German GP - Warm-up & Acclimatisation Session
Sunday July 28th
Minardi had protested to the FIA stewards that Damon Hill had gone through a
red light during the practice session. Photographic evidence proved that this
was not the case, and the protest was dismissed. If Damon Hill's time had been
disallowed, Minardi driver Giovanni Lavaggi would have qualified.....
Hakkinen was first out this session, and most of the cars were on wets, so
they could scrub them in and not waste slicks. Again, most cars only ran one
installation lap.
Frentzen did one extra lap, but set no competitive time, pitting at the end
of his second lap.
4 minutes. Schumacher was back out, followed by Alesi. Neither set a time.
7 minutes. Hill was back out, setting a 1:48.485 to go 1st.
9 minutes. Coulthard set a 1:47.675 (-0.810) to go 1st, and Diniz a 1:49.410
to go third. On his next lap Diniz was too late on the brakes into a chicane,
and went through a gravel trap.
10 minutes. Schumacher, Panis and Irvine were out. Coulthard set a 1:47.914.
During the qualifying session Tyrrell had tried running front wheels on the
rear to reduce drag. The only problem was the loss of braking
performance. Tyrrell used a more conventional set-up in this session.
13 minutes. Hill set a 1:47.490, Coulthard a 1:46.822, Berger a 1:48.188,
and Irvine a 1:47.299.
15 minutes. Berger set third fastest times with a 1:47.466, while Hakkinen
went second with a 1:46.893 (+0.071). Schumacher briefly went off circuit,
going up the escape road and across the gravel at the Jim Clark chicane. He
then came into the pits and jumped into the spare car. Salo managed to pull a
four wheel drift out of the Senna chicane.
23 minutes. Hill got stuck briefly behind Salo on the way to a 1:46.972
(+0.150), 4th. Coulthard set a new fastest time of 1:46.031 (-0.791), and
Schumacher a 1:47.412 (+1.381). Schumacher again got sideways at the second
chicane.
25 minutes. Schumacher set a 1:47.746 (+1.715), while Panis locked up at the
first chicane and drove across the gravel.
28 minutes. Hakkinen set a 1:45.983 (1st), followed by a 1:45.904
(-0.079). Schumacher managed a 1:48.099 (+2.026).
Warm up Times:-
1 M.Hakkinen McLaren 1:45.904, 231.934kph
2 D.Coulthard McLaren 1:46.031
3 D.Hill Williams 1:46.720
4 J.Alesi Benetton 1:46.919
5 G.Berger Benetton 1:47.246
6 M.Schumacher Ferrari 1:47.412
7 M.Brundle Jordan 1:47.431
8 E.Irvine Ferrari 1:47.499
9 J.Villeneuve Williams 1:47.514
10 R.Barrichello Jordan 1:47.728
11 O.Panis Ligier 1:47.819
12 P.Diniz Ligier 1:48.463
13 U.Katayama Tyrrell 1:49.168
14 H.Frentzen Sauber 1:49.270
15 J.Herbert Sauber 1:49.445
16 M.Salo Tyrrell 1:49.483
17 J.Verstappen Arrows 1:50.388
18 R.Rosset Arrows 1:50.745
19 P.Lamy Minardi 1:51.625
Acclimatisation Session Notes:-
Both Ferrari's came out first on what was a greasy but not really wet
track. The cars were keeping to the wet parts to preserve their
tyres. Schumacher though was sliding all over the place. A previous Renault
Spider Cup race had dried out the racing line. Schumacher set a time of
2:05.854, and then disappeared into the pits never to be seen again. Brundle
also briefly had two wheels up on the grass as he exited a corner too early.
Hill came out running winglets on his car, which he didn't run in the dry
conditions. He set a 2:06.198 to go 2nd.
Brundle then went out on slicks, and again went wide on to the
grass. Villeneuve set a 2:12.735, and stayed on wet settings for the first 13
minutes of the 15 minute session.
Neither Benetton ran in this session, deciding that the race would be dry.
On dry settings with no winglets, Hill set a 1:53.887, and Villeneuve
followed this up with a 1:53.707 to got first.
Top Ten Acclimatisation Session Times:-
1. J.Villeneuve 1:53.707, 216.018kph
2. D.Hill 1:53.887
3. M.Hakkinen 1:54.047
4. M.Brundle 1:54.979
5. E.Irvine 1:56.275
6. R.Barrichello 1:57.122
7. J.Verstappen 1:59.497
8. M.Salo 2:00.656
9. D.Coulthard 2:05.304
10. M.Schumacher 2:05.854