Melbourne, Friday 7th March Michael Schumacher was fastest at the end of the first day of free practice with a time of 1m32.496s. Eddie Irvine was sixth in 1m34.157s The F 310 Bs took the track after half an hour of the first session had elapsed as there was very little grip at the start of the practice. 42 minutes into the first session Irvine had a slight coming together with Hakkinen, but his car escaped major damage. Before his final run, Irvine complained of a brake balance problem. Jean Todt "Our work went according to plan and our aim today was to find a good set-up both for qualifying and for the race." Michael Schuamcher "I don't know how much fuel the others were running - maybe we had less than them, so that coming first today is a meaningless prize. In general, the car performed better than I expected. Our main problem with last year's car was turn-in oversteer and understeer at the exit of the corner. We no longer appear to have this difficulty and this car is undoubtedly better. The tyres have also helped to improve our performance. Tomorrow's qualifying will be very close. I think this season will be really interesting and possibly the best of the last few years." Eddie Irvine "I had too much braking on the rear and the brake temperatures at the back were too high, even though the balance was more on the front than we ever had it, so there is obviously a problem that we have to solve. I had a coming together with Hakkinen who did not see me on the way into the chicane. He came to the garage to apologize afterwards. It is difficult to assess the performance level of the others, because not only do we not know how much fuel they had, but also what tyres they were using. The team knows what it is doing and I am optimistic for tomorrow as, even with my problems today, my time was not bad."
Ferrari Press Release
