 0.074
3. Hakkinen Mclaren Mercedes 1:22.257 + 0.119
4. Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:22.836 + 0.698
5. Alesi Sauber Petronas 1:22.917 + 0.779
6. Villeneuve Bar Supertec 1:23.074 + 0.936
7. Barrichello Stewart Ford 1:23.106 + 0.968
8. Hill Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:23.125 + 0.987
9. Herbert Stewart Ford 1:23.136 + 0.998
10. Salo Bar Supertec 1:23.196 + 1.058
11. R.Schumacher Williams Supertec 1:23.208 + 1.070
12. Diniz Sauber Petronas 1:23.272 + 1.134
13. Fisichella Benetton Playlife 1:23.346 + 1.208
14. Trulli Prost Peugeot 1:23.493 + 1.355
15. Zanardi Williams Supertec 1:23.574 + 1.436
16. Wurz Benetton Playlife 1:23.633 + 1.495
17. Irvine Ferrari 1:23.839 + 1.701
18. Panis Prost Peugeot 1:23.911 + 1.773
19. De La Rosa Arrows TWR 1:25.042 + 2.904
20. Gene Minardi Ford 1:25.663 + 3.525
21. Takagi Arrows TWR 1:25.948 + 3.810
22. Badoer Minardi Ford 1:26.535 + 4.397
Weather: Dry, Sunny.
All timing unofficial
Saturday Free Practice, Accumulated Times