Hill fastest on Saturday morning

The Jordan driver had been in and around the top six all morning, and left it late before pipping Mika Hakkinen by 0.083s. The Finn had topped the timesheets for most of the session prior to Hill's late charge.

Rubens Barrichello was 3rd quickest on a circuit expected to favour the power of the Ford V10 engine, but his team mate Johnny Herbert failed to set a time after suffering mechanical problems and an accident at the first chicane which left him with a damaged rear wing.

The two McLarens had led the way for most of the morning, although they were briefly disturbed by Olivier Panis, 2nd quickest for a while and 5th overall at the end of practice. The Prost-Peugeots appear to be a genuinely competitive proposition in Germany, Jarno Trulli was fastest on Friday and 8th this morning.

Ferrari are not in such good shape. Eddie Irvine and Mika Salo were only 7th and 9th quickest despite doing more laps than almost anyone else. The German fans appear to have adopted Irvine as their new hero in the absence of Michael Schumacher. Reports from the circuit suggest that the Irishman is receiving far more adulation from the crowd than either Heinz-Harald Frentzen or Ralf Schumacher (4th and 11th fastest respectively.)

Other notable performances came from the Benettons, the Saubers and Marc Gene. Benetton had promised that they would look far more competitive on a low-downforce circuit like Hockenheim, but Fisichella and Wurz were only 12th and 14th fastest, while the Saubers pounded round the track in vain for much of the session and could only manage 15th and 18th.

Gene again shone however. The Minardi has looked much quicker compared to the rest of the pack ever since new aerodynamic components were introduced for the Austrian Grand Prix. The Spanish rookie split the Benettons in 13th place, and having been quick yesterday as well, could provide a genuine shock result in qualifying this afternoon.

Saturday morning practice times: