McLAREN SETS PACE AT MONZA TEST

Mika Hakkinen set the early pace for the McLaren-Mercedes team at Monza on
Tuesday and Wednesday when the World Championship points leader posted
fastest time on both days. The Finn completed 29 laps for a best of 1m
25.424s on Tuesday, then trimmed that to 1m 24.066s the following day
before suffering minor technical problems with an auxiliary system on the
car on Thursday.. On Tuesday David Coulthard covered 38 laps for a best of
1m 25.579s, his progress punctuated by a spin at Parabolica in which the
car sustained some moderate damage. He improved to 1m 24.52s on Wednesday
and then suffered an engine failure on Thursday morning. Despite these
problems the two McLarens finished the day with fastest times, Coulthard
turning a 1m 23.91s while Hakkinen did 1m 24.41s.


LONG WHEELBASE FOR FERRARI

The latest Ferrari F300 long wheelbase version was tried at Monza by
Michael Schumacher, but it was Eddie Irvine who began the test on Tuesday
with a conventional car when he completed 52 laps with a best time of 1m
26.789s. On Wednesday he covered 96 laps(best 1m 24.993s) and then 50 laps
on Thursday(best 1m 25.563s). On Thursday Schumacher also tried the long
wheelbase set-up, the car incorporating a spacer of approximately 15cm
between the engine and the transmission. Michael tried both cars and did
his best time in the longer wheelbase chassis on 1m 24.815s. "This is
good, I like it," he said, "here the long one is worth about
four-tenths of a second." Irvine will continue testing today(Friday)
and the pre-Austria shakedown of three conventional cars will take place at
Fiorano on Saturday. The decision whether or not to use the long wheelbase
car in Austria has not yet be taken, but possibly a fourth car - prepared
to the new specification - will be taken there next Wednesday.


THREE DRIVERS FOR WILLIAMS AT MONZA

Williams have carried out an intensive programme this week at Monza with
Jacques Villeneuve taking the Mecachrome-engined FW20 to second fastest
time of 1m 25.554s on Tuesday after 63 laps. On the same day the team's
contracted test driver Juan Pablo Montoya covered 78 laps for a best time
of 1m 26.855s and Heinz-Harald Frentzen joined him in place of Villeneuve
from Wednesday morning. Continuing a programme of high speed aerodynamic
and chassis set-up testing, Frentzen covered 64 laps for a best of 1m
24.997s while Montoya did 51 laps with a best of 1m 26.958s. On Thursday
the Colombian stopped on the circuit with suspected gearbox problems after
setting a best of 1m 25.97s Frentzen posted fourth fastest time of the day
on 1m 24.41s.


WURZ OPENS WITH A CRASH

Alexander Wurz got the Benetton-Playlife team's Monza test off to a
disappointing start on Tuesday when he spun early in the afternoon at the
Variante Ascari, hitting the barrier and sustaining quite extensive damage
to the car. By the time the car was repaired he was able to manage a total
of 18 laps on the day for a best time of 1m 27.185s. Meanwhile team-mate
Giancarlo Fisichella completed a satisfactory day's testing, concentrating
on general set-up and aerodynamc work, ending with a best of 1m 26.819s
after 19 laps. On Wednesday Wurz carried out a tyre development programme
although this was interrupted mid afternoon by an engine change. After only
six laps Fisichella had a major accident at Variante Ascari which very
badly damaged his car, writing him out of the testing equation for the
moment although thankfully he was unhurt. Prior to leaving the track,
Giancarlo managed a best of 1m 26.670s. On Thursday Wurz remained at Monza
focussing on aerodynamic modifications and tyre evaluation, his best time
being 1m 25.497s. Fisichella is due to return today (Friday) to continue
running in Wurz's car.


JORDAN AT MONZA

The Jordan Mugen-Honda team opened its Monza test on Tuesday with test
driver Pedro de La Rosa trying his hand at the circuit for the first time,
admitting that he initially found it difficult to learn although he
progressed quickly to end with a best time of 1m 28.62s. Heavy overnight
rain had meant that the track was wet in the morning, but worked progress
until light showers in the afternoon turned into continuous rain. The old
bodywork was used while de la Rosa was driving, but the new shorter pods
and revised barge boards were fitted for Damon Hill and Ralf Schumacher to
take over on Wednesday. Schumacher concentrated on chassis set-up
development work, completing 66 laps for a best time of 1m 25.27s, while
Hill covered 71 laps for a best time of 1m 25.94s. He was concentrating
most of his efforts on chassis set-up work, engine development and Goodyear
tyre testing. On Thursday both drivers had shunts, but were not hurt andthe
cars were repaired. Schumacher tried two chassis during the course of the
day and spun off in one, damaging the front suspension. His best lap was 1m
25.49s while Hill did 64 laps concentrating on chassis set-up work for a
best of 1m 25.64s despite a shunt in the morning session the damage from
which was later repaired.


LUCKY ESCAPE FOR DINIZ

Mika Salo and Pedro Diniz finished a three day test at Monza yesterday
(Thursday) using some development parts on the earlier Spec B version of
the team's V10 engine which was installed in their cars. Salo tested on
Tuesday only when he set a 1m 26.08s best during a day in which he was
concentrating on aerodynamic set-up work and tyre degradation tests over a
total of 42 laps. On Wednesday Diniz completed 28 laps to balance out the
car to his liking, covering 28 laps for a best of 1m 26.70s. On Thursday
his work was cut short due to an off track excursion at the first chicane
at lunchtime which considerably damaged the A19 chasss. Before that he had
completed 21 laps, improving his best time to 1m 26.05s.


TWO DAY TEST FOR BARRICHELLO

Rubens Barrichello had a two day test at Monza on Tuesday and Wednesday
during which he evaluated some low downforce set-ups and tried new
solutions to tackle the braking problems which have affected his car during
recent races. On Wednesday he completed 50 laps for a best of 1m 25.79s
despite suffering an engine failure during the day. Later in the day he
declared himself pleased with the balance of his Stewart-Ford. Jos
Verstappen took over on Thursday and posted a best time of 1m 25.74s.


SAUBER PREPARES FOR AUSTRIA

The Sauber-Petronas team spent three days at Monza this week crrying out
aerodynamic and set-up tests in preparation for both the Austrian and
German Grands Prix. Johnny Herbert covered 23 laps on Tuesday for a best
time of 1m 27.05s then another 49 laps on Wednesday for a best of 1m
25.262s. Jean Alesi took over on Thursday and also recorded 1m 25.26s after
35 laps.


PROST TRIES HYDRAULIC DIFFERENTIAL

Jarno Trulli began testing for the Prost team at Monza on Tuesday when he
managed 56 laps despite the need for an engine change. He was carrying out
aerodynamic tests in preparation for Hockenheim and also tried some new
front suspension components. There were two cars present at the test on
Wednesday where Olivier Panis continued the aerodynamic tests and also
evaluated some tyres. Trulli also tried an hydraulic dfferential and a new
diffuser. Panis remained there alone on Thursday, assessing the hydraulic
differential and continuing the tyre test programme. Prost will continue
testing this morning(Friday).


MINARDI AT MONZA

Minardi tested with Shinji Nakano and Esteban Tuero at Monza, preparing for
the low downforce requirements of Hockenheim. They continued until their
Ford V10 ran out of hours.

--- Msged/386 4.20 beta 4