Friday October 29th, 1999
McLaren retain first day fastest times
Despite the fact that Mika Hakkinen did not improve upon his morning time , he still retained the fastest time of the day at the end of the second free practice session, the Finn not bothering to run a new set of tyres and go for a faster time. David Coulthard's session ended after 28 minutes when he crashed at the exit of the esses. "I got a wheel on the kerb and didn't have enough room to correct it," said Coulthard , who slammed into the tyre barriers sideways damaging the left side of the car and bodywork. The team can repair it for tomorrow. He still kept his second fastest time of the day with his morning time.
Schumacher holds third spot
Like the McLaren drivers, Michael Schumacher preferred to work on the set up of his car with the same set of tyres than fit fresh rubber and try and improve his morning time which still kept him in third place for the day." We improved the car quite a bit by the end of the session, but not the time because of the old tyres," said Schumacher. Irvine also worked on improving the balance with a heavy fuel load and ended up in 10th place. "Don't worry about Irvine, tomorrow is another day," said Schumacher after the session. Both race cars will run the improved 048C engines tomorrow.
Barrichello jumps into fourth fastest for Stewart
Rubens Barrichello decided to fit fresh rubber and go for a quick lap in the afternoon, his best time putting him fourth fastest. Johnny Herbert was well back in 20th place, but not too worried as he didn't run fresh tyres. "I have never seen Suzuka so slippery," remarked Herbert, speculation being that new gravel traps added to the track had left a lot of dust on the track.
Zanardi improves
Like Barrichello, Zanardi drove a quick lap on fresh tyres to take fifth fastest time of the session for Williams, his team- mate Ralf Schumacher preferring to save his tyres and work on different set-ups which saw him back in 11th spot.
Panis steps up for Prost
A new set of tyres to replace what he thought had been a bad first set saw Panis make a big improvement in his lap time and his car's handling. Trulli stayed with his old tyres, still complaining of too much oversteer after setting 19th fastest time.
Villeneuve on the pace
After losing time in the morning because of a leaking oil pipe, Jacques Villeneuve had a good run in the afternoon to set the eighth fastest time of the session, his BAR team-mate Zonta also feeling happier in the afternoon after setting 17th time of the day.
Friday Free Practice - Accumulated Times
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes 1:41.746 207.481 kmph
2. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes 1:41.894 + 0.148
3. M.Schumacher Ferrari 1:42.215 + 0.469
4. Barrichello Stewart Ford 1:42.529 + 0.783
5. Zanardi Williams Supertec 1:42.718 + 0.972
6. Panis Prost Peugeot 1:42.925 + 0.179
7. Fisichella Benetton Supertec 1:42.953 + 1.207
8. Villeneuve BAR Supertec 1:43.047 + 1.301
9. Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:43.235 + 1.489
10. Irvine Ferrari 1:43.375 + 1.629
11. R.Schumacher Williams Supertec 1:43.399 + 1.653
12. Wurz Benetton Supertec 1:43.430 + 1.684
13. Alesi Sauber Petronas 1:43.485 + 1.739
14. de la Rosa Arrows TWR 1:43.599 + 1.853
15. Gene Minardi Ford 1:43.652 + 1.906
16. Hill Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:43.720 + 1.974
17. Zonta BAR Supertec 1:43.776 + 2.030
18. Takagi Arrows TWR 1:43.804 + 2.058
19. Trulli Prost Peugeot 1:43.916 + 2.170
20. Herbert Stewart Ford 1:44.179 + 2.433
21. Diniz Sauber Petronas 1:44.423 + 2.677
22. Badoer Minardi Ford 1:45.543 + 3.797
All Timing Unofficial