Germany 1999: Friday Practice 2
Times
P. No Driver Team - Car Time/Laps
1 19 Trulli Prost Peugeot 1:45.677 232.433 km/h
2 4 Irvine Ferrari 1:46.225 + 0:00.548
3 9 Fisichella Benetton Playlife 1:46.243 + 0:00.566
4 2 Coulthard McLaren Mercedes 1:46.411 + 0:00.734
5 16 Barrichello Stewart Ford 1:46.418 + 0:00.741
6 18 Panis Prost Peugeot 1:46.516 + 0:00.839
7 3 Salo Ferrari 1:46.542 + 0:00.865
8 7 Hill Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:46.851 + 0:01.174
9 10 Wurz Benetton Playlife 1:46.859 + 0:01.182
10 1 Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes 1:46.866 + 0:01.189
11 21 Gene Minardi Ford 1:46.913 + 0:01.236
12 5 Zanardi Williams Supertec 1:47.043 + 0:01.366
13 6 R Schumacher Williams Supertec 1:47.334 + 0:01.657
14 12 Diniz Sauber Petronas 1:47.513 + 0:01.836
15 22 Villeneuve BAR Supertec 1:47.513 + 0:01.836
16 11 Alesi Sauber Petronas 1:47.551 + 0:01.874
17 8 Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:47.802 + 0:02.125
18 17 Herbert Stewart Ford 1:47.985 + 0:02.308
19 20 Badoer Minardi Ford 1:48.953 + 0:03.276
20 23 Zonta BAR Supertec 1:48.978 + 0:03.301
21 15 Takagi Arrows TWR 1:49.059 + 0:03.382
22 14 de la Rosa Arrows TWR 1:49.207 + 0:03.530
FIA Press Release
Trulli goes fastest for Prost
Aided by sets of new tyres, Jarno Trulli (1m 45.677s) produced fastest time in this afternoon's free practice session in his Prost-Peugeot. His team-mate Olivier Panis also benefitted from fresh rubber and wound up sixth fastest on 1m 46.516s
Irvine's Ferrari takes second
Eddie Irvine finished the day second fastest for Ferrari (1m 46.225s), reporting that the rear still feels unstable with the latest aerodynamic set-up and this probably contributed to his spin this morning. Mika Salo ended up seventh (1m 46.542s) reporting he was "very happy and can work very well with the present chassis set-up." Neither Ferrari ran new tyres this afternoon.
Benettons third and ninth
The Benetton-Playlife duo Giancarlo Fisichella (1m 46.243s) and Alexander Wurz (1m 46.859s) set third and ninth fastest times. Wurz admitted that he was very happy, but Wurz had a cross-weighting problem with his chassis.
Coulthard fastest McLaren
David Coulthard was the fastest McLaren in fourth place on 1m 46.411s, blaming himself for a spin as he came into the stadium. "On these fast, low downforce circuits it is necessary to re-adjust one's brain," he admitted. Mika Hakkinen ended up tenth on 1m 46.866s despite a spin through the gravel trap at the Ostkurve. "It was a rather messy session for us," said Ron Dennis, "with both drivers seeking to optimise the cars on high mileage tyres."
Barrichello takes fifth
Rubens Barrichello's Stewart-Ford (1m 46.418s) set fifth fastest time. "I made a mistake at the first chicane," he admitted, "but the car has too much understeer in high speed corners." Johnny Herbert was 18th (1m 47.985s) and stopped early to save tyres.
Hill eighth for Jordan
Damon Hill said "we improved the car bit-by-bit and I am quite satisfied" after setting eighth fastest time on 1m 46.851s. Heinz-Harald Frentzen ran a lot of fuel on his way to 17th fastest time (1m 47.802s) but was still not happy with the handling balance.
Briefly
Marc Gene was extremely happy after postins 11th fastest time on 1m 46.913s in his Minardi but team-mate Luca Badoer was a distant 19th on 1m 48.953s after suffering an engine failure. Jean Alesi's Sauber-Petronas did not run at all during the second part of the session due to an engine problem. Pedro Diniz ended up 14th on 1m 47.513s after doing only the last 12 minutes of the session after damaged rear suspension components were changed following contact with a kerb during the morning.
Commentary from
Formula-1.co.uk
In hot and sunny conditions, Jarno Trulli produced a storming last lap effort to record the fastest time of the day in his Prost Peugeot. Eddie Irvine had dominated the session until those last few laps, and will have to be content with second place overall in his Ferrari F399.
Olivier Panis also proved that the Prost Peugeot is quite capable of going quickly in a straight line - like the Benetton Playlife - to record the sixth fastest time of the session. Like team-mate Trulli, the teams superb effort is somewhat timely, as Peugeot are currently in negotiation with Prost over their plans for 2000.
Mika Salo put in a much more competitive effort today at Hockenheim. The Finn held second position behind Irvine after the first session, but was piped in the final stages to drop to seventh. Damon Hill put in a good time to take eighth position overall in his Jordan Mugen Honda. Team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen had an awful session and could do no better than 17th.
For McLaren - the session was something of a disaster with first Mika Hakkinen spinning off the track and then a few minutes later, David Coulthard. Both cars made it back to the pits, but somewhat surprisingly it looks as if the McLaren Mercedes is not the car to have at Hockenheim today. Despite this David Coulthard manages to pull a lap out of the bag in the dying moments of the session to take fourth place, ahead of Olivier Panis.
Fisichella was fast all day and managed to record the third fastest time overall. Alexander Wurz struggled to get on the pace for much of the session, but was able to set a promising lap time in the late stages of the second session. The Benetton traditionally struggles at circuits with fast corners, such at Silverstone, but seems quite at home on the fast straights and chicanes of Hockenheim.
Williams, Stewart, Sauber and British American racing had nothing to shout about with their midfield positions, while Ricardo Zonta continued his fraught season way down in 20th position. Arrows had an awful day with Pedro de la Rosa's machine blowing fairly comprehensively, putting down oil as it went. Team-mate Toranosuke Takagi faired little better and could only manage 21st position.
Shock of the day came from Marc Gene, who managed to wind up his Ford powered Minardi sufficiently to record the eleventh fastest time. When was the last time a Minardi was that competitive? I would like to know! Luca Badoer was less lucky, as he suffered an engine failure and could do no better than 19th.
Qualifying will certainly be interesting tomorrow. I would not like to put a bet on who will gain pole position, as it looks as if the characteristics of the circuit, combined with the heat, favour some of the less likely drivers…. Well done Jarno!
|
