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2000 United States GP News |
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Drivers Championship Constructors
Championship United States Grand Prix Friday Practice Sessions A dream start for Ferrari with Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello ahead of the rest. Mika Hakkinen was third almost 0.8 seconds slower than Schumacher while Jenson Button was 4th, Jacques Villeneuve in 5th and Alexander Wurz in 6th. Michael Schumacher was the only driver to set a time under the 1:15 mark but his team-mate Rubens Barrichello is only 0.217 seconds behind. Both McLaren drivers have suffered problems with David Coulthard missing out on almost the entire session while Mika Hakkinen only covered 10 laps this session so McLaren is more likely to close the gap in the next session. Several other drivers had problems with Fisichella spinning off, Ralf Schumacher and Jean Alesi suffering mechanical problems. Jenson Button on a level playing field with the other drivers is doing exceptionally well in 4th place and under a second off the pace. There is over half a second gap between 4th and 5th while 5th to 16th it is very close, Jacques Villeneuve in 5th is less than half a second ahead of Gaston Mazzacane in 16th. The gap will get bigger once the faster teams find their optimum setup. Arrows appear to be struggling here with Verstappen and de la Rosa in 19th and 20th respectively. Ricardo Zonta covered the most number of laps with 28 while David Coulthard only completed a single lap. Jean Alesi only did 7, Mika Hakkinen did 10 and Ralf Schumacher 13. Most drivers did between 20 and 25 laps. Click
here for the history of the session After a bad start for the McLaren team, both David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen posted the fastest times of the day. Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello were 3rd and 4th but did not improve on their times set during the first session. Heinz Harald Frentzen moved up into 5th while Ralf Schumacher makes the top 6. Only the top 3 have set a time under the 1:15 mark. The top 6 are separated by 0.688 seconds. Jarno Trulli is in 7th place just over a second off the pace ahead of Jenson Button and a surprise Marc Gene. Jacques Villeneuve makes up the top 10. The 2 Ferrari's, Button, Irvine, Heidfeld and Diniz failed to improve on their times from the first session while most of the rest improved marginally. David Coulthard was the exception as he didn't set a time during the first session. The session had a number of incidents with both Alesi and Verstappen retiring after spinning into the gravel trap. Johnny Herbert also retired after hitting a barrier and damaging his car. Several driver overshot the first corner after the main straight. Michael Schumacher did the most number of laps in both sessions with 53 followed by Ricardo Zonta with 50 and Jacques Villeneuve with 49. Jean Alesi did the least with 15 followed by Fisichella with 23 and Coulthard with 27. Most other drivers did between 40 and 47 laps. Click
here for the history of the session
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