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GP - 1st Friday Practice:
Session over with Mika Hakkinen fastest ahead of Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard. Barrichello, R Schumacher, Montoya, Trulli, Panis, Frentzen and Villeneuve make the top 10. 60 min: Olivier Panis is the only improvement moving into 8th. 60 min: Final lap for the drivers but there doesn't appear to be any improvements. 59 min: Enrique Bernoldi stops on the track while Luciano Burti spins into the gravel. 58 min: Mika Hakkinen returns to the pits without improving. 57 min: No improvements in the top 10 for the last 10 minutes! 55 min: 1 second separates the top 8 at the moment. That is closer than it has been at previous events. Let hope is stays close all weekend. 54 min: It doesn't look as if we'll see much improvements in the times in the final 5 minutes. 53 min: 6 cars out of the top 10 are on the track for their final run. 52 min: Michael Schumacher returns to the track with under 10 minutes remaining in the session. 51 min: Montoya continues to go around the track without improvement. He has covered 16 laps so far. 51 min: Mika Hakkinen rejoins the track as Coulthard pits. 50 min: Top 10 - Hakkinen, M Schumacher, Coulthard, Barrichello, R Schumacher, Montoya, Trulli, Frentzen, Villeneuve and Raikkonen. 48 min: Fisichella improves his time to 1:18.842. That is almost 3 seconds off the pace! 47 min: Juan Pablo Montoya returns to the track. 46 min: Coulthard moves to 3rd with a time of 1:16.364. That is 0.475 seconds behind Hakkinen. 45 min: Coulthard looks like he will improve. 44 min: David Coulthard finally returns to the track. He only covered 5 laps so far. 43 min: It looks like the times are not improving due to the rising temperatures. All those on track for the last 15 minutes have not improved on their times. 41 min: Of the top 10, only Barrichello, Trulli and Raikkonen are on the track. 40 min: Top 10 - Hakkinen, M Schumacher, Barrichello, R Schumacher, Montoya, Trulli, Coulthard, Frentzen, Villeneuve and Raikkonen. 39 min: There is not much activity on the track with only 4 cars on the track. 37 min: Pedro de la Rosa in 16th has covered the most number of laps so far with 14. David Coulthard only covered 5 laps and is in the pits. 36 min: Fernando Alonso is up in 15th! 35 min: Heinz Harald Frentzen moves into 8th place while Villeneuve returns to the top 10 in 9th. 34 min: Mika Hakkinen takes first back from Michael Schumacher with a 1:15.889 33 min: Jenson Button sets the 15th fastest time and follows it with a spin! He recovers. 32 min: Giancarlo Fisichella has completed the most number of laps so far with 10 but is in 17th place! 31 min: Ralf Schumacher has stopped. Session over for him! 30 min: Top 10 - M Schumacher, Hakkinen, Barrichello, R Schumacher, Montoya, Trulli, Coulthard, Raikkonen, Panis and Heidfeld. 29 min: Michael Schumacher goes first with a time of 1:16.044. 28 min: David Coulthard moves into 5th with a time of 1:16.797. 28 min: Mika Hakkinen goes fastest with a time of 1:16.420 while Ralf Schumacher is right behind with a time of 1:1:16.438. 27 min: Rubens Barrichello improves to 3rd with a time of :16.843. 26 min: Ralf Schumacher and the 2 McLarens are on the track. 25 min: Rubens Barrichello moves into 9th with a time of 1:18.140 while Michael Schumacher spins on his first timed lap but recovers. 24 min: Jarno Trulli spins but recovers. Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello are on the track. 23 min: Jarno Trulli jumps into 2nd place just 0.017 seconds behind Montoya. 22 min: Fisichella improves to 10th just ahead of Alonso! 21 min: Top 10 - Montoya, Raikkonen, Heidfeld, Panis, Verstappen, Villeneuve, Bernoldi, de la Rosa, Burti and Alonso. 20 min: Giancarlo Fisichella clocks the 12th fastest time with a 1:20.006. That is too slow! 19 min: Olivier Panis moves into 4th with a time of 1:17.437. 18 min: Fisichella on the track. It will be interesting to see how he goes with the new package. 18 min: Juan Pablo Montoya goes fastest with a time of 1:16.553 while Villeneuve moves into 6th with a 1:17.790 17 min: Nick Heidfeld goes 2nd behind his team-mate. Montoya and Villeneuve on track. 17 min: Top 6 - Raikkonen, Verstappen, Bernoldi, de la Rosa, Burti and Alonso. 16 min: Kimi Raikkonen goes first with a time of 1:17.180! 15 min: Pedro de la Rosa takes 3rd with a time of 1:18.387. Alesi and Raikkonen are on the track. 14 min: Luciano Burti puts the Prost in 3rd with a time of 1:18.599 13 min: Bad start to the weekend for Irvine as he loses it and sticks his Jaguar in the gravel. Session over for him! 12 min: Marques sets a time of 1:22.217!, that is more than 2 seconds slower than his team-mate. 12 min: Bernoldi goes second with a time of 1:17.768 11 min: Verstappen sets a time of 1:17.495 as Eddie Irvine goes out on the track. 10 min: Tarso Marques and Enrique Bernoldi are out on the track as well. 9 min: Fernando Alonso sets a time of 1:19.953. Jos Verstappen is on the track. 8 min: Fernando Alonso is the first to go back out on a timed run. Rubens Barrichello is out on his installation lap. 6 min: The temperature has now reached 24 degrees and rising. The track temperature is over 40 degrees. 5 min: Michael Schumacher is now on the track for his installation run. 3 min: The cars that went out are back in the pits now. The two Ferraris have yet to go out. 2 min: Ralf Schumacher appeared to be in trouble when his car stopped on its way out of the garage. He is now out on the track now. 1 min: Alonso is followed by Villeneuve, Panis, Burti, Marques .... Session underway with the cars heading out of the pits for their installation lap. Fernando Alonso leads the way! It is expected that this weekend will be a fight between Williams and Ferrari with Williams possibly having an advantage due to their Michelin tyres given the expected warm temperatures. It will also be interesting to see how Benetton will shape given that they are claiming their new engine and chassis developments will give them a big step forward. Session starting in 5 minutes. This is going to be a make or break race for David Coulthard. Last Sunday he admitted that McLaren are slower than Williams and Ferrari but said that he'll do everything he can to catch Michael in the Championship. Session starting in 10 minutes. Session starting at 11:00 AM local time under sunny weather conditions. The temperature is 22 degrees |