Austrian GP Friday McLaren notes

AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX 1998 - FRIDAY Chassis Numbers: David Coulthard MP4 - 13: 04 Mika Hakkinen MP4 - 13 06 T Car MP4 - 13 03

The first day of free practice for the Austrian Grand Prix saw the top three drivers putting in times within 43 thousandths of a second of each other. The West McLaren Mercedes drivers David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen posted first and third positions in this result with a 1:13.703 and 1:13.746 respectively.

DAVID COULTHARD 'We went through the usual programme for a Friday and made encouraging progress. However, I believe that tyre wear is going to be an issue for all the teams this weekend.'

MIKA HAKKINEN 'The circuit today was quite difficult as there was a lot of dust on the track and I found myself caught up in traffic on a number of occasions. The conditions on the track seemed to vary throughout the day and I found the first corner the most difficult but I will find the right balance for that part of the circuit for tomorrow.'

RON DENNIS 'A reasonable first days practice with the A1-Ring displaying all its normal inconsistencies which have been amplified by the heavy rain last night. With a little less traffic we would probably have improved our times, but, I still think that we did a good days work.'

NORBERT HAUG 'That was a really good session under race conditions. David did a particularly good job and Mika will be alright after set up changes for tomorrow.'