Friday March 24th, 2000

Hakkinen Already Under 1999 Pole

Mika Hakkinen was the fastest driver on the first day of the Brazilian Grand Prix meeting at Interlagos. In the Friday afternoon practice session, the reigning World Champion drove a lap already seven-tenths of a second under his 1999 pole winning time, doubtless due to the improved track surface over much of the Sao Paulo circuit. Hakkinen's only problem came just after the chequered flag was shown to end the session, when he locked up a front wheel and slid off the road at turn one. David Coulthard spent a lot of time in the pits this afternoon while the team made a precautionary rear wing change following a trip across the grass. He still managed to improve to third fastest time of the day, but was 0.7sec behind his team-mate.

Schumacher Chasing Hakkinen Again

Michael Schumacher was happy with the performance of his Ferrari, and his second place to Hakkinen. "Pole position is possible tomorrow, but it's the race that's important," said Michael after a trouble-free session. Rubens Barrichello slipped back to fourth fastest for the day when he lost time having his car's footrest repaired, after it became detached and caused him to spin while trying a fresh set of tyres. Schumacher ran the same set of tyres all day.

Arrows Startles Everyone

Despite the fact that Pedro de la Rosa had run only briefly this morning, the Spaniard surprised everyone with the fifth fastest lap of the day, running a problem-free 20 laps. He was delighted with the set-up of his car, but team mate Jos Verstappen, who was also well up in seventh spot, was not so happy. He tried different tyres at the end of the session, which spoiled the set-up of his car and caused him to run wide over a gravel trap.

Alesi Well Up for Prost

Jean Alesi improved the handling of his Prost-Peugeot, with a revised aerodynamic set-up, and took the sixth fastest time of the day. However, he was still complaining about high cockpit temperatures, in the 29degC heat. Nick Heidfeld was slowest this afternoon, after a problem with his gearshift kept him in the pits for much of the session.

Trulli Happy at Eighth

A new suspension set-up and aerodynamic parts, tried during the recent Silverstone test, worked well for Jordan at Interlagos, and Jarno Trulli pronounced himself happy with eighth place, running a race fuel load. Heinz-Harald Frentzen also drove with a race set-up, but did not better 11th fastest, his best lap spoiled by traffic at the end of the session. Frentzen's wife, Tanja is expecting their first child any day now.

In Brief...

Jacques Villeneuve ended up ninth for BAR-Honda, with Ricardo Zonta back in 17th place trying to sort out his chassis to cope with the bumps on the main straight.

Jenson Button did only a few laps before stopping for an engine change when a valve failed. Team mate Ralf Schumacher went off during the afternoon session, and was unhappy with his set-up, his brake balance and, above all, the top speed of his Williams-BMW.

Giancarlo Fisichella was 10th fastest, but Benetton team mate Alex Wurz was back in 18th position having spun into a gravel trap. Eddie Irvine was only moderately happy with the handling of his Jaguar after setting the 13th fastest time. Johnny Herbert was a disappointed 21st after being sidelined with a transmission failure.

Today's Accumulated Times:

Pos  Driver        Team                 Time                  
 1.  Hakkinen      McLaren Mercedes     1:15.896              
 2.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari              1:16.375   +  0:00.479
 3.  Coulthard     McLaren Mercedes     1:16.606   +  0:00.710
 4.  Barrichello   Ferrari              1:16.613   +  0:00.717
 5.  de la Rosa    Arrows Supertec      1:17.217   +  0:01.321
 6.  Alesi         Prost Peugeot        1:17.468   +  0:01.572
 7.  Verstappen    Arrows Supertec      1:17.641   +  0:01.745
 8.  Trulli        Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:17.642   +  0:01.746
 9.  Villeneuve    BAR Honda            1:17.654   +  0:01.758
10.  Fisichella    Benetton Playlife    1:17.831   +  0:01.935
11.  Frentzen      Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:17.920   +  0:02.024
12.  Salo          Sauber Petronas      1:17.933   +  0:02.037
13.  Irvine        Jaguar Cosworth      1:17.971   +  0:02.075
14.  R.Schumacher  Williams BMW         1:18.024   +  0:02.128
15.  Gene          Minardi Fondmetal    1:18.248   +  0:02.352
16.  Mazzacane     Minardi Fondmetal    1:18.280   +  0:02.384
17.  Zonta         BAR Honda            1:18.789   +  0:02.893
18.  Diniz         Sauber Petronas      1:19.081   +  0:03.185
19.  Wurz          Benetton Playlife    1:19.129   +  0:03.233
20.  Button        Williams BMW         1:19.303   +  0:03.407
21.  Herbert       Jaguar Cosworth      1:19.575   +  0:03.679
22.  Heidfeld      Prost Peugeot        1:20.364   +  0:04.468

All timing unofficial