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GP - 1st Saturday Practice Ralf Schumacher sets the fastest time of the session ahead of Jacques Villeneuve and David Coulthard. Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, Eddie Irvine, Jean Alesi, Heinz Harald Frentzen, Olivier Panis and Jarno Trulli make the top 10. Ralf Schumacher improves to 1:21.036 with Villeneuve in 2nd with a 1:21.200. Michael Schumacher is up into 4th with a time of 1:21.377. Hakkinen never managed a timed lap and neither did Bernoldi. Session over but a few drivers are still on fast laps. 45 min: Final minute and Ralf Schumacher remains fastest ahead of Coulthard, Raikkonen, Irvine, Alesi and Villeneuve. 44 min: Luciano Burti in the Prost crashes at St. Devote, he is OK but the car has suffered a lot of damage. He was in 18th. 43 min: Just 2 more minutes to go and Hakkinen finally goes out!. Ralf Schumacher goes fastest with a time of 1:21.261. 42 min: Irvine moves into 2nd while Ralf Schumacher jumps to 3rd. 41 min: Kimi Raikkonen is 1st ! with a time of 1:22.053 40 min: Top 10 - Coulthard, Alesi, Barrichello, Fisichella, Montoya, M Schumacher, Button and Irvine. 38 min: Jean Alesi goes 2nd with a time of 1:22.430. This is good for the team and for Michelin as well. 37 min: Ralf Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen are on their first timed laps now. Mika Hakkinen has yet to go out. 36 min: Giancarlo Fisichella moves to 3rd with a time of 1:22.834. This must be good for the struggling Benetton team. 35 min: 10 minutes to go and there are a number of drivers who have yet to set times including Hakkinen and Ralf Schumacher. 34 min: Jenson Button moves into 6th with a time of 1:25.736! 33 min: Top 10 - Coulthard, Barrichello, M Schumacher, Montoya, Irvine, Frentzen, Heidfeld, Panis, Burti and Villeneuve. 32 min: David Coulthard goes fastest with a time of 1:22.193. Michael Schumacher is 2nd with a time of 1:23.625 while Montoya is 3rd with a 1:24.132. 31 min: More than 12 cars on the track now with Coulthard, Montoya and Heidfeld on fast laps. 30 min: Michael goes 2nd with a time of 1:24.222 as Irvine has improved in 1st to 1:24.205. More drivers join the action with only 15 minutes remaining this session. 29 min: Michael's first lap was a 1:33.787. He will probably go to the top of the timesheets after his second lap. 28 min: Frentzen retakes 2nd with a time of 1:25.792. Irvine and Burti are on the track and so is Michael Schumacher. 27 min: Top 6 - Irvine, Villeneuve, Frentzen, de la Rosa, Verstappen and Panis. 27 min: Frentzen takes 2nd with a time of 1:27.373 only to be taken by Villeneuve with a time of 1:27.150. 26 min: Pedro de la Rosa moves into 2nd with a time of 1:27.549. 25 min: Jacques Villeneuve moves into 3rd with a time of 1:28.086. That is 3 seconds slower than Irvine in 1st place. 24 min: Frentzen's first timed lap is a 1:44.573. 23 min: Pedro de la Rosa moves to 3rd with a time of 1:28.514. Villeneuve is now 4th with a time of 1:28.689. Panis is 6th with a time of 1:29.450. 22 min: Olivier Panis sets a time of 1:40.656 as Heinz Harald Frentzen joins the action on track. 21 min: Jacques Villeneuve improves to 1:31.606. Still losing time in the 3rd sector due to the oil. 20 min: Pedro de la Rosa improves his time slightly with a time of 1:31.279. Olivier Panis is on the track as well. 19 min: Villeneuve's first timed lap is a slow 1:52.155, obviously the drivers are being extra careful as they don't want to spin and damage their cars. 18 min: Jacques Villeneuve joins him. 18 min: The session is back on and Pedro de la Rosa goes out in the Jaguar. 17 min: The session is restarting in 2 minutes. The track will be slippery despite all the cleaning. 17 min: Session restarting soon. The time remaining in the session is 28 minutes. 17 min: Session restarting soon. The time remaining in the session is 28 minutes. 17 min: The session remains stopped. The track appears cleaner now. The session will be restarted shortly. 17 min: The session remains stopped. The track is being cleaned by a road cleaning vehicle now. 17 min: The session remains stopped. The track has oil for most of the third sector and the pit lane. 17 min: The session has now been stopped as the Rascasse corner has a lot of oil on it as well as the pit lane. The marshals are cleaning the track. 16 min: Only 4 drivers have set lap times so far with Irvine ahead of Verstappen, Burti and de la Rosa. 15 min: Everyone has returned to the pits as the Rascasse corner has oil and is being covered by sand by the marshals. 14 min: Jos Verstappen stops on the track just before the entry to the pit lane with what appears to be an engine failure. Lots of oil on the track! - Yellow flags as he is being pushed into the pits. 13 min: Eddie Irvine improves to 1:25.078. Only 4 drivers have set times so far. 12 min: Eddie Irvine sets a 1:26.472 as Michael Schumacher goes out on the track. 11 min: Jos Verstappen improves to 1:27.829. The track lacks grip but once the rubber is laid the lap times will drop very quickly. 10 min: Eddie Irvine clocks a 1:35.262. Luciano Burti is on the track as well. 9 min: Jos Verstappen sets a time of 1:34.567 as Pedro de la Rosa joins them. 8 min: Eddie Irvine goes out on his first timed lap while Verstappen remains on the track after his installation lap. 7 min: Jos Verstappen finally exits the pit lane without the strange looking V wings mounted on the nose that were banned following Thursday practice. 6 min: Rubens Barrichello goes out on his installation lap. No driver has set a time yet. 5 min: The practice sessions today will be crucial for choosing the correct tyre compound. Bridgestone have brought a soft and an extra soft compound here. 4 min: Michael Schumacher is now out on his installation lap while Rubens Barrichello is still in the pits. 3 min: Michael Schumacher is now out on his installation lap while Rubens Barrichello is still in the pits. 2 min: The cars who went out at the start of the session are now streaming back into the pits. Session underway and the cars go out for their installation lap with Burti in the Prost leading the way. The temperature has gone up 1 degree to 22. The maximum temperature expected today is 23 degrees. Session starting in 2 minutes. Both Williams drivers crashed their cars here on Thursday. Ralf Schumacher complained of neck and back pain following his crash and was told to rest on Friday. He should be fine today. Session starting in 5 minutes. The time set by Mika Hakkinen on Thursday was quicker than the best time set here last year on Thursday and Saturday practice sessions but falls just 0.4 seconds behind the Pole time of last year. Expect the times to drop in practice below that. Session starting in 10 minutes. Michael Schumacher dominated the first practice session on Thursday while Mika Hakkinen set the fastest time during the second session. It will be interesting to see how the fight develops today between Ferrari and McLaren. Williams could also be fighting for Pole as the weather is expected to be mainly sunny and the higher the temperatures, the better the Michelin tyres perform. Session starting in 15 minutes. Session
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