Good start for Hakkinen
Mika Hakkinen's crucial weekend for the World Championship deciding final race of the season got off to a good start in Suzuka with the Finn setting the fastest time of the first free practice session. He was happy with the performance of his car and might well have gone quicker but for a slower car at the chicane when he started his quick lap.
In contrast, David Coulthard was struggling to find the right balance for his McLaren, the Scot going off the track at one point and also having troubles with a locking front brake. He ended the first session back in sixth place.
Scuderia-Ferrari-Marlboro looking good
Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine took the second and third fastest times of the session for Ferrari, Schumacher running only five laps without even working on the set-up of his car for the time being. "With the track changing all the time as the rubber goes down, there was no point in chasing the set-up along with the grip from the track," explained Schumacher. Irvine ran 11 laps, but like Schumacher did not make any set-up changes to his car which he was checking for trouble free operation.
The two drivers are using the 'standard' short wheelbase chassis set up for this track and new Goodyear construction tyres developed since the last race.
Frentzen well up for Williams
Heinz-Harald Frentzen took the fourth fastest time for the Williams team which have a revised car with new longer wheelbase front suspension and rear difuser which the drivers tried for the first time this morning. "It seems to work a bit better and certainly feels a very different car - more stable in some corners. However, I still have a lot of work to do on the overall balance," said Frentzen. Jacques Villeneuve lost time evaluating his car when he had a right rear puncture which cost the Canadian a valuable set of tyres for the weekend. He was eighth fastest.
Jordan going well
The Jordan team had a good start to the morning with Ralf Schumacher fifth fastest and Damon Hill seventh. "The cars are just about where I expected them to be," said Hill. Ralf thinks he needs to add more downforce to his car saying that the grip goes away after a couple of laps.
In brief...
Both Benetton drivers are considering a radical front suspension change to overcome an understeer problem, Fisichella ninth fastest despite an off into the gravel trap and Wurz 13th. No problems for Sauber, although both drivers said they had a lot to do on the set-up for this track. The Stewart team are running a revised rear suspension which they had tried since the last race. Both drivers were also using the series six engine. The prost team did not run their revised development AP1B chassis with a new gearbox and aerodynamics this morning. Trulli will use it on Saturday only. Minardi had a brake problem this morning.
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