Friday First Free Practice - European GP

McLaren drivers David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen flexed their muscles ahead of the European Grand Prix as they occupied the top two places in Friday's first practice session.

Coulthard was the quickest driver with Hakkinen second as the McLaren men forced Ferrari duo Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello into third and fourth respectively. Jordan's Jarno Trulli finished as best of the rest, but he was some two seconds off the pace.

Eddie Irvine's weekend began badly when his Jaguar R2 stopped out on track with just one minute of the session gone, leaving him unable to complete any timed laps. The Arrows of Enrique Bernoldi briefly slid out in turn four but recovered to return to the pits and Jean Alesi, Jacques Villeneuve, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Pedro de la Rosa all missed the chicane in the space of five minutes.

Halfway through the session the times began to take their normal shape as McLaren and Ferrari moved to claim the top four places, with Mika Hakkinen clear at the front. Heinz-Harald Frentzen struggled on his return to the cockpit and went off at the chicane for a second time with a quarter of the session left to go.

Sauber's Kimi Raikkonen put up an impressive time once again to claim sixth, with the BARs of Olivier Panis and Jacques Villeneuve seventh and eighth. Ralf Schumacher, winner of the last race in Canada, did not fare so well and only just managed to sneak inside the top ten in ninth position as his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya spun on the final corner late in the session.

Pos Driver Team Times 1. Coulthard Mclaren Mercedes (B) 1:16.888 213.318 km/h 2. Hakkinen Mclaren Mercedes (B) 1:17.022 + 0.134 3. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:17.767 + 0.879 4. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:17.912 + 1.024 5. Trulli Jordan Honda (B) 1:18.755 + 1.867 6. Raikkonen Sauber Petronas (B) 1:19.072 + 2.184 7. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:19.086 + 2.198 8. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:19.154 + 2.266 9. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:19.399 + 2.511 10. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:19.500 + 2.612 11. Alesi Prost Acer (M) 1:19.650 + 2.762 12. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:19.940 + 3.052 13. Frentzen Jordan Honda (B) 1:19.988 + 3.100 14. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:20.267 + 3.379 15. Verstappen Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:20.553 + 3.665 16. Bernoldi Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:21.079 + 4.191 17. Fisichella Benetton Renault (M) 1:21.233 + 4.345 18. Burti Prost Acer (M) 1:21.370 + 4.482 19. Button Benetton Renault (M) 1:21.615 + 4.727 20. Alonso Minardi European (M) 1:21.644 + 4.756 21. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) no time 22. Marques Minardi European (M) no time All Timing Unofficial