Herbert says Jaguar nearly purr-fect

The Jaguar driver was bettered only by McLaren's championship contenders David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen.

Herbert, who is close to signing a deal in Champ Cars for next season, lapped 1.7 seconds faster than teammate Eddie Irvine, 16th.

Although Friday times are notoriously unreliable and Herbert admitted he had run with a fresh set of tyres, he said there had been a dramatic change in car performance during the day.

"The car is the best it's been this season," he said. "We changed a few things which made the car better, but nothing dramatic and then in the afternoon we changed strategy entirely, which was a real turning point.

"We checked the balance with a new set of tyres in preparation for qualifying and the car felt really good," he added. "The job now is to keep that balance. It's the best it's been this year and I want to keep hold of it."