Coulthard finally gets going in free practice

   Copyright c 1998 Nando Media
   Copyright c 1998 Associated Press

SILVERSTONE, England (Jul 10, 1998 - 21:15 EDT) -- David Coulthard, with
only a point from his last three races, awakened Friday in practice for the
British Grand Prix.

In third place in the series standings behind McLaren-Mercedes teammate
Mika Hakkinen (50 points) and Ferrari's Michael Schumacher (44), Coulthard
needs to add to his 30 points on Sunday or, perhaps, see McLaren focus on
Hakkinen for the rest of the season.

"Mika and Michael are my main rivals, and my priority is to get in
front of them," the 27-year-old Briton said. "It was a good start
today, but we have to make sure we stay ahead.

"I have got to try and start clawing back the points. It's still
possible to do that if I can get a good reliability run, but I'm going to
need Mika and Michael to have reliability problems as well."

Coulthard, the winner of four GPs but never his home race, turned the
quickest lap in Friday's free practice, 134.262 mph.

Hakkinen was second, followed by Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jacques
Villeneuve, both in Williams-Mecachromes, with Schumacher's Ferrari in
seventh.

Qualifying is Saturday, and it should be another McLaren day. This is the
ninth race of the season, and McLaren has taken the pole in every one --
five for Hakkinen and three for Coulthard.

But Coulthard has broken down in two of the last three races, and
Schumacher's teammate, Eddie Irvine, has gotten in his digs to add to the
pressure.

"They (McLaren) should have been a lot further ahead than they
are," said Irvine, fifth in practice Friday and fourth in the series
standings with 25 points. "They've made strategy mistakes. Over the
season, I'd put my money on Michael."

McLaren owner Ron Dennis cracked right back Friday.

"I have unusual respect for Grand Prix drivers; it is a pretty
difficult task," Dennis said. "But he's wrong. Most opinions that
drivers express are wrong."

The Silverstone track, one of the quickest in Formula One with a mix of
high-speed turns and long straights, is home to many of the British-based
teams, including McLaren.

"Here we're going to have a hard time; there's no doubt about
it," added Irvine, whose teammate, Schumacher, is coming off
consecutive victories as he pushes for his third series championship and
Ferrari's first since 1979.

"It's like France in the World Cup. They're playing at home. They've
got the home advantage."

Schumacher, cautious with his words, admitted winning here will be trickier
than at Magny Cours, France, two weeks ago.

"We should be able to improve tomorrow on seventh," he said,
"but I expect we will have a slightly more difficult job than we did
in Magny Cours."

French-Canadian Villeneuve, last year's series champion, has won the last
two British GPs. But, despite Williams' best free-practice day this season,
he still looks like a longshot to repeat.

Villeneuve has only 11 points this season and has yet to finish in the top
three. Frentzen, rumored to be on his way out, has only eight for Williams,
which has won five of the last six constructors' titles but has slipped
behind McLaren and Ferrari in the new grooved-tire era of F1.

"Ask me tomorrow, but for sure it feels better than it did two weeks
ago," Villeneuve said. "There are not many slow-speed corners
where you need good traction, so we don't forfeit as much to Ferrari."

--- Msged/386 4.20 beta 4