Formula 1: Austrian Grand Prix
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Coulthard in front of Hakkinen
------------------------------
[Sat Jul-25 11h00 CET]
At the start of today's first 45 minute half-session the weather was cloudy
and the temperatures were 18C air and 20C track.

In general the teams were slow to take to the track.  By the 15 minute
point 12 cars had completed flying laps and the top six were: Hakkinen (1m
13.780s - 6L), Coulthard (1m 14.181s - 5L), Takagi (1m 15.064s - 6L), DIniz
(1m 15.757s - 6L), Herbert (1m 16.248s - 6L) and Panis (1m 16.293s - 5L). 
M.Schumacher had run 3 laps, had not yet completed a flying lap, but had
taken a trip through the gravel.

In the next 15 minutes; Coulthard pushed pole to 1m 13.678s, Alesi jumped
into second at 1m 13.777s, Takagi ran wide over the grass as did Panis.

At the 30 minute point everyone had registered lap times.  M.Schumacher had
just completed his first  flying lap and taken the fastest time.  The top
six were:  M.Schumacher (1m 13.674s - 6L), Coulthard (1m 13.678s - 8L), 
Alesi (1m 13.777s - 10L), Hakkinen (1m 13.780s - 8L), Villeneuve (1m
13.982s - 9L) and Fisichella (1m 14.130s - 10L).

In the next 10 minutes: Fisichella moves into second at 1m 13.518,
Coulthard takes pole at 1m 13.451s, Irvine takes pole to 1m 13.285s,
Coulthard takes pole to 1m 13.259s, M.Schumacher takes pole to 1m 13.103s,
Hakkinen takes pole to 1m 12.724s. Hakkinen takes pole to 1m 12.227s,
Hakkinen takes pole to 1m 12.064s.

In the final 5 minutes there are no improvements in the top 4 although many
tried.  The one exception was Hakkinen whose final lap took the pole to 1m
11.938s.

At the end of the session the top six were: Hakkinen (1m 11.938s - 18L),
Coulthard (1m 12.329s - 17L), Irvine (1m 13.089s - 19L), M.Schumacher (1m
13.103s - 9L), Fisichella (1m 13.354s - 19L) and Villeneuve (1m 13.456s -
16L).

Hakkinen's fastest time would have given him 19th place in the 1997 grid.

During the half session the number of laps covered ranged from 9
(M.Schumacher - 4th) to 20 (R.Schumacher - 12th).  One second covered the
first 2 places and 2 second covered the first 12.

After a 30 minute break third man Irvine was first on track for the second
45 minute half-session.  He was quickly joined by Coulthard, M.Schumacher
and 12 other cars.  Irvine's early laps were 0.8s slower than his fastest.

In the first 15 minutes of the session Trulli ran wide over the gravel,
many drivers had problems with the traffic (14 cars on track), Coulthard
improved his second to 1m 12.218s, and then took pole at 1m 11.655s and
Fisichella runs wide over the grass.

At the 15 minute point the top six were: Coulthard (1m 11.655s - 24L),
Hakkinen (1m 11.819s - 24L), M.Schumacher (1m 12.690s - 15L), Irvine (1m
13.089s - 26L), Frentzen (1m 13.352s - 18L) and Fisichella (1m 13.354s -
26L).

In the next 15 minutes Takagi spins, stalls and retires, R.Schumacher moves
into 5th (1m 13.259s), Frentzen takes 4th at 1m 13.067s, Hakkinen improves
his 2nd to 1m 11.819s, Hill takes 4th at 1m 13.010s

At the 30 minute point the top six were: Coulthard (1m 11.655s - 28L),
Hakkinen (1m 11.819s - 29L), M.Schumacher (1m 12.690s - 24L), Hill (1m
13.010s - 29L), Frentzen (1m 13.067s - 24L) and Fisichella (1m 13.074s -
32L).

In the next 10 minutes Verstappen's rear wing falls off!, Alesi takes 4th
at 1m 12.789s,  Rosset spins on track, Villeneuve moves into 10th at 1m
13.382s, seconds later he takes a trip over the grass.

In the final 5 minutes Hakkinen and Wurz run wide and over the grass, 16
cars are on track.  In the final few seconds Frentzen takes 4th at 1m
12.673s.

At the end of the session the top six are: Coulthard (1m 11.655s - 37L),
Hakkinen (1m 11.819s - 36L), Irvine (1m 12.569s - 40L), Frentzen (1m
12.673s - 33L), M.Schumacher (1m 12.690s - 32L) and Alesi (1m 12.789s -
37L).

