Canadian GP Friday practice notes

Michael Schumacher set the fastest time in the first free practice session in bright and breezy weather. His best lap was 1:28.145, 0.342s ahead of Jean Alesi's best effort. While Schumacher felt that there was still substantial work to be done on brakign and on improving ride over the bumpy surface, he was happy to have set a good time. "It it important to try to get the pole position today, as the weather forecast suggests that there could be some rain tomorrow."

Gerhard Berger's Ferrari 412T2's engine failed only three laps into the first practice session just past the pit entrance. While he was unable to complete any additional laps, he did push his car back into the pits in order to allow quick retrieval for the team during the 15-minute break in the middle of the practice sessions. The engine could not be replaced before the end of the second session, however.

While Alesi was happy with his time, he felt that the car was difficult to drive over bumps.

The McLarens were driven in anger for the first time without their mid- mounted wings. Mika Hakkinen managed the fifth fastest time, and was somewhat satisfied with the car's performance. However, he feels that the balance of the car is not yet quite right after the removal of the wing. His teammate, Mark Blundell, spun out just before the chequered flag was shown after a hydraylics failure on a downshift, and ended up with the 12th fastest time.

Jordan was using a revised rear suspension setup, and Rubens Barrichello narrowly outdrove his Eddie Irvine, the two Peugeot drivers ending up sixth and seventh fastest.