McLaren sets the pace in Monza.

McLaren began their testing on Tuesday in Monza where test driver Ricardo Zonta running both the cars to be used later in the week by Hakkinen and Coulthard. He set a best of 1m 25,333 secs the first day despite running over one of the high kerbs and damaging a front wing.

Hakkinen and Coulthard took over on Wednesday, one of their main priorities being to evaluate new Bridgestone tyres which the company had developed at the previous Monza test before Belgium. On Wednesday, Coulthard set the fastest time of the week with a best of 1m 23,527 secs running 90 laps throughout the day, Hakkinen running 78 laps with a best of 1m 24,773 secs.

On Thursday Hakkinen set the second fastest time of the day at 1m 24,577 secs after 50 laps , a time which he was unable to better on Friday because of the weather. Coulthard concentrated on a tyre program on Thursday with a best of 1m 25,84 secs after 83 laps and on Friday was second fastest to Irvine with a best of 1m 25,03 secs.

Ferrari run in Monza and Fiorano.

There was little respite for the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team following their disappointing Belgian GP weekend, Michael Schumacher back behind the wheel of his Ferrari on Tuesday at Fiorano while Eddie Irvine was running a second car at Monza. Schumacher ran 32 laps at Fiorano with a best time of 1m 02,382 secs working on chassis set up while Irvine set a 1m 25,342 secs at Monza working on chassis and tyre development. He was delayed by a broken front suspension during the test, but managed to keep his car on the circuit.

Schumacher joined Irvine at Monza on Wednesday where Schumacher ran a best of 1m 25,287 secs, Irvine only shaking down the repaired chassis. On Thursday Irvine recorded the fastest time of the day at 1m 24,24 secs and was again quickest on Friday when thunder showers gave the teams very little running on a dry track. Irvine set a best time of 1m 24,96 secs at the end of the day. On Thursday Schumacher concentrated on a race simulation with a best time of 1m 24,924 secs during 97 laps, his fastest lap spoiled when Jarno Trulli spun his Prost. Schumacher used the engine specification used for qualifying in Spa and it is likely that this will be used for the race in Monza where the team will have two spare long wheelbase chassis in addition to the similar race cars.

On Friday he tried both wet and dry conditions setting a best of 1m 25,82 secs.

"The cars are going better than they were at Hockenheim and the gap should be down to around four or five tenth's of a second," said an optimistic Schumacher after the test.

Benetton looking good

Benetton also ran a four day test program at Monza beginning Tuesday with both Wurz and Fisichella evaluating tyres and chassis set-up for the forthcoming GP. Wurz set the fastest time on the first day after 47 laps with a 1m 24,734 secs, Fisichella running only 25 laps evaluating new bodywork with a best time of 1m 25,627 secs. On Wednesday the team continued to select tyre choices for the race and confirmed the positive initial reaction to the new bodywork. Fisichella ran 93 laps with a best of 1m 24,736 secs, Wurz's best a 1m 25,018 secs after a total of 73 laps. Thursday was more tyre and aerodynamic set-up work , Wurz getting down to a best of 1m 24,750 secs in 65 laps of running, Fisichella running a virtually identical time after 31 laps.

On Friday Wurz's best was a 1m 26,27 secs, Fisichella a 1m 26,72 secs.

Jordan back to work.

Still excited over their first GP win in Belgium , the Jordan team were back at work on Wednesday in Monza where Ralf Schumacher and Pedro de la Rosa shared the first day's driving in two cars. Schumacher ran 68 laps despite testing new rear suspension geometry and general set-up work, losing some time with engine trouble , his best time being a 1m 25,84 secs. Ralf reported that the team were also concentrating on damper, spring and rollbar settings to help the car ride the kerbs better, particularly at the first chicane. De la Rosa ran 44 laps with a best of 1m 26,56 secs, his testing cut short when his engine ran out of miles before a routine change.

Hill took over on Thursday and ran 74 laps testing the general set-up of the car comparing aerodynamic and suspension set-ups as well as back-to-back tyre and fuel runs. Hill had a spin at the end of the day without any significant damage, his best time a 1m 25,64 secs. Ralf ran 60 laps with a scheduled engine change included , running similar tests to Hill with a best time of 1m 24,77 secs. On Friday both drivers were in the mid 1m 27 secs bracket, running only a few laps because of the wet weather.

