Silverstone, day 2: Hakkinen is back at the top

Despite bitterly cold conditions, and an ever-present threat of rain, Hakkinen was on track when the surface was at its driest with about an hour of the session remaining. Both McLarens practised starts in their pit boxes, as all teams prepared for the return of traction and launch control in the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix.

Frentzen was third fastest, almost a second slower than Hakkinen's best time, while San Marino GP winner Ralf Schumacher bolted on a new set of tyres in the afternoon and leapt to fourth.

Jordan ran for the first time in its non-tobacco livery. Keeping in line with its new shark logo, Benson & Hedges became Bitten Heroes. Tobacco advertising is permitted at the Spanish Grand Prix and the rest of the teams ran in their usual colours.

British American Racing suffered an up-and-down day. Olivier Panis struggled with brake and steering problems that restricted his running in the damp morning session, and one of his sidepod's winglets caught fire as he returned to the pits after a run in the afternoon. He was fifth quickest, however, a tenth ahead of team mate Jacques Villeneuve.

Juan Pablo Montoya was seventh fastest for Williams-BMW, ahead of Luciano Burti - who proved a point by outpacing Jaguar team mate Eddie Irvine. Giancarlo Fisichella was 10th fastest for Benetton, but caused both of the day's red flags as he stopped out on track in his Renault-powered machine.

Rounding off the runners, Jean Alesi was 1.7secs quicker than Prost GP's new test driver Jonathan Cochet, who was having his first run with the Guyancourt-based squad. Although new to his surroundings, the young Frenchman didn't seem too phased by it all, and brushed off some clutch and electronic problems which hampered his running.

"It was very different to an F3 car, with so much more power," he said. "But, for me, the brakes weren't as impressive as I expected, even though everyone told me that the brakes are the real difference. It was a really good feeling, though, the car has so much grip in the corners."


1 Mika Hakkinen (McLaren-Mercedes) B 1m22.45s 61
2 David Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes) B 1m22.76s 27
3 Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Jordan-Honda) B 1m23.31s 56
4 Ralf Schumacher (Williams-BMW) M 1m23.63s 45
5 Olivier Panis (BAR-Honda) B 1m23.82s 52
6 Jacques Villeneuve (BAR-Honda) B 1m23.95s 54
7 Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW) M 1m24.16s 25
8 Luciano Burti (Jaguar) M 1m24.32s 57
9 Eddie Irvine (Jaguar) M 1m24.44s 76
10 Jean Alesi (Prost-Acer) M 1m26.19s 69
11 Jonathan Cochet (Prost-Acer) M 1m27.88s 37