Coulthard's fastest time would have given him 19th place on the 1997 grid
(18th was Berger - 1m 11.620s).  Although Coulthard had the fastest lap,
0.164s faster than Hakkinen, it was Hakkinen who had the fastest times for
all three sections of the circuit as well as the fastest exit speeds on
sections 1 and 3 (298, 269 kph).  Coulthard held the fastest exit speed in
section 2 (270kph).

The laps covered in today's session ranged from 21 (Takagi - 14th) to 41
(R.Schumacher - 9th).  One second covered the first 3 places and two
seconds covered the first 12.


Session: 2nd Free Practice
Track Times:

                                                 1st Free
Pos  Driver          Team       Lap Time   Laps Pos  Lap Time   Laps
 1  D.Coulthard     McLaren     1m 11.655s (37)   1  1m 13.703s (36)
 2  M.Hakkinen      McLaren     1m 11.819s (36)   3  1m 13.746s (30)
 3  E.Irvine        Ferrari     1m 12.569s (40)   8  1m 14.523s (31)
 4  H.Frentzen      Williams    1m 12.673s (33)  17  1m 15.345s (25)
 5  M.Schumacher    Ferrari     1m 12.690s (32)   7  1m 14.411s (25)
 6  J.Alesi         Sauber      1m 12.789s (37)  10  1m 14.627s (35)
 7  D.Hill          Jordan      1m 13.010s (35)   9  1m 14.535s (46)
 8  G.Fisichella    Benetton    1m 13.074s (37)   2  1m 13.704s (43)
 9  R.Schumacher    Jordan      1m 13.259s (41)  14  1m 15.117s (28)
10  J.Villeneuve    Williams    1m 13.354s (35)  13  1m 14.820s (39)
11  J.Trulli        Prost       1m 13.396s (33)  11  1m 14.685s (44)
12  J.Herbert       Sauber      1m 13.421s (35)   4  1m 14.103s (45)
13  A.Wurz          Benetton    1m 13.671s (27)   6  1m 14.397s (34)
14  T.Takagi        Tyrrell     1m 13.730s (21)  15  1m 15.158s (48)
15  M.Salo          Arrows      1m 13.802s (34)  18  1m 15.696s (31)
16  R.Barrichello   Stewart     1m 13.887s (22)   5  1m 14.302s (35)
17  O.Panis         Prost       1m 13.966s (33)  12  1m 14.755s (50)
18  P.Diniz         Arrows      1m 13.999s (34)  20  1m 16.303s (48)
19  J.Verstappen    Stewart     1m 14.070s (29)  16  1m 15.231s (35)
20  R.Rosset        Tyrrell     1m 14.351s (36)  22  1m 18.469s (36)
21  E.Tuero         Minardi     1m 14.738s (39)  21  1m 16.582s (28)
22  S.Nakano        Minardi     1m 14.906s (34)  19  1m 16.171s (43)
   ---- 107% ----               1m 16.670s
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Fisichella takes pole in the wet
--------------------------------
[Sat Jul-25 14h00 CET]
Today's single Qualifying session for the Austrian Grand Prix turned out to
be one of the most exciting sessions for a long time.  After two Free
Practice sessions in the dry, one hour before Qualifying the heavens
opened, it rained and rained and rained.  Despite rumours that the session
would be delayed, it got under way on time at 13h00 CET.  Well the session
started, but nothing else did.  For 27 minutes the teams waited.  Most
drivers were kitted up and sitting in their cars - most had no wheels on. 
Some were taking the opportunity to be interviewed.  The rain continued to
pour.

First out on track was Takagi, followed closely by Hill.  Half way around
the flooded track Takagi spins, Hill passes and continues on to set the
first lap of the session, 1m 35.618s.  Takagi came in 6s slower and then
spun off into the gravel.  They returned to the pits as Verstappen came
out.  He also took a trip over the gravel, but returned to the track.

40 minutes into the session Alesi had just crossed the line and became only
the 10th driver to record a time so far.  At this moment the pole was at 1m
34.457s and the top ten were:  (1) M.Schumacher, (2) Frentzen, (3)
R.Schumacher, (4) Hill, (5) Alesi, (6) Verstappen, (7) Takagi, (8) Diniz,
(9) Irvine, (10) Tuero.

