The blistering pace of Jaguar’s Eddie Irvine and Williams’s Juan-Pablo Montoya suggest Michelin-shod cars might hold the edge at a sweltering Hockenheimring.
Eddie Irvine gave Jaguar a boost ahead of Sunday’s German Grand Prix by setting the quickest time in Friday’s practice sessions. The Ulsterman’s performance and the form of the second fastest runner, Williams BMW’s Juan-Pablo Montoya, suggest that cars running on Michelin might have an edge in the sweltering conditions expected for Sunday’s race.
Meteorological experts expect that the Hockenheim circuit will enjoy soaring sunshine on Sunday, with the temperature expected to climb to at least 33degC.
There is a lot at stake at Hockenheim. Michael Schumacher wants to bury his recent Hockenheim jinx with Ferrari this weekend as he bids to equal Alain Prost’s record of 51 Grand Prix victories.
The reigning world champion has not won or started from pole position at his home Grand Prix since joining Ferrari in 1996. His only victory there was in 1995, when he was on his way to his second world title with Benetton.
McLaren’s David Coulthard has to win the race to keep his hopes of winning the world championship alive. The Scot is 37 points behind Schumacher with a maximum of only 60 points still available. However, Schumacher is very confident of winning his seventh race this season.
“This year, we have got a car which is competitive at all sorts of circuits and in different circumstances too, so I am very much looking forward to this race,” said Schumacher, who leads the world championship by 37 points. “In previous years it is simply the characteristics of the circuit which have not suited our car, because I have won here with Benetton before,” said Schumacher.
Irvine on Friday set a best lap of one minute 41,424 seconds, ahead of Montoya and Coulthard’s McLaren-Mercedes team-mate Mika Hakkinen.
Irvine has talked confidently in recent weeks of Jaguar making progress, but even he would admit that his time on Friday is unlikely to be the precursor to success at Hockenheim this weekend.
Of the likely contenders for victory, Montoya, Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher were the only men to improve their times as the hot sun drove track temperatures up to a scorching 42 degrees Celsius in the afternoon session.
Earlier, Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello set the pace in the first practice session. The Brazilian was on top for much of the session at the scene of his first and only Grand Prix win, which he achieved last year.
Barrichello went fastest with his first flying lap, and stayed at the top until the end of the session apart from a brief interlude when the top slot was occupied by Pedro de la Rosa’s Jaguar.
Barrichello’s eventual fastest time was a one minute 41,953 seconds, more than 0,4 seconds ahead of De la Rosa, who remained second at the end of the first session. The Brazilian’s time was good enough for fourth fastest at the end of the second session, while Schumacher sneaked ahead of De la Rosa.
The world champion improved to 1:42,255, 0,6 seconds quicker than his morning time, while Coulthard was seventh fastest.
Another potential race winner, Ralf Schumacher, spun at the last corner early in the second session, and slipped to 10th overall.
Collated practice results:
1 Eddie Irvine (GB) Jaguar-Cosworth one minute 41,424 seconds
2 Juan Pablo Montoya (Col) Williams-BMW 1:41,487
3 Mika Hakkinen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:41,949
4 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 1:41,953
5 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1:42,255
6 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) Jaguar-Cosworth 1:42,302
7 David Coulthard (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:42,304
8 Jean Alesi (Fra) Prost-Acer 1:42,828
9 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Jordan-Honda 1:42,941
10 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Williams-BMW 1:42,987
11 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Benetton-Renault 1:43,014
12 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Sauber-Petronas 1:43,211
13 Ricardo Zonta (Bra) Jordan-Honda 1:43,461
14 Olivier Panis (Fra) BAR-Honda 1:43,487
15 Jenson Button (GB) Benetton-Renault 1:43,496
16 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Sauber-Petronas 1:43,528
17 Jacques Villeneuve (Can) BAR-Honda 1:43,815
18 Jos Verstappen (Ned) Arrows-Asiatech 1:44,143
19 Luciano Burti (Bra) Prost-Acer 1:44,162
20 Enrique Bernoldi (Bra) Arrows-Asiatech 1:44,549
21 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Minardi-European 1:44,730
22 Tarso Marques (Bra) Minardi-European 1:45,005