Friday October 29th, 1999
McLaren head first practice session
Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard headed the time sheet at the end of the first free practice session for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix, final race of the 1999 World Championship. The team, sporting revised front wings for this race, had what they described as a routine first practice on the dirty track which caused the cars to slide around a lot. Mika Hakkinen had a spin at the chicane, but stayed on the track and was able to continue.
Schumacher up front for Ferrari
Michael Schumacher was also complaining about the lack of grip from the ?green' track in the opening session, but still managed to set the third fastest time of the session running just nine laps compared with the 15 of Hakkinen. Eddie Irvine ran 14 laps to set the fifth fastest time, but was 1,1 secs off the time of his team-mate. Both Ferraris plan to run the 048B engines for this race.
Frentzen on form for fourth
Recently married Heinz-Harald Frentzen proved that his change of marital status has not affected his speed putting the Jordan-Honda fourth fastest in the first session. "No problems other than the lack of grip from the dirty track," said Frentzen. Damon Hill's final Grand Prix did not start off well. On his first flying lap he spun off and ended the session stuck in a gravel trap.
Schumacher sixth for Williams
Ralf Schumacher had a trouble free session to take sixth fastest for the Williams team, his team-mate Alex Zanardi continuing to struggle back in 16th spot 1,2 seconds off his team-mate's pace despite running 17 laps.
Bothers for Benetton
Giancarlo Fisichella stopped early when his car suffered hydraulic problems, but he had already set the eighth fastest time. Alexander Wurz was unable to stop his car understeering , while Fisichella had complained of power oversteer.
In brief...
Rubens Barrichello managed to get his Stewart back on the track to set 10th fastest after running through a gravel trap. Johnny Herbert stayed on the track, but was unable to better 12th fastest complaining of too much oversteer. Alesi was initially happy with his Sauber, but said adjustments made it worse on his way to ninth fastest. Diniz couldn't cope with the oversteer problem with his car.
Not surprisingly, both Prost drivers complained about oversteer and a lack of traction as they have all season, although Trulli was seventh fastest , Panis back in 13th place. Marc Gene ran 20 laps in his Minardi in a bid to learn the track.
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes 1:41.746 207.481 km/h
2. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes 1:41.894 + 0.148
3. M.Schumacher Ferrari 1:42.215 + 0.469
4. Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:43.235 + 1.489
5. Irvine Ferrari 1:43.375 + 1.629
6. R.Schumacher Williams Supertec 1:43.399 + 1.653
7. Trulli Prost Peugeot 1:43.916 + 2.170
8. Fisichella Benetton Supertec 1:43.948 + 2.202
9. Alesi Sauber Petronas 1:44.034 + 2.288
10. Barrichello Stewart Ford 1:44.126 + 2.380
11. Villeneuve BAR Supertec 1:44.154 + 2.408
12. Herbert Stewart Ford 1:44.179 + 2.433
13. Panis Prost Peugeot 1:44.259 + 2.513
14. Wurz Benetton Supertec 1:44.882 + 3.136
15. Zonta BAR Supertec 1:45.364 + 3.618
16. Zanardi Williams Supertec 1:45.519 + 3.773
17. Diniz Sauber Petronas 1:45.839 + 4.093
18. de la Rosa Arrows TWR 1:45.924 + 4.178
19. Takagi Arrows TWR 1:46.535 + 4.789
20. Gene Minardi Ford 1:46.943 + 5.197
21. Badoer Minardi Ford 1:47.033 + 5.287
22. Hill Jordan Mugen-Honda 17:30.100 + 15:48.354
All Timing Unofficial