Friday First Free Practice - Belgian GP


Friday August 27th, 1999

McLaren-Mercedes head first practice session

Mika Hakkinen and team-mate David Coulthard headed the list of practice times around the thrilling Spa-Francorchamps circuit this morning, Hakkinen almost half a second quicker than his team-mate after what the team described as a routine practice session. The only incident for the team was when Hakkinen made an unscheduled pit stop after locking up his brakes and sliding straight on at the bus-stop chicane. The weather remained dry and sunny throughout.

Schumacher well up for Williams

Ralf Schumacher set an impressive third fastest for the Williams team with his team-mate seventh fastest , his first time at Spa since his big accident in a Lotus in 1993. Both Williams were running minor modifications to the front and rear wings, their drivers complaining of a bit too much oversteer in the high speed corners.

Salo fourth for Ferrari

Mika Salo set the quickest time for the Scuderia Ferrari - Marlboro team just ahead of his team-mate Eddie Irvine who ran only 10 laps to Salo's 17. The Finn , who recently signed for Sauber next season, carried out a couple of changes to his car, Irvine only one after an regular morning's work. The cars were reported to be running nothing new at this race.

Alesi on the pace for Sauber

Jean Alesi might have recently signed for the Prost team next year, but as usual the Frenchman was giving his all from the very start of practice to end up with the sixth fastest time for Sauber despite complaining of bottoming problems at Eau Rouge and a lack of traction and too much oversteer. Pedro Diniz lost time in the pits with another stuck rear wheel nut, the Brazilian also having a lucky escape when he locked his brakes into the chicane and bounced high over the kerbs. He was 17th fastest.

Frentzen eighth for Jordan

Heinz Harald Frentzen reported no troubles this morning, but Bridgestone engineers were seen to be studying a badly blistered rear tyre on his Jordan, the team concentrating on getting the critical ride height of the car just right for this track. Hill complained of too much understeer at the start of the session, but then said he had too much oversteer after making changes, but said he was going in the right direction after setting tenth fastest time.

In brief...

Although 11th and 12th, both Stewart drivers were content this morning, both using the Series 4 engine for the entire weekend here and happy with performance other than looking for better traction on the green circuit. Both Benetton drivers complained of no grip and traction, Fisichella ninth and Wurz back in 16th place. Jacques Villeneuve stopped on the track with a suspected hydraulic failure.

Pos  Driver         Team                 Time                     
 1.  Hakkinen       McLaren Mercedes     1:54.396   219.280 kmph  
 2.  Coulthard      McLaren Mercedes     1:54.832   + 0.436       
 3.  R.Schumacher   Williams Supertec    1:54.889   + 0.493       
 4.  Salo           Ferrari              1:55.032   + 0.636       
 5.  Irvine         Ferrari              1:55.242   + 0.846       
 6.  Alesi          Sauber Petronas      1:55.777   + 1.381       
 7.  Zanardi        Williams Supertec    1:55.886   + 1.490       
 8.  Frentzen       Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:55.924   + 1.528       
 9.  Fisichella     Benetton Playlife    1:56.150   + 1.754       
10.  Hill           Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:56.222   + 1.826       
11.  Barrichello    Stewart Ford         1:56.232   + 1.836       
12.  Herbert        Stewart Ford         1:56.271   + 1.875       
13.  Villeneuve     BAR Supertec         1:56.429   + 2.033       
14.  Panis          Prost Peugeot        1:56.504   + 2.108       
15.  Trulli         Prost Peugeot        1:56.765   + 2.369       
16.  Wurz           Benetton Playlife    1:57.179   + 2.783       
17.  Diniz          Sauber Petronas      1:57.429   + 3.033       
18.  Zonta          BAR Supertec         1:57.717   + 3.321       
19.  Badoer         Minardi Ford         1:58.145   + 3.749       
20.  Takagi         Arrows TWR           1:58.628   + 4.232       
21.  Gene           Minardi Ford         1:58.806   + 4.410       
22.  de la Rosa     Arrows TWR           1:59.152   + 4.756       


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