Michael Schumacher set the fastest time of the
session ahead of David Coulthard and Jarno Trulli. Rubens Barrichello, Heinz
Harald Frentzen and Jacques Villeneuve make the top 6.
Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard were the only 2
drivers to better last year's best time of the session. In fact they were over
half a second ahead of 3rd placed Trulli.
A number of drivers suffered problems. Pedro de la Rosa and
Kimi Raikkonen smashed their cars early in the session losing valuable time.
Despite that, Raikkonen was 9th fastest after only covering 6 laps. Giancarlo
Fisichella hit gearbox problems and was able to only set a non-competitive
time.
Olivier Panis covered a massive 31
laps followed by his team-mate Jacques Villeneuve with 30. Giancarlo
Fisichella covered just 3 laps while Kimi Raikkonen and Pedro de la Rosa only
managed 6 laps. All other drivers covered between 13 and 24 laps.
While it is too early to read to much into the times, it
appears that McLaren and Renault will be closer to the front while Williams
will struggle on this track. There is a long way to go though until qualifying
and Williams have shown so many times that they can get it right in time for
the all important qualifying session.
