McLaren men dominate practice

The two McLaren-Mercedes drivers, Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard, domiated this morning's Hungarian Grand Prix free practice. Both ran fresh tyres at the end, Hakkinen taking the fastest time of the session just over a tenth of a second faster than his team mate, who earlier on in the session spun off and got stranded on a kerb at the chicane. Coulthard's car was then fitted with a new diffuser. Other than that, the team had no major problems during the session. Hakkinen said he still needs to fine tune the balance, yet the team is quite confident of taking the front row of the grid this afternoon.

Schumacher still third

Michael Schumacher set the third fastest time of the session for Ferrari this morning, but with over a second between himself and the two McLarens. However, he did not use a fresh set of tyres at the end of the session, like the McLarens did. Eddie Irvine was unable to better ninth time of the morning, 6/10th's slower than his team-mate despite fitting a fresh set of tyres. Both Ferraris were running the bodywork without extra cooling holes at the rear and had been fitted with a new rear wing following overnight tests at Fiorano.

Fisichella back on the pace.

Despite a spin at the chicane which left him stranded on a kerb and lost him most of the first half of the session, Giancarlo Fisichella came back to set the fourth fastest time by the end of the session after working on the mechanical grip of the car. The Italian had another brief "off" at the chicane, but was able to continue, saying he was now quite happy with the car's balance. Alexander Wurz is now comfortable with the Hungaroring track which he is racing for the first time, but uncomfortable with his car's set up which he changed at the end, though did not get a chance to run before the flag. He did not better 10th time, half a second slower than his team-mate.

Villeneuve loses his balance.

After being happy with the handling of his car on Friday, Jacques Villeneuve, fifth this morning, was complaining about the balance which he hopes to improve for qualifying. Frentzen was happier with his car after setting seventh fastest time, but was confining himself to short runs because of a stomach problem this morning.

In Brief...

Damon Hill, sixth quickest, complained about his Jordan's handling over the bumps. Ralf Schumacher complained of understeer and no grip, damaging the nose of his Jordan when he went off. Both Sauber drivers complained of a lack of grip and a lack of downforce to cure it. Herbert went off and damaged his car's undertray. Jos Verstappen's engine broke down early on. He managed to get out at the end of the session again, but then hit the back of Rosset's Tyrrell damaging both cars. Takagi went off twice in the other Tyrrell, his car also damaged, perhaps forcing him into the T-car for qualifying. Prost drivers complained of bad handling on the bumps.