Friday June 16th, 2000
Coulthard's perfect session
David Coulthard described his second session of free practice in Montreal as "perfect," as he narrowly pipped Michael Schumacher for fastest time of the day. "The car felt really good, and I was able to concentrate on fine tuning. We are making steady progress," the Scot said. Team-mate Mika Hakkinen was less happy and was only fifth fastest, complaining of poor handling balance which lurched from understeer to oversteer in mid-corner.
Schumacher quietly confident
Michael Schumacher was not worried to lose fastest time, and focused all afternoon on honing his Ferrari for qualifying. "We both worked hard on braking and differential set-up and made many laps today," the German said. "It is going to be a very tough qualifying session tomorrow." Rubens Barrichello also worked on qualifying set-up, and was also happy with the performance of his Ferrari.
Herbert happy with fourth
Johnny Herbert raised Jaguar's hopes with a strong run to fourth place. The Englishman used the same tyres that he had in the morning session, and was able to fine tune his set-up. "I think we have had a generally satisfactory day, and have made a good start to the weekend," Jackie Stewart said. Eddie Irvine was eighth.
Minor changes help Trulli
"We made lots of little changes, and they seem to have been quite beneficial," Jarno Trulli said after finishing the day sixth for Jordan. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was only 15th, but concentrated on a 15-lap run on race fuel to quantify tyre performance.
Salo seventh for Sauber
Mika Salo described his car as "almost perfect," after setting seventh fastest time for Sauber Petronas. On a low fuel load the Finn was delighted with its performance under braking, but team-mate Pedro Diniz found his C19 nervous under braking with a heavier fuel load.
Fisichella wants more grip
Giancarlo Fisichella found his Benetton well balanced in the second session, but bemoaned lack of grip, especially out of the hairpin. Alexander Wurz, meanwhile, continued to struggle with serious understeer.
New wing works for BAR
Jacques Villeneuve felt that the new rear wing tried by BAR in the afternoon session was a significant improvement, and was satisfied with progress on his way to 10th place, but Ricardo Zonta suffered gearbox oil pressure problems in the sister car.
In brief: Williams' disastrous day continued, with Jenson Button 16th and Ralf Schumacher 21st. Button's learning process was hampered by brake and traction problems. Meanwhile, Schumacher said: "The driver is fine, the car isn't. It has no aerodynamic or mechanical balance." After an engine change between sessions, he had further engine problems at the end of the afternoon. Jean Alesi was happier with his Prost, while Nick Heidfeld had the back of the spare car grafted on to his race car after his morning shunt.
Pos Driver Team Times
1. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes 1:20.602
2. M.Schumacher Ferrari 1:20.611 + 0.009
3. Barrichello Ferrari 1:20.623 + 0.021
4. Herbert Jaguar Cosworth 1:21.174 + 0.572
5. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes 1:21.370 + 0.768
6. Trulli Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:21.380 + 0.778
7. Salo Sauber Petronas 1:21.487 + 0.885
8. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth 1:21.592 + 0.990
9. Fisichella Benetton Playlife 1:21.687 + 1.085
10. Villeneuve BAR Honda 1:21.846 + 1.244
11. Alesi Prost Peugeot 1:22.022 + 1.420
12. Verstappen Arrows Supertec 1:22.065 + 1.463
13. Gene Minardi Fondmetal 1:22.176 + 1.574
14. de la Rosa Arrows Supertec 1:22.176 + 1.574
15. Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:22.262 + 1.660
16. Button Williams BMW 1:22.343 + 1.741
17. Diniz Sauber Petronas 1:22.507 + 1.905
18. Wurz Benetton Playlife 1:22.582 + 1.980
19. Mazzacane Minardi Fondmetal 1:22.606 + 2.004
20. Zonta BAR Honda 1:22.668 + 2.066
21. R.Schumacher Williams BMW 1:22.933 + 2.331
22. Heidfeld Prost Peugeot 1:23.543 + 2.941
All Timing Unofficial