GRAND PRIX OF SAN MARINO BULLETIN No. 3 SATURDAY

							GRAND PRIX OF SAN MARINO

BULLETIN No. 3

SATURDAY 1 MAY 1999

SATURDAY FREE PRACTICE, 9.00 to 11.00

WEATHER CONDITIONS: sunny and hot


Coulthard pips Hakkinen for fastest time
It was once again a McLaren-Mercedes 1-2 at the head of the field this morning, but this time
David Coulthard pipped Mika Hakkinen by 0.2sec to head the timing sheets.
"It is not easy to get the car balanced on this circuit," said Coulthard, "but when you do, and
the car works well, then the lap time just flows. I have always tended to do well on circuits
like this where it is a question of balancing the car between high and low speed corners."
Hakkinen had no problems to report with the second MP4/14 despite a slight trip over the
kerb at Rivazza.. "Everything went according to plan," said Ron Dennis.

Ferraris third and fourth
The Ferrari F399s of Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine set third and fourth fastest times.
Both cars were fitted with the new front wing. Schumacher said "the choice of tyres will be
very difficult as we don't know what the weather will be like tomorrow." Irvine had a quick spin
but was otherwise quite content.

Fifth and sixth for Stewart
"The car is feeling more consistent and I feel we can start in the top six," said Rubens
Barrichello after setting fifth fastest time in the Stewart-Ford. Johnny Herbert(6th) added; "I
have had a trouble-free session and feel we are making progress."

Mixed fortunes at Williams
Ralf Schumacher wound up seventh fastest, concentrating on routine set-up work during the
course of the session in his Williams-Supertec. Alex Zanardi, by contrast, had hydraulic
problems which cost him time in the pit lane. "Apart from that the car was not too bad," said
the Italian.

Frentzen pips Hill
Damon Hill was disappointed at being pipped by Frentzen for eighth place, reporting that the
car "was not very good with a light fuel set-up." Frentzen said "no big problems, but it was
difficult to find a handling balance."

Briefly:
Neither Prost-Peugeot driver managed to work out a good handling balance for both high
and low speed corners...Jean Alesi(13th) was still not happy with his Sauber-Petronas while
Pedro Diniz ran on old tyres for much of the session and then put fresh tyres on right at the
end to set 12th fastest time...In the British American camp Jacques Villeneuve(17th) had fuel
pressure problems while Mika Salo suffered from too much understeer which sent him off the
road, but a set-up change improved this towards the end.


Saturday 1 May 1999
Saturday qualifying, 13.00 to 14.00
WEATHER CONDITIONS: sunny and hot


Hakkinen takes 13th career pole
Mika Hakkinen clinched the 13th pole position of his career here at Imola this afternoon with
his McLaren-Mercedes MP4/14. "It was very interesting," said Mika, "I knew David could go
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quicker; it is not an easy track on which to go quickly. You have to very aggressive and at the
same time very smooth which is very difficult."
David Coulthard was second fastest. "I knew our car was capable of going for the pole," he
said, "but I lost time behind a BAR car and on my last run I pushed too hard on the first part
of the lap and overheated my tyres."

Schumacher a frustrated third
Michael Schumacher said he believed he could have been on pole position had he not made
a slight driving error on his last run. "I am disappointed with myself because I never did a
good lap," he said. "The car is nearly perfect." Eddie Irvine wound up fourth, feeling that he
could have been a little quicker had it not been for a couple of yellow flags, but not quick
enough to gain another place.

Villeneuve a strong fifth
Jacques Villeneuve set an encouraging fifth fastest time in his British American 01. "I am
delighted for the entire team that our performance and reliability is improving," said Craig
Pollock, "it is just a shame that Mika (Salo) had problems." The Finn suffered a hydraulic
failure after six laps and was only able to do another single lap in Villeneuve's spare car,
ending up 19th.

Barrichello makes top half dozen
Rubens Barrichello achieved his target of qualifying in the top six. "The turn in was much
better," he said, "but for tomorrow's race we will have to run reduced revs in the interests of
reliability." Johnny Herbert wound up 11th in the other Stewart-Ford SF3.

Frentzen pips Hill for seventh
Heinz-Harald Frentzen piped his Jordan team-mate Damon Hill for eighth fastest time. "I am
very disappointed," said Hill who slid onto the gravel on his final run. "I over-drove and that
caused the problem." Heinz-Harald lost time with a broken left-rear pushrod which flat-
spotted a set of tyres as a result.

Williams ninth and tenth
The Williams-Supertecs of Ralf Schumacher and Alex Zanardi wound up ninth and tenth
fastest. Ralf commented; "It was reasonably good, although I thought I would be quicker."

Briefly:
Olivier Panis stopped out on the circuit with an oil system problem on his Prost-Peugeot
while Jarno Trulli had electronic throttle problems...both Sauber-Petronas drivers reported
that although their cars had good balance they were just too slow. Both Benetton-Playlife
drivers complained of inconsistent handling, Fisichella qualifying 16th one place ahead of
Wurz.




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                                             75008 Paris – France
                               Tel: + 33 1 43 12 58 15 – Fax: + 33 1 43 12 58 19
                                              (External Relations)