M.Schumacher had set his pole in the 39th minute.  Here's what happend to it next:

41m - 1m 33.843s - J. Alesi
42m - 1m 33.088s - E. Irvine
42m - 1m 31.697s - M. Schumacher
44m - 1m 30.630s - M. Schumacher
59m - 1m 30.317s - J. Alesi
61m - 1m 29.598s - G. Fisichella

As a dry line started to appear, positions were changing with every lap. 
In the next 5 minutes Villeneuve moved into 6th, Alesi took pole, Irvine
took pole, M.Schumacher took pole, Villeneuve took 4th, R.Schumacher took
4th, Coulthard took 3rd, Hakkinen took 3rd, then Villeneuve spun off into
the gravel and took a bike back to the pits.

In the next 10 minutes Coulthard took 2nd, Herbert took 5th, only 16 cars
were within the 107%, Fisichella took 3rd, Nakano retires on the grass,
Villeneuve returns with the spare car, Fisichella crosses the gravel,
Frentzen takes 2nd, Hill takes 5th, R.Schumacher takes 2nd, and Panis
crosses the gravel.

With 5 minutes of the session left the top ten were:  (1) M.Schumacher, (2)
R.Schumacher, (3) Frentzen, (4) Coulthard, (5) Fisichella, (6) Hill, (7)
Irvine, (8) Hakkinen, (9) Herbert, (10) Alesi.

In the last 5 minutes M.Schumacher runs over the grass, Barrichello takes
3rd, Verstappen takes 3rd, Diniz takes 5th, Alesi takes 2nd,  Fisichella
takes 3rd, Barrichello takes 2nd, Hakkinen takes 4th and  Alesi takes pole.

At 14h00 the flag comes out to signal the end of the session.  The cars
left on track complete their final lap.  Frentzen takes 5th, Hakkinen takes
3rd, Fisichello takes pole and Salo takes 6th.

The final top ten are:  (1) Fisichella, (2) Alesi, (3) Hakkinen, (4)
M.Schumacher, (5) Barrichello, (6) Salo, (7) Frentzen, (8) Irvine, (9)
R.Schumacher, (10) Panis.  Poor David Coulthard ended up 14th on the grid
behind Diniz and in front of Hill.  World Champion Jacques Villeneuve is
11th.

Performance around the track was very varied: Alesi was quickest through
the first section, but R.Schumacher had the fastest exit speed (254kph). 
For the second section it was Fisichella and Hakkinen (249kph) and for the
third it was M.Schumacher and Hakkinen (253kph).

One second covers the first 4 places and two seconds covers the first 7.

In the interview afterwards a glowing Fisichella discussed his first F1
pole.  He said that he had been happy with his dry setup and not very
confident about a good position when he saw the rain in qualifying.  He
said that he likes the rain and is hoping for the same conditions in the
race. When asked about having Hakkinen and Schumacher behind him, he said
he was not worried as he had the pole.  He was very happy for Alesi to also
be on the front row and after some jovial prompting from Mika, he said he
was also happy for Hakkinen's third.

Alesi said he was very happy to have scored the best ever grid position for
Sauber, especially after the problems they had had in the British Grand
Prix.

When Hakkinen was asked if he was glad to be third with M.Schumacher and
Coulthard behind him, he said no, he always wants to be first.  He said
that the conditions had been much worse than he had expected and he found
it difficult to find the confidence for hard braking in the corners.  When
asked if he felt he could overtake the two in front, he said overtaking was
always difficult in Formula 1 and against the experienced Alesi and
Fisichella on a high from his pole position, he felt it would be very
difficult tomorrow.


Session: Qualifying
Track Times:

