Austria 1999: Qualifying
Times
P. No Driver Team - Car Time/Laps
1. 1 Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes 1:10.954 219.134 km/h
2. 2 Coulthard McLaren Mercedes 1:11.153 + 0:00.199
3. 4 Irvine Ferrari 1:11.973 + 0:01.019
4. 8 Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Hond 1:12.266 + 0:01.312
5. 16 Barrichello Stewart Ford 1:12.342 + 0:01.388
6. 17 Herbert Stewart Ford 1:12.488 + 0:01.534
7. 3 Salo Ferrari 1:12.514 + 0:01.560
8. 6 R Schumacher Williams Supertec 1:12.515 + 0:01.561
9. 22 Villeneuve BAR Supertec 1:12.833 + 0:01.879
10. 10 Wurz Benetton Playlife 1:12.850 + 0:01.896
11. 7 Hill Jordan Mugen-Hond 1:12.901 + 0:01.947
12. 9 Fisichella Benetton Playlife 1:12.924 + 0:01.970
13. 19 Trulli Prost Peugeot 1:12.999 + 0:02.045
14. 5 Zanardi Williams Supertec 1:13.101 + 0:02.147
15. 23 Zonta BAR Supertec 1:13.172 + 0:02.218
16. 12 Diniz Sauber Petronas 1:13.223 + 0:02.269
17. 11 Alesi Sauber Petronas 1:13.226 + 0:02.272
18. 18 Panis Prost Peugeot 1:13.457 + 0:02.503
19. 20 Badoer Minardi Ford 1:13.606 + 0:02.652
20. 15 Takagi Arrows TWR 1:13.641 + 0:02.687
21. 14 de la Rosa Arrows TWR 1:14.139 + 0:03.185
22. 21 Gene Minardi Ford 1:14.363 + 0:03.409
107% time : 1:15.921
(Apologies for the delayed posting: Could not get network coverage to post this article, so it had to wait until I was back at the hotel...)
Commentary
A relatively busy session, right from the start, as rising track temperatures indicated that the earliest runs would be the fastest.
The McLarens were, without doubt, the class of the field - their full second advantage over the rest of the pack. They found something between practice and qualifying, and really stretched out. Coulthard looked good for most of the session, but two thirds of the way through, Mika took pole, and kept it.
Behind them, Irvine did well in the end, but was threatened in third by Barrichello for most of the session. Salo did well to qualify in seventh - half a second behind Irvine - and must be pleased with his chances for points tomorrow.
Frentzen put in a superb last effort to take fourth place, as Jordan looked poor in qualifying. Another less than perfect day for Damon saw him struggle with eleventh place.
Barrichello looked strong all session, but Johnny Herbert did well to push him all the way - nearly taking Barrichello in the death, but an error saw him abort the hot lap... a good revival for the Brit!
BAR disappointed after their excellent practice sessions, with Villeneuve stealing ninth as Zonta spun out.
FIA Press Release
Hakkinen takes seventh pole of the season
Mika Hakkinen took his seventh pole position of the season for the McLaren-Mercedes team here at the A1-Ring this afternoon, after being obliged to take over his spare car after his race car stopped on the circuit on its first out lap. "I was initially feeling pretty frustrated when the car rolled to a stop," said Hakkinen, "but then I realised that we had only done ten minutes of the session, so I thought 'keep cool, the spare car will be fine.' I went back and took that and it all went well, although we changed quite a few things on the car, but that is normal." David Coulthard came in at the end of his first out lap with slight electronic problems, then used that same set of tyres for his final run at the end of the afternoon which he did not find quite so good. "But I feel very confident in the car and can throw it around," he said. "We have a good car for tomorrow."
Irvine third for Ferrari
Eddie Irvine set third fastest time in his Ferrari F399, explaining that his car was locking up its front and rear brakes intermittently and he never knew quite what it was going to do at the same corner on consecutive laps. "The gap is really half a second to where I should have been," he said. "I think we will give them (the McLarens) a good run for their money tomorrow." Mika Salo was satisfied with seventh place on the grid although he admitted he had not yet amassed enough confidence with the car.
Frentzen a strong fourth
Heinz-Harald Frentzen produced a strong fourth fastest time with the Jordan Mugen-Honda. "I was very happy with the result, but I lost a couple of tenths in the last sector," he said. Damon Hill was extremely disappointed not to better 11th fastest time.
Stewarts make third row
The Stewart-Fords of Rubens Barrichello and Johnny Herbert did well to qualify fifth and sxth. "I was very satisfied," said Rubens, "although I got traffic on my last run." Johnny Herbert was also happy to be on the competitive pace. "The car was very well balanced, and it's good to be up to speed," he added.
Briefly
Both Williams FW21s reverted to carbon-fibre brakes for qualifying, neither Ralf Schumacher (8th) nor Alex Zanardi (14th) could get things to gell properly during a frustrating qualifying session. The British American Racing duo were also disappointed with the outcome, Jacques Villeneuve qualifying ninth after catching a flurry of yellow flags while Ricardo Zonta (15th) ended up sliding into a gravel trap.
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