First Blood To Ferrari In Monza Practice

The Ferrari pairing of Eddie Irvine and Michael Schumacher topped the times in opening practice for the Italian Grand Prix, but running was once again left to the mercy of unpredictable weather conditions.


Irvine rose to the top of the times during the afternoon session, as others were thwarted by the sort of rain last seen at Spa.With the last part of the session hit by the worst of the weather, Irvine's early lap was enough to earn him top spot ahead of team-mate Schumacher. The German had led the way in the morning session, despite spending a lot of time in the pits, but slipped slightly in the afternoon to follow his less celebrated partner in the standings.


McLaren trailed its championship rivals, but insisted that it was concentrating on perfecting set-ups. David Coulthard put in the third best time, but championship leader Mika Hakkinen was denied the chance of a fast run by the weather, having earlier suffered from a water pipe problem, and wound up in fifth place.


Between the silver cars, Jacques Villeneuve took fourth spot, with Williams team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen in sixth. Next up was Jarno Trulli - in perhaps the performance of the day - who placed his Prost ahead of both Jordans and both Benettons. Spa winner Damon Hill could do no better than eighth, with team-mate Ralf Schumacher 11th. Giancarlo Fisichella headed Alex Wurz in ninth and tenth spots. Ricardo Rosset bettered Tyrrell partner Tora Takagi for once, but neither Jean Alesi or Pedro Diniz managed a decent lap after problems. The Frenchman's Sauber team remains unconcerned, however, having accumulated a lot of information during the recent test session.


Leading performances (combined sessions):


Eddie Irvine Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 24.987secs

Michael Schumacher Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 25.246secs*

David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1min 25.690secs*

Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Mecachrome 1min 26.053secs

Mika Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1min 26.159secs*

Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Mecachrome 1min 26.528secs*

Jarno Trulli Prost-Peugeot 1min 26.748secs

Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen 1min 26.838secs*

Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 1min 26.885secs*

Alex Wurz Benetton-Playlife 1min 26.886secs*

Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Mugen 1min 27.079secs*

Johnny Herbert Sauber-Petronas 1min 27.541secs*

Olivier Panis Prost-Peugeot 1min 27.676secs*

Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1min 28.066secs

Ricardo Rosset Tyrrell-Ford 1min 28.098secs*

Tora Takagi Tyrrell-Ford 1min 28.135secs*

Jos Verstappen Stewart-Ford 1min 28.606secs*

Esteban Tuero Minardi-Ford 1min 28.847secs

Shinji Nakano Minardi-Ford 1min 28.849secs

Mika Salo Arrows-Arrows 1min 29.603secs

Pedro Diniz Arrows-Arrows 1min 53.671secs

Jean Alesi Sauber-Petronas no time


(* indicates time set in morning session)