Hakkinen's first drive

Hakkinen drove his McLaren-Mercedes today -- Michele Alborato was wrong for saying Mika was not able to drive (Feb. 2). Mika stepped into his McLaren at Le Castellet and clocked a best time of 1:07.09. This was the first time, after 87 days since his coma, could Hakkinen drive again. A McLaren official said: "Mika has made a remarkable recovery and this is a test just to see how he feels about driving," If all goes well he will test the new McLaren at Estoril (Portugal) next week.

Villeneuve and Frentzen were testing at Estoril. Villeneuve drove a best lap of 1:38.68 with 39 laps and Frentzen came to a best of 1:41.54 with 22 laps.

Benetton team-boss Flavio Briatore is quoted as saying that Ferrari should be the favourite for the World Championship title this year. Flavio's reasoning came from his experience and faith in Michael Schumacher's ability.