McLaren have confirmed that both Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard will be retained for the 1998 season according to BBC Ceefax.

This move is likely to start the final round of driver moves as several drivers were holding out in the hope of getting one of the McLaren seats.

Of the top drivers still looking for a drive, it is thought that Jean Alesi will go to Jordan, Damon Hill to Sauber, and Gerhard Berger into retirement.

Olivier Panis has extended his current contract with the Prost team with two years. Panis, now replaced by Trulli, is still recovering from a race accident.

Prost said: "He is a key member of the team and has been greatly missed since his accident."

Gauloises Blondes has also extended their contract with the team for another three years.

With thanks to Carlos Lefebre Franco from the Netherlands

In the London based newspaper The Sun, it has been reported today that Damon Hill has turned down an offer from McLaren-Mercedes for 1998.

Damon was reportedly offered a 1 year contract earning him a 2 million dollar salary and 1 million dollars per race win, but allegedly dismissed this as "insulting".

Hill said "I would like to make my decision soon. It will be weeks not months", and hinted that he may have already decided. Sauber have reputedly offered him 6 million dollars to lead the team in 1998.

Summary

The sky was clear and the temperature reached more than 30 °C on Thursday but it was all rain today. There was not much activity to see on the track today, compared with a dry session.

Both the Benettons topped today's rankings followed by Rubens Barrichello and Damon Hill who showed the excellence of the Bridgestone tyre.

Jacques Villeneuve couldn't get a grip on the circuit and ended 17th.

Notes

• There were a lot of spins and run offs, because of the wet conditions.
• M. Schumacher used the 046/2 engine but still is not confinced with the reliability on the Spa circuit.
• Fisichella may stay with the Jordan team after all because Benetton boss Briatore has forgotten to tell the FIA about the option for next season.
  • Weather during sessions: Wet (20 °C)

			Friday
		1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.	Berger (Benetton-Renault) G Alesi (Benetton-Renault) G Barrichello (Stewart-Ford) B Hill (Arrows-Yamaha) B M. Schumacher (Ferrari) G Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes) G Herbert (Sauber-Petronas) G Trulli (Prost-Mugen) B Diniz (Arrows-Yamaha) B Katayama (Minardi-Hart) B Nakano (Prost-Mugen) B Hakkinen (McLaren-Mercedes) G Frentzen (Williams-Renault) G Irvine (Ferrari) G Fisichella (Jordan-Peugeot) G Morbidelli (Sauber-Petronas) G Villeneuve (Williams-Renault) G Marques (Minardi-Hart) B Magnussen (Stewart-Ford) B R. Schumacher (Jordan-Peugeot) G Salo (Tyrrell-Ford) G Verstappen (Tyrrell-Ford) G 107% rule B: Bridgestone G: Goodyear	2m 06.802s 2m 07.371s 2m 08.238s 2m 08.372s 2m 09.272s 2m 09.288s 2m 09.772s 2m 09.772s 2m 10.153s 2m 10.231s 2m 10.272s 2m 10.413s 2m 10.914s 2m 10.993s 2m 11.093s 2m 11.262s 2m 11.706s 2m 12.778s 2m 12.545s 2m 12.750s 2m 13.256s 2m 14.048s 2m 15.678s

The Quotes

• M. Schumacher: "I am reasonably happy with today's session as we got through our planned programme. During the day, the rain fell in different amounts so that drivers tried different types of tyre at different times, which explains the gaps in the times. If these conditions persist for the race, tyre choice will be the determining factor. Goodyear have brought types of tyre here, that work well in two conditions, whereas the other supplier seems to have an advantage in a third type of track condition."

• Katayama: "Our car is getting better all the time. I'm quite pleased with my times today and I much prefer this track in wet conditions - it's more interesting. The Bridgestone tyres were a great help today. They suit our cars in these conditions."

• Marques: "I had a small problem with under-steer this morning, which my engineers fixed. It was frustrating because my car was continuously getting better during the second session and then I spun and hit the barrier. Unfortunately my practice session came to an end."

• Verstappen: "The balance of the car seemed to be good today, but it is difficult to tell in the changing conditions. There is no point pushing in weather like this on a Friday. It would be crazy to risk the car by trying to set a quicker time."

• Salo: "This is such a great track in the dry it is a shame that the weather has changed. It was really wet out there and because of the undulating nature of Spa there are rivers running across the track. I tried to run on intermediate tyres half way through the second session, but it was too wet and I had no grip at all. There was no dry line on the track, so we decided not to waste a run on new tyres."

• Alesi: "The car was extremely good today therefore we know we are okay in the wet. We will have to try it now in different weather conditions. Honestly, I hope the weather improves because in the heavy rain, qualifying and the race are too much of a lottery."

• Berger: "It all went well today. I caught the right moment when I did my lap time and felt quite comfortable with the car. At the end, since the rain was too strong, I decided it was too risky to push harder. Today's first place doesn't make me overconfident about tomorrow's qualifying because cars' and weathers' conditions vary constantly. But it's certainly a nice feeling to be the fastest today. It's my usual good first day of practice here at Spa!"