Damon Hill pips McLarens in frantic session

A fortnight ago, the Jordan driver wasn't even supposed to be at the Zeltweg circuit, but having decided to stay on until the end of the year, he delivered a blistering lap in the final seconds of the session to usurp Mika Hakkinen from the top of the timesheets.

Until that lap, Hill had looked untidy and inconsistent. Though his sector times were good, he had an incredible number of off-course excursions during the session, proving he was committed if nothing else.

The McLarens had controlled proceedings until Hill's last minute effort, with Mika Hakkinen marginally pipping David Coulthard for 2nd.

In an extremely busy session, virtually every team looked competitive at one stage or another. Even Minardi can be pleased, Badoer and Gene 13th and 14th fastest. BAR's Ricardo Zonta was 4th in the end, but had been 3rd for most of the hour.

Just to prove how fast the order was changing, the two Stewarts were in the top six with just a few minutes to go, but Rubens Barrichello and Johnny Herbert dropped to 10th and 11th. Neither Ferrari came out again after Mika Salo's spin into the gravel, with Irvine slumping to 9th overall.

Home hero Alex Wurz was in trouble. His Benetton was actually fastest on the straights, running with minimal downforce to compensate for the lack of power from the Supertec engine, but he missed much of the session after spinning on the exit of the Castrol Kurve. He hit the barriers lightly on the inside of the circuit after spinning across the track. Hill's Jordan team mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen had been both quicker and tidier than the Englishman for most of practice, but stopped on the pits straight with a mechanical problem and missed the end of the second session.

McLaren still look to be consistently the fastest team in Austria, but whereas Ferrari, Williams and Benetton looked like their main rivals after the morning session, it now looks like literally any of the other teams could be in the top ten, with Jordan, Sauber, BAR and Stewart all showing real potential. If this pattern continues into the weekend, the qualifying session could be fascinating.

Practice times from Zeltweg: