Friday First Free Practice

Schumacher Sets Pace in Opening Practice

Despite the fact that Michael Schumacher ran only five laps during the first practice session for the Marlboro Hungarian Grand Prix, as he waited for the other cars to clean off the dirty track surface, he took the fastest time for Ferrari in the closing minutes of the session. Schumacher was almost half a second faster than his teammate Rubens Barrichello who completed 10 laps working on tyre performance in the hot slippery conditions. Both drivers reported no problems during the session and seem confident that their Ferraris, sporting the latest high downforce aerodynamic modifications, would be competitive for the rest of the weekend. Ferrari brought four cars to this race ensuring both drivers have the use of a T-car should one be needed.

McLaren Save Tyres

The McLaren team gave no indication of performance this morning as both Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard completed just one installation lap preferring to save their limited number of tyres for better track conditions and for the race itself. Coulthard reported no problems following his big testing accident at Valencia, Spain, last week following a rear wing failure.

Irvine Third for Jaguar

Eddie Irvine took the third fastest time of the morning, the Irishman also running just six laps along with his teammate Johnny Herbert who posted 11th fastest time. Neither driver had any complaints or problems, both saving their tyres for the afternoon session.

Ralf Schumacher Works on Engine Setup

Ralf Schumacher used the morning session to work on engine mapping for the BMW engine in his Williams, the team considering chassis work on the fast changing track conditions unproductive. Ralf was fourth fastest after running nine laps. His teammate Jenson Button was 10th, having run 15 laps learning the circuit and declaring that he found it difficult to judge the braking points.

Fisichella Happy

Giancarlo Fisichella was delighted with the high downforce aerodynamic bodywork he tried for the first time in Valencia where he set the fastest time in testing last week. He ran seven laps this morning along with his teammate Alex Wurz who finished up 12th fastest. The Austrian is still sore from his crash at Valencia in testing on Saturday.

In Brief...

Like the other teams, Prost, Jordan and Arrows only ran a few installation laps this morning, the most laps of the morning going to Jacques Villeneuve who ran 18 on his way to sixth fastest in the BAR-Honda.

Mika Salo and Pedro Diniz ran plenty of laps for Sauber, both drivers complaining of understeer in the slippery conditions. There were no mechanical problems and no incidents throughout the session.

Pos Driver Team Times 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari 1:20.198 178.433 km/h 2. Barrichello Ferrari 1:20.674 + 0.476 3. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth 1:21.308 + 1.110 4. R.Schumacher Williams BMW 1:21.496 + 1.298 5. Fisichella Benetton Playlife 1:21.730 + 1.532 6. Villeneuve BAR Honda 1:22.219 + 2.021 7. Trulli Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:22.268 + 2.070 8. Diniz Sauber Petronas 1:22.408 + 2.210 9. Salo Sauber Petronas 1:22.483 + 2.285 10. Button Williams BMW 1:22.518 + 2.320 11. Herbert Jaguar Cosworth 1:22.700 + 2.502 12. Wurz Benetton Playlife 1:22.887 + 2.689 13. Alesi Prost Peugeot 1:22.954 + 2.756 14. de la Rosa Arrows Supertec 1:22.991 + 2.793 15. Heidfeld Prost Peugeot 1:23.142 + 2.944 16. Verstappen Arrows Supertec 1:23.146 + 2.948 17. Gene Minardi Fondmetal 1:23.277 + 3.079 18. Zonta BAR Honda 1:23.676 + 3.478 19. Mazzacane Minardi Fondmetal 1:24.774 + 4.576 20. Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:37.923 + 17.725 All timing unofficial