Archive: Grand Prix, Imola 2000: Friday Practice 2

Imola 2000: Friday Practice 2

Times

 P. No  Driver        Team - Car           Time/Laps
 1.  3  Schumacher,M  Ferrari              1:26.944   204.256 km/h
 2.  4  Barrichello   Ferrari              1:27.317   + 0:00.373  
 3.  2  Coulthard     McLaren Mercedes     1:27.372   + 0:00.428  
 4.  5  Frentzen      Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:27.730   + 0:00.786  
 5.  6  Trulli        Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:27.795   + 0:00.851  
 6.  8  Herbert       Jaguar               1:28.139   + 0:01.195  
 7. 11  Fisichella    Benetton Playlife    1:28.236   + 0:01.292  
 8.  9  Schumacher,R  Williams BMW         1:28.372   + 0:01.428  
 9. 17  Salo          Sauber Petronas      1:28.555   + 0:01.611  
10.  7  Irvine        Jaguar               1:28.566   + 0:01.622  
11.  1  Hakkinen      McLaren Mercedes     1:28.586   + 0:01.642  
12. 12  Wurz          Benetton Playlife    1:28.771   + 0:01.827  
13. 14  Alesi         Prost Peugeot        1:28.950   + 0:02.006  
14. 21  Mazzacane     Minardi Fondmetal    1:28.952   + 0:02.008  
15. 19  Verstappen    Arrows Supertec      1:28.975   + 0:02.031  
16. 18  de la Rosa    Arrows Supertec      1:28.985   + 0:02.041  
17. 23  Zonta         BAR Honda            1:29.097   + 0:02.153  
18. 15  Heidfeld      Prost Peugeot        1:29.113   + 0:02.169  
19. 16  Diniz         Sauber Petronas      1:29.307   + 0:02.363  
20. 10  Button        Williams BMW         1:29.326   + 0:02.382  
21. 20  Gene          Minardi Fondmetal    1:29.831   + 0:02.887  
22. 22  Villeneuve    BAR Honda            NO TIME SET            

107% time : 1:33.030

FIA Press Release

WEATHER CONDITIONS: COOL AND BRIGHT (TRACK 12,AIR 13).

FERRARI: BARRICHELLO BEHIND SCHUMACHER
Rubens Barrichello (1m 27.317s) survived a spin in his Ferrari to move up into second place behind Michael Schumacher (1m 26.944s). "We have completed some good work today and moved in a positive direction," said Schumacher. Barrichello survived his spin without damage and both Ferrari drivers used just a single set of tyres each all day.

McLAREN: THIRD AND SIXTH
David Coulthard (1m 27.317s) and Mika Hakkinen (1m 28.021s) set second and sixth fastest times this afternoon in their McLaren-Mercedes MP4/15s. Coulthard ran wide onto the grass at the Piratella left hander without damage while Hakkinen had a 360-degree spin on the exit of Rivazza. Despite these off-track moments both drivers stayed on a single set of tyres each and finished the day guardedly confident.

JORDAN: FRENTZEN PIPS TRULLI
Heinz-Harald Frentzen (1m 27.730s) just pipped Jordan Mugen-Honda team-mate Jarno Trulli (1m 27.795s) for fourth fastest time. "I think we are looking reasonably good," said technical director Mike Gascoyne. "Both drivers ran a single set of tyres and we only ran low fuel right at the end of the session when the rubber was quite worn."

JAGUAR: HERBERT AHEAD OF IRVINE
With a fresh engine installed in Johnny Herbert's Jaguar R1, the Englishman managed seventh fastest time on 1m 28.139s which was six places ahead of Eddie Irvine (1m 28.566s). "We kept a fair bit of fuel in the car for most of the session," said Irvine, "so I think we're looking quite good."

BENETTON: FISICHELLA EIGHTH
Both Giancarlo Fisichella (8th/1m 28.236s) and Alexander Wurz (13th/1m 28.771s) reported their cars still felt quite nervous and very sensitive to chassis set-up changes.

