Friday Second Free Practice - British GP

Friday July 9th, 1999

Hakkinen stays on top

Ralf Schumacher, todayAt the end of the final free practice session this afternoon, it was again Mika Hakkinen who set the pace for the McLaren- Mercedes team, the only driver to break 1m 27,0 secs for the day when he improved marginally over his morning time. David Coulthard made a bigger step forward over his morning time, but did not better fourth overall.

Ralf Schumacher up to second spot

Ralf Schumacher continued to show new found form with the modified Williams-Supertec. Despite complaints of no power from the engine all season, he was second fastest today around the Silverstone circuit which is considered to be a power circuit. Meanwhile, Alex Zanardi , who had to make do with the old style aerodynamics today , was unable to better tenth fastest. The team will have the new bodywork for Zanardi tomorrow.

No faster for Ferrari

Eddie Irvine worked on the set-up of his Marlboro-Ferrari this afternoon, the Irishman not beating his morning time and slipping back to third place overall as he concentrated on finding a good race set-up. Michael Schumacher, who had a high speed trip along the grass at the exit of the first corner, was also working on set-up and aerodynamic balance dropping back to sixth place overall with his morning time, but confident that he would be fighting for the pole tomorrow.

David Coulthard, todayBarrichello up to fifth for Stewart

Rubens Barrichello was happy with his lap that brought him the fifth fastest time of the day this afternoon, but he was still complaining of an overall lack of traction. Johnny Herbert was unable to better 18th fastest time , the Englishman making up for the time lost this morning due to engine problems.

Hill still ahead for Jordan

Damon Hill ended up seventh fastest for Jordan today, the local hero happy with the way his car is performing here. Heinz Harald Frentzen was a distant 14th , but said later, "I didn't go for a time. I just concentrated on finding a good race set-up."

In brief...

The Prost team did not return to the track this afternoon following Trulli's suspension failure this morning. They stripped their cars and sent the wishbones to John Barnard's B3 fabrication department to be checked. Fisichella had a spin, but was able to continue. Wurz stopped early with a broken drive-shaft on his car.

Michael Schumacher, todayPedro Diniz was an impressive eighth fastest this afternoon, saying that he had cured his understeer problems. Sauber team-mate Jean Alesi was back in twelfth place complaining that nothing was working properly on his car.

Ricardo Zonta had found a better balance with his BAR this afternoon and jumped up to 11th place, just behind Villeneuve in 9th spot.Both Arrows drivers complained that their cars lacked grip at this track.

Friday Free Practice - Accumulated Times

Pos  Driver        Team                 Time                   
 1.  Hakkinen      Mclaren Mercedes     1:26.981   212.736 kmph
 2.  R.Schumacher  Williams Supertec    1:27.004   + 0.023     
 3.  Irvine        Ferrari              1:27.061   + 0.080     
 4.  Coulthard     Mclaren Mercedes     1:27.155   + 0.174     
 5.  Barrichello   Stewart Ford         1:27.158   + 0.177     
 6.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari              1:27.327   + 0.346     
 7.  Hill          Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:27.381   + 0.400     
 8.  Diniz         Sauber Petronas      1:27.931   + 0.950     
 9.  Villeneuve    BAR Supertec         1:27.981   + 1.000     
10.  Zanardi       Williams Supertec    1:28.162   + 1.181     
11.  Zonta         BAR Supertec         1:28.238   + 1.257     
12.  Alesi         Sauber Petronas      1:28.472   + 1.491     
13.  Fisichella    Benetton Playlife    1:28.546   + 1.565     
14.  Frentzen      Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:28.595   + 1.614     
15.  Wurz          Benetton Playlife    1:28.740   + 1.759     
16.  Trulli        Prost Peugeot        1:28.883   + 1.902     
17.  Badoer        Minardi Ford         1:29.130   + 2.149     
18.  Herbert       Stewart Ford         1:29.201   + 2.220     
19.  Gene          Minardi Ford         1:29.416   + 2.435     
20.  de la Rosa    Arrows TWR           1:29.439   + 2.458     
21.  Takagi        Arrows TWR           1:29.630   + 2.649     
22.  Panis         Prost Peugeot        1:30.372   + 3.391     

All timing unofficial

Weather: Dry, warm and sunny 
Temperature: Ambient - 22°C, track temperature -  29°C 


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