Don't write Eddie off, says Hakkinen

Hakkinen set the fastest lap ever around Monza as the McLarens left all their rivals but one trailing by a full second.

Only Heinz-Harald Frentzen could stay with the scorching pace as he split the two Silver Arrows to start the race from outside the front row.

Most embarrassing of all was Ferrari's performance on its home track as it qualified a lowly sixth and eighth - Mika Salo outqualifying Eddie Irvine who was 1.333s slower than the poleman.

'Eddie is not far away in the championship and you never know what's going to happen in the race,' said Hakkinen.

'I've started well back in many races and been able to finish on the podium.

'Eddie not far behind in the championship so I've got to keep my eyes open.

'David is more points behind but closer on the grid.

'This was one of my most enjoyable qualifying sessions ever. I can't believe I was able to do that time.'

Hakkinen, though, still has very fresh memories of last year's race when he led the race only to be humbled by brake problems as he was humbled by the punishing Monza circuit and limped home fourth after leading early on.

'I am not sure about the race,' he admitted. 'We should be fine. Reliability is the one thing on your mind in these machines.

'Monza in the past has been very tricky on first corner and the start but I think we are going to make a good race this weekend.

'As long as we get the balance good we are going to be cool.'

Irvine trails Hakkinen by a single point and is ahead of Coulthard by 13 points with four races [including Monza] to go.