BRIEFLY
BMW WILLIAMSF1: The BMW Williams team had a frustrating time with Ralf Schumacher (9th/1m 28.372s) spinning into a gravel trap under braking while Jenson Button (20th/1m 29.326s) lost time with a fuel leak and then suffered engine failure late in the session.
ARROWS: Pedro de La Rosa (10th) and Jos Verstappen (16th) were happy with the Arrows A21s and used two sets of different compound tyres each.
SAUBER: Mika Salo wound up 11th in his Sauber-Petronas but was struggling with understeer and traction problems while Pedro Diniz (19th) spun off when his C19's rear brakes locked on.
PROST: Jean Alesi (14th) reported that the Prost-Peugeots still have too much understeer, but a late aerodynamic adjustment improved the situation when he switched to a second set of tyres.
BAR: Jacques Villeneuve (22nd) spun off on his first lap after his BAR-Honda developed a fuel leak. The gearbox had been changed on both his and Ricardo Zontas's 17th placed car prior to the session.
MINARDI: Gaston Mazzacane (15th) had a slide into the gravel in his Minardi while Marc Gene (21st) struggled to get a decent balance.

Formula-1.co.uk Practice Report

Michael Schumacher was everyone's target after setting the pace in the first practice session earlier today. At Imola Ferrari are keen to make a point and continue their early domination of the 2000 season.

With Schumacher fastest, Rubens Barrichello jumped up to second fastest after a slow start earlier today - then put his F1-2000 straight into the gravel.

"We had a better first day than we did at the first two races," Schumacher said. "I am sure we can go even quicker tomorrow. We can get pole position here." If he does, it will be his first pole of the season after ending last year with just two poles.

Although Ferrari has its home in Maranello, about 100km away, the stands were relatively empty for the free practice session, but Schumacher is not worried. "I am sure that the tifosi' will turn out in force on Saturday and Sunday," he predicted.

About 100,000 fans are expected for Sunday's race as Schumacher goes for his third consecutive win. If he does, it will be the first time since 1976 that Ferrari has won the first three races of the season when Niki Lauda won the first two and Clay Ragozzoni won the third.

Rubens Barrichello admitted to a few problems during the session: "I had a few problems with the engine at first and had to stop after three laps. The engineers quickly discovered it was nothing serious," Barrichello said. "I was able to run for all of the second session and I went quicker every time I went out on the track. I think I can fight for pole position."

With McLaren slightly off the pace today, David Coulthard set the third fastest time from the Jordan's of Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jarno Trulli. Mika Hakkinen was an unaccustomed 10th fastest in the sister McLaren. Coulthard, a winner here in 1998 and second to Schumacher last year, commented: "The car felt good straight away which gave us the opportunity to try several set-ups," Coulthard said. "I'm confident that we can achieve a good result tomorrow and on Sunday."

Mika Hakkinen was not so fortunate: "With the yellow flags it was difficult to get an optimum lap," he reported.

Johnny Herbert finally got some mileage in the Jaguar R1, setting an impressive sixth fastest time ahead of the on-form Giancarlo Fisichella and team-mate Eddie Irvine.

At the tail end of the field Jenson Button suffered a BMW engine failure late in the session, but the British driver will be disappointed to be so far down the timesheets at this early stage of the weekend.

After failing to set a time in the first Friday session, Jacques Villeneuve was ready to go in the second - sitting at the head of the pit lane ready for the session to begin. The session did not last long for the Canadian with the Honda V10 blowing dramatically after 20 minutes with no flying lap time set. This is not the type of performance that will endear Villeneuve to the team when discussing his 2001 contract.

The session suggests that little has changes since the last race at Interlagos two weeks ago. Ferrari look very strong, McLaren look very smooth, but do not quite seem to have the pace of the Schumacher and Barrichello.