Practice: Schuey quickest but crashes out

The German recorded a time of 1.21.249, well ahead of nearest rival and Ferrari team-mate Eddie Irvine.

Schumacher damaged the front of his car when he hit the barriers with 12 minutes of practice remaining, and it was unclear whether it could be repaired in time for qualifying. If not, he will have to use Ferrari's spare car.

World Champion Mika Hakkinen finished third, and near the end of the second session looked as though he may post a very fast lap, but with a high volume of traffic on the track, his attempts were thwarted.

In the first session David Coulthard and Damon Hill damaged their cars, and so featured little afterwards. Coulthard managed only nine laps, and was well down the order in 13th place.

He had set the third fastest time during the first session, after which he pitted. On returning to the track he touched the perimeter wall on his first lap and had to withdraw.

Hill had also hit a wall on his final lap in the first session, and it looked unlikely he would be able to continue. But, he did manage to return to the circuit later on.

Also performing poorly was Mika Salo in the BAR. The Finn, replacing Ricardo Zonta in Monaco, finished in last place having completed only 16 laps, with a time of 1.24.917.


Practice times from Monaco