Williams prepare for the Italian GP.

Jacques Villeneuve and Pablo Montoya started the testing for the Williams team on Wednesday, the team concentrating on several carious set-ups in preparation for the race as well as Goodyear tyre testing. Villeneuve ran 47 laps the first day with a best of 1m 25,32 secs, Montoya 53 laps with a best of 1m 25,56 secs. Villeneuve completed 69 laps on Thursday for a best of 1m 24,98 secs, Frentzen taking over from Montoya and setting a 1m 25,73 secs after running 53 laps. On Friday Frentzen did a 1m 26,59 secs, Villeneuve 1m 26,19 secs.

Sauber improving.

On Wednesday Jean Alesi successfully running a race distance using the latest spec Petronas V10 engine which had previously only been used in qualifying. In the simulated warm-up prior to his race run he crashed heavily at the second chicane damaging the nose and removing a front wheel. The car was repaired and he continued the test later. He set a 1m 26,801 secs on Wednesday and improved to a 1m 25,32 secs on Thursday . Both he and Johnny Herbert also carried out work on the differential and aerodynamic set-up for the Italian GP. Herbert set a 1m 27,568 secs on Wednesday , 1m 26,799 secs on Thursday and 1m 28,18 on Friday. Alesi set a 1m 25,65 secs on Friday, fourth fastest of the day.

Verstappen opens testing for Stewart.

Jos Verstappen started the testing on Tuesday at Monza for the Stewart team, Rubens Barrichello having X-rays on Monday to confirm that he had not broken anything in his elbow which was still sore following the start crash in Belgium. He began testing on Thursday and covered 68 laps with no problems setting a bets of 1m 25,10 secs and a 1m 27,48 secs on Friday. Verstappen set a 1m 27,05 secs during 51 laps the first day , the Dutchman always running a high fuel load and on Wednesday he bettered that time by a second after experimenting with different set-ups used by the team in Hockenheim.

Arrows cancels its test plans.

The arrows team cancelled its test program in order to concentrate on rebuilding its damaged cars after the Belgian GP. Chassis A19/6 which Diniz used to finish 5th in Spa will become salo's race chassis in Monza and the Brazilian will get a new (A19/7) chassis for the Italian race. All the cars damaged in Spa were reported as repairable and chassis number 01 will be the spare race car in Monza. The team expects to use the latest D- spec version of its V10 engine in qualifying.

Prost gets two cars ready for Monza.

Despite the extensive damage suffered in Belgium the Prost team had two cars ready for Panis and Trulli in Monza where they started testing on Wednesday. Panis started on aerodynamic set-up and Trulli mechanical set-up the first day and then swapped roles on Thursday. On Friday Panis took advantage of the varying conditions to try different set-ups , both drivers happy with the progress they had made over the three days on the mechanical and aerodynamic set-up, particularly around the electronic differential and barge boards and rear diffuser. On Thursday Trulli had a couple of spins without serious consequences setting a week's best of 1m 25,19 secs and Panis 1m 25,93 secs.

Last test for Tyrrell.

The three Tyrrells damaged at Spa were taken back to the factory for repairs where Rosset's chassis was found to be a written off, although both Takagi's race and spare cars were repairable and will be back in action at Monza. On Wednesday the Tyrrell team took part in its last ever test session at Silverstone when Takagi recorded a best lap of 1m 28,9 secs. All future testing at the track will be under the BAR colours. Frenchman Patrick Lemarie was also given his first run in an F1 car and set a creditable 1m 30,1 secs despite using an older P7 spec engine.

Minardi test at home.

Both the Minardi cars were present at Monza, Shinji Nakano setting a 1m 27,397 secs, 2,4 seconds faster than his Argentinian team-mate Esteban Tuero on Thursday. Back at the factory, the Argentine economic delegation discussed the renewal of Tuero's contract for next year and some financial support for the team. No decision has yet been taken on engines for next year, but a half scale model of the 1999 chassis has been tested successfully in the Fondmetal Technologies wind tunnel for the last nine days.