|
|||
Formula 1 news, results and statistics when you need it |
2000 Japanese GP News |
||
Download the NewsOnF1.com |
Drivers Championship Constructors
Championship Japanese Grand Prix Friday Practice Sessions Michael Schumacher sets the fastest time of the session ahead of Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard. Rubens Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella make the top 6. All the drivers went out early which is unusual for Friday practice. The BAR team topped the timesheets early in the session with Jacques Villeneuve setting fastest times early in the session. Once the McLaren's and Ferrari's were out though, they occupied the first 4 spots almost immediately. The fastest time changed between the 4 drivers in the last 30 minutes of the session more than 8 times and Michael Schumacher ended up fastest of all and almost half a second ahead of Hakkinen. Coulthard is over a second slower than Schumacher while Barrichello is over 1.5 seconds behind his team-mate. Barrichello spun out on his last run so he may have improved his time. Nick Heidfeld and Jenson Button did the most number of laps with 17 (they are both learning the track in a Formula 1 car) while Zonta and Villeneuve both did 16 laps each. Alexander Wurz had problems with his car and only managed 3 laps. Most drivers completed between 8 and 12 laps each. Michael Schumacher's time is just over a second slower than the pole time set here last year and there are 3 more sessions to go before qualifying even starts! An interesting start to the weekend! Click
here for the history of the session Michael Schumacher continued his dominance during the second session setting the fastest time of the day and the only driver to go under the 1:38 mark. Schumacher's time is just 0.268 seconds off the pole position time of last year. Mika Hakkinen was second 0.611 seconds behind Schumacher while Rubens Barrichello was 3rd 0.809 seconds behind Schumacher. David Coulthard is in 4th place over a second off the pace followed by Button and Trulli. Midway through the session, the area was hit by an
earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale at it's epicentre in the city of Kobe 150 km
away. The quake registered 7.1 at Suzuka and everyone at the track felt the vibration but
no damage was reported and the session continued normally. Ricardo Zonta managed to complete the most number of laps
this session with 21 while Fisichella, Heidfeld and Button all did 20 laps each. Gaston
Mazzacane only completed one lap as he stopped on the track while Alexander Wurz managed 7
laps in the last 15 minutes of the session. Most drivers completed between 15 and 19 laps.
Just over 1.5 seconds separate the top 6 and over 2 seconds separate the top 10. If the gaps don't shrink, a lot of cars will be lapped on race day ! Click
here for the history of the session
|
|