French GP Sunday warmup report

Sunday 28 June 1998

Race morning warm-up

WEATHER CONDITIONS: sunny and bright

Coulthard faster than Hakkinen

David Coulthard was happier with the handling balance of his McLaren-Mercedes MP4/13 in this morning's half-hour warm-up session, beating team-mate Mika Hakkinen to fastest time by 0.235sec. Both McLaren drivers had trouble-free sessions and are feeling confident for the race, even if the weather conditions get hotter.

Ferraris third and fourth

Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine set third and fourth fastest times in their Ferrari F300s, both of which were fitted with the latest aerodynamic set-ups. Michael twice tried the spare car during the session but was not happy with its feel.

Villeneuve and Frentzen next up

Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen posted fifth and sixth fastest times in their Williams-Mecachrome FW20s. Villeneuve said he felt that the car did not feel quite as good as in qualifying, being slightly down on straight line speed. Frentzen tried different set-ups on both the race and spare car. "I preferred the spare's set-up," he said, "but I don't know yet whether I will race the spare or switch its settings to the race chassis."

Benettons continue symmetry

Giancarlo Fisichella and Alexander Wurz posted seventh and eighth fastest time, the Italian driver trying more downforce at the front end only to spin off over the gravel trap and sustain light damage. Fisichella also had the spare car at his disposal.

Alesi ninth for Sauber

Jean Alesi set ninth fastest time in the Sauber-Petronas, reporting that the car had rather too much understeer to be comfortable over a race distance. Johnny Herbert was a little further back in 13th place but said that the balance felt fine.

Panis completes top ten

Olivier Panis set tenth fastest time using the spare Prost-Peugeot which he has chosen to race while Jarno Trulli could not improve on 15th.

Jordans closely matched

Ralf Schumacher and Damon Hill ended the session 11th and 12th in their Jordan Mugen Hondas, the German driver pleased with his car's handling balance although Hill spun off into the gravel.

Briefly:

Mika Salo reported that his Arrows A19 felt well balanced but was lacking traction and power Pedro Diniz spun off, possibly after braking on a white line Ricardo Rosset is the only Tyrrell driver with a P10 Cosworth V10 left for the race while both the spare and Toranosuke Takagi's race car are fitted with early P7 spec units.