Friday Second Free Practice - Austrian GP

Friday July 23rd, 1999

Hill a surprise quickest for Jordan

Despite another several off course excursions during the second free practice session, Damon Hill surprised everyone when he set the fastest practice lap of the day in the final minutes of practice. "The car feels every good. It's the first time I have been able to attack with it the way I wanted. I am very optimistic for qualifying," said Hill. Chances of a Jordan one-two on the time sheets were lost 20 minutes before the end of the session when Heinz-Harald Frentzen pulled his Jordan to a stop in front of the pits with a gearbox problem.

McLarens third and fourth

McLaren-Mercedes driver Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard shared the next two places, both driver having a trouble free session as they worked on the set-up of their cars and checked tyre performance. Hakkinen had a quick spin , but otherwise was delighted with his day. "We had a very productive day gradually improving the handling of the car throughout the day. David Coulthard was equally contented, especially to be as close as he was to Hakkinen whom he counts as his yardstick. "I know when I am ahead of him I am doing an excellent job. When I am just behind him, I know I am still doing not a bad job," said the Scot.

Zonta up front for BAR

Ricardo Zonta was delighted with his fourth fastest time of the day, his team-mate Villeneuve back in eighth place after complaining of traffic on his fastest lap.

Sauber's running well in Austria

Jean Alesi was a happy fifth fastest for Sauber. "The car is very good here. I was running low fuel, but otherwise the same set of tyres all day," said Alesi. His team-mate Diniz was also well up in seventh place, but baffled by the fact that he could not go quicker on a fresh set of tyres.

Ferrari ninth and sixteenth

Although Eddie Irvine was back in ninth spot, the Irishman was happy with his day's running in the Marlboro-Ferrari. "I ran the same tyres and race set-up most of the session. We have made good progress with the set-up of the car throughout the day," he explained. Mika Salo was disappointed with 16th time of the day, his session ending early when he tried a change to his car and spun off at a high speed corner ending up stuck in a gravel trap. Even so , he was happy with the improvements to his car throughout the day which also saw him practice pit stops for the race.

In brief...

Tora Takagi was sidelined early in the session with a blown engine which covered his rear tyres in oil and caused him to spin off. De la Rosa missed half an hour while the team finished his engine change. Alexander Wurz continued to have a bad day in front of his home crowd when he spun off and damaged the nose of his Benetton against the Barrier. Giancarlo Fisichella also had a spin , but was able to recover and get going again, but damaged a wing and the under-tray.

The two Prost's were a disappointing 17th and 19th, both drivers complaining of a lack stability under braking and general grip, while Panis was making up for lost time after an engine change early into the morning session.

Friday Free Practice - Accumulated Times

Pos  Driver        Team                 Time                   
 1.  Hill          Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:13.303   212.111 kmph
 2.  Hakkinen      McLaren Mercedes     1:13.325   + 0.022     
 3.  Coulthard     McLaren Mercedes     1:13.376   + 0.073     
 4.  Zonta         BAR Supertec         1:13.685   + 0.382     
 5.  Alesi         Sauber Petronas      1:13.696   + 0.393     
 6.  R.Schumacher  Williams Supertec    1:13.711   + 0.408     
 7.  Diniz         Sauber Petronas      1:13.740   + 0.437     
 8.  Villeneuve    BAR Supertec         1:13.840   + 0.537     
 9.  Irvine        Ferrari              1:13.883   + 0.580     
10.  Barrichello   Stewart Ford         1:13.923   + 0.620     
11.  Herbert       Stewart Ford         1:14.008   + 0.705     
12.  Zanardi       Williams Supertec    1:14.049   + 0.746     
13.  Badoer        Minardi Ford         1:14.203   + 0.900     
14.  Gene          Minardi Ford         1:14.333   + 1.030     
15.  Frentzen      Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:14.558   + 1.255     
16.  Salo          Ferrari              1:14.608   + 1.305     
17.  Trulli        Prost Peugeot        1:14.724   + 1.421     
18.  Fisichella    Benetton Playlife    1:14.785   + 1.482     
19.  Panis         Prost Peugeot        1:15.028   + 1.725     
20.  Wurz          Benetton Playlife    1:15.107   + 1.804     
21.  de la Rosa    Arrows TWR           1:15.651   + 2.348     
22.  Takagi        Arrows TWR           1:16.067   + 2.764     

All timing unofficial


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