                                                  2nd Free             1st Free
Pos  Driver          Team       Lap Time   Laps  Pos Lap Time   Laps  Pos
Lap Time   Laps
 1  G.Fisichella    Benetton    1m 29.598s (12)   8  1m 13.074s (37)   2 
1m 13.704s (43)
 2  J.Alesi         Sauber      1m 30.317s (12)   6  1m 12.789s (37)  10 
1m 14.627s (35)
 3  M.Hakkinen      McLaren     1m 30.517s (12)   2  1m 11.819s (36)   3 
1m 13.746s (30)
 4  M.Schumacher    Ferrari     1m 30.551s (10)   5  1m 12.690s (32)   7 
1m 14.411s (25)
 5  R.Barrichello   Stewart     1m 31.005s (12)  16  1m 13.887s (22)   5 
1m 14.302s (35)
 6  M.Salo          Arrows      1m 31.028s (11)  15  1m 13.802s (34)  18 
1m 15.696s (31)
 7  H.Frentzen      Williams    1m 31.515s (11)   4  1m 12.673s (33)  17 
1m 15.345s (25)
 8  E.Irvine        Ferrari     1m 31.651s ( 9)   3  1m 12.569s (40)   8 
1m 14.523s (31)
 9  R.Schumacher    Jordan      1m 31.917s (12)   9  1m 13.259s (41)  14 
1m 15.117s (28)
10  O.Panis         Prost       1m 32.081s (12)  17  1m 13.966s (33)  12 
1m 14.755s (50)
11  J.Villeneuve    Williams    1m 32.083s (11)  10  1m 13.354s (35)  13 
1m 14.820s (39)
12  J.Verstappen    Stewart     1m 32.099s (12)  19  1m 14.070s (29)  16 
1m 15.231s (35)
13  P.Diniz         Arrows      1m 32.206s (12)  18  1m 13.999s (34)  20 
1m 16.303s (48)
14  D.Coulthard     McLaren     1m 32.399s (12)   1  1m 11.655s (37)   1 
1m 13.703s (36)
15  D.Hill          Jordan      1m 32.718s (11)   7  1m 13.010s (35)   9 
1m 14.535s (46)
16  J.Trulli        Prost       1m 32.906s (12)  11  1m 13.396s (33)  11 
1m 14.685s (44)
17  A.Wurz          Benetton    1m 33.185s (10)  13  1m 13.671s (27)   6 
1m 14.397s (34)
18  J.Herbert       Sauber      1m 33.205s (10)  12  1m 13.421s (35)   4 
1m 14.103s (45)
19  E.Tuero         Minardi     1m 33.399s (12)  21  1m 14.738s (39)  21 
1m 16.582s (28)
20  T.Takagi        Tyrrell     1m 34.090s (12)  14  1m 13.730s (21)  15 
1m 15.158s (48)
21  S.Nakano        Minardi     1m 34.536s ( 9)  22  1m 14.906s (34)  19 
1m 16.171s (43)
22  R.Rosset        Tyrrell     1m 34.910s (11)  20  1m 14.351s (36)  22 
1m 18.469s (36)
   ---- 107% ----               1m 35.869s
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Session: Grid Details
Track Times:


Pos  Driver          Team       Pos  Lap Time   To 1st   Gap    To 107%   %
1st row
 1  G.Fisichella    Benetton     1  1m 29.598s  0.000s          -6.271 100.00%
 2  J.Alesi         Sauber       2  1m 30.317s  0.719s  0.719s  -5.552 100.80%
2nd row
 3  M.Hakkinen      McLaren      3  1m 30.517s  0.919s  0.200s  -5.352 101.02%
 4  M.Schumacher    Ferrari      4  1m 30.551s  0.953s  0.034s  -5.318 101.06%
3th row
 5  R.Barrichello   Stewart      5  1m 31.005s  1.407s  0.454s  -4.864 101.57%
 6  M.Salo          Arrows       6  1m 31.028s  1.430s  0.023s  -4.841 101.59%
4th row
 7  H.Frentzen      Williams     7  1m 31.515s  1.917s  0.487s  -4.354 102.13%
 8  E.Irvine        Ferrari      8  1m 31.651s  2.053s  0.136s  -4.218 102.29%
5th row
 9  R.Schumacher    Jordan       9  1m 31.917s  2.319s  0.266s  -3.952 102.58%
10  O.Panis         Prost       10  1m 32.081s  2.483s  0.164s  -3.788 102.77%
6th row
11  J.Villeneuve    Williams    11  1m 32.083s  2.485s  0.002s  -3.786 102.77%
12  J.Verstappen    Stewart     12  1m 32.099s  2.501s  0.016s  -3.770 102.79%
7th row
13  P.Diniz         Arrows      13  1m 32.206s  2.608s  0.107s  -3.663 102.91%
14  D.Coulthard     McLaren     14  1m 32.399s  2.801s  0.193s  -3.470 103.12%
8th row
15  D.Hill          Jordan      15  1m 32.718s  3.120s  0.319s  -3.151 103.48%
16  J.Trulli        Prost       16  1m 32.906s  3.308s  0.188s  -2.963 103.69%
9th row
17  A.Wurz          Benetton    17  1m 33.185s  3.587s  0.279s  -2.684 104.00%
18  J.Herbert       Sauber      18  1m 33.205s  3.607s  0.020s  -2.664 104.02%
10th row
19  E.Tuero         Minardi     19  1m 33.399s  3.801s  0.194s  -2.470 104.24%
20  T.Takagi        Tyrrell     20  1m 34.090s  4.492s  0.691s  -1.779 105.01%
11th row
21  S.Nakano        Minardi     21  1m 34.536s  4.938s  0.446s  -1.333 105.51%
22  R.Rosset        Tyrrell     22  1m 34.910s  5.312s  0.374s  -0.959 105.92%

All information is unofficial
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