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| Brazilian
GP - First Friday Practice
Session over with Michael Schumacher fastest ahead of Mika Hakkinen and Rubens Barrichello. David Coulthard, Olivier Panis and Eddie Irvine make the top 6. Burti, Montoya, Heidfeld and Trulli make the top 10. Ralf Schumacher fails to set a fast time. 60 min: Final run for the drivers with Michael Schumacher in first spot just 0.05 seconds ahead of Mika Hakkinen. 59 min: The top 3 drivers - M Schumacher, Hakkinen and Barrichello have set times under the 1:17 mark. 58 min: Mika Hakkinen improves further but Michael Schumacher betters his time and takes first with a time of 1:16.832. 56 min: A great day so far for the Brazilian drivers, 3 out of 4 are in the top 10 (Barrichello - 2nd, Bernoldi - 7th, Burti - 8th) 54 min: Mika Hakkinen goes to the top of the timesheets with a time of 1:17.006. 53 min: Juan Pablo Montoya improves to 8th. This is his first ever appearance on this track. 52 min: Top 10 - M Schumacher, R Barrichello, Coulthard, Irvine, Hakkinen, Panis, Bernoldi, Heidfeld, Trulli, Montoya. 51 min: Fisichella improves to 15th and just over 2 seconds off the pace. 50 min: Fisichella moves into 18th place with a time of 1:2.400 and over 3 seconds off the pace. 49 min: Fisichella on his first timed lap - finally! 48 min: Jenson Button has set a time just ahead of the 2 Minardis! 47 min: Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher still in the garage both having problems. 45 min: Olivier Panis moves into 6th place with a time of 1:18.191. Just over a second off the pace. 44 min: Only Michael Schumacher's time is better than the best time set here on the 1st Friday practice last year. 42 min: Eddie Irvine improves to 4th and splits the McLarens! 41 min: Mika Hakkinen spins but recovers. 40 min: Coulthard moves into 3rd behind the 2 Ferrari's. Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher yet to set competitive lap times. 39 min: Top 10 - M Schumacher, R Barrichello, Hakkinen, Coulthard, Irvine, Heidfeld, Burti, Frentzen, Panis, Trulli. 38 min: Michael Schumacher goes to first place on his first lap! with a time of 1:17.188 - stunning! 36 min: Michael Schumacher on the track to set his first time of the session. David Coulthard is now in 2nd just a fraction behind his teammate. 35 min: Rubens Barrichello improves to 3rd over a second behind Hakkinen. Coulthard jumps into 4th behind Barrichello. 34 min: Drivers yet to set a competitive time include both Schumachers, Coulthard, Fisichella and Raikkonen. 32 min: Frentzen improves to 4th while Barrichello sets a slow time in 16th! 30 min: Half an hour remaining and Rubens Barrichello finally comes out. Michael Schumacher is still in the pits. 29 min: Top 10 - Hakkinen, Irvine, Panis, Trulli, Alesi, Montoya, Burti, Frentzen, Verstappen, Villeneuve. 27 min: Ralf Schumacher sets a very slow time while Trulli moves into 6th place and Panis is now 3rd. 25 min: Drivers who have yet to set a time include M Schumacher, Barrichello, Coulthard, Fisichella, Button, Frentzen and Raikkonen. 25 min: Ralf Schumacher is out on the track while Panis moves into 7th place on his first flying lap. 24 min: Top 10 - Hakkinen, Irvine, Alesi, Montoya, Burti, Verstappen, Trulli, Villeneuve, Mazzacane, Bernoldi. 22 min: David Coulthard appears to be having problems. He went out but then returned to the pits without setting a time. 20 min: Irvine and Montoya improve to 2nd and 3rd but still over a second off Hakkinen's pace. Keep in mind that neither Ferrari has set a time yet! 19 min: Jos Verstappen moves into 2nd with a time of 1:19.866 while Irvine is up into 3rd with a time of 1:20.057. Hakkinen has improved at the top with a time of 1:17.866. 18 min: Top 6 - Hakkinen, Montoya, Verstappen, Villeneuve, Bernoldi, Mazzacane. 9 drivers have set times so far. 16 min: Juan Pablo Montoya moves into 2nd with a time of 1:20.651. 14 min: Hakkinen improves to 1:18.419. 13 min: Fernando Alonso improves to 1:21.763 while Mika Hakkinen takes first with a time of 1:18.893 11 min: Fernando Alonso sets a time of 1:23.958. Burti and Heidfeld start their flying laps as well as Mika Hakkinen. 10 min: Fernando Alonso is the first to go out for the second time and starts a flying lap. Michael Schumacher goes out on his installation lap. 8 min: Only Michael Schumacher and Jean Alesi have yet to complete their installation lap. Alesi appears to be having a problem with his car. 6 min: Rubens Barrichello goes out on the track for his installation lap and the crowd go crazy!. No times set yet. 4 min: Neither Ferrari driver has come out yet. 2 min: Most cars are out on the track for their installation lap. The cars that went out first are already back in the pits. Session starts with a number of cars going out on their installation lap led by Kimi Raikkonen. Session about to start with a number of cars waiting for the session to start in the pitlane. Rubens Barrichello is fired up and wants to beat Michael Schumacher at his home GP. Will he do it ? We'll have to wait and see! - 2 minutes to go Lap times have dropped significantly in the first two rounds of the championship and the trend is expected to continue here. The FIA have indicated that they could take immediate action to slow the cars down if they feel the cars are going too fast. A review is expected following the Brazilian GP - 8 minutes to go. Session starting in 15 minutes. Mostly cloudy sky with a current temperature of 24 degrees. |