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The 2nd Friday Practice Season for Round 14 of the 2001 F1 season at Spa.
Transcript
00:00What a difference a fortnight makes just two weeks after the impossibly tight confines of the hungaro ring
00:24the grand prix cars have arrived at one of the world's most awesome racing circuits
00:29spa francorchamps welcome to friday practice for the belgian grand prix hello again everyone i'm bob
00:36barsha along with steve matchup we're pleased and proud to welcome back our x formula one mechanic
00:41and technical guru tell us about the racetrack steve well this is a superb race to come back to
00:46the states after the work in europe this is one of the all-time great racing circuits spa francorchamps
00:52and numerous corners on it and probably the most famous of them all eau rouge there at the
00:56midway up on the left hand side it's all about elevation change it's 4.3 miles along this circuit
01:03currently in use on formula one absolutely fantastic circuit and the morning hour of practice was full
01:10of surprises including a very unpleasant one for jean alaci who had problems getting the drive to
01:16the rear wheels at the beginning of friday's first hour as you can see it caused a bit of a traffic
01:21jam behind him for david coulthard the second straight race in his first practice he threw the
01:28mclaren mercedes off the road a massive wreck it is a very big wreck and if we have another look at it
01:34it is almost a head-on into despite the fact of the speed being scrubbed off going down the side of
01:39the arm code what's the impact is almost directly onto that front nose section of the wheels ripped off
01:45big big damage to that chassis in the midst of a three-way fight for second place in the world
01:50championship pool card is already well behind jack villeneuve the former world champion also losing
01:56the battle for traction and beaching the bar honda it's amazing how literally just touched that curb to
02:02put that bar all out of shape he wasn't the only spinner this was jarno truly spinning at the bus stop
02:07chicane but managing to keep the jordan honda off the trackside wall michael schumacher posted the
02:15quickest time of the session a 148.655 lap fully two seconds under mika hakonen's poll time of a year ago
02:23on board with rubens batakello this is eau rouge
02:27up the camel straight well over 200 miles an hour we'll be seeing plenty of that this weekend
02:37jean alaci around la source a blind corner almost collected tarzo marquez
02:42in his last drive for the minardi team this weekend jarno truly finished the day second quick at 149.404
02:50no big surprise a year ago he was second on the starting grid next to hakonen here's a look at the morning time
02:56schumacher truly barichello and hakonen all four under hakonen's poll time of a year ago
03:01kimmy reikkonen a very fine seventh in his first visit to spa since he drove it in a formula renault car
03:08juan montoya in ninth eddie irvine in the jaguar 12th heinz herald frensen a good run in the frost up in 13th place
03:16jensen button in 16th followed by the minardi of fernando alonso
03:22vilnav burti who suffered from an oil leak and cool thard were not around to see the end of the session
03:29those are the highlights of the morning hour we'll be back to begin the second hour of friday practice from spa
03:35stand by we'll be right back
03:37speed vision's coverage of formula one is sponsored by foster's lager australian for beer
03:46welcome back to friday practice at spa franker shaw the belgian grand prix i'm bob varsh along with
03:54steve matchett and there are the mclaren mechanics working feverishly to get david cool thard's crippled
03:59car back in action you are not allowed to use the t car in friday practice so cool thard is
04:05currently without a machine you see a lot of mechanics working around the front of the mclaren
04:10there they'll be very keen to get that car out because they want to get at least an installation lap
04:14two or three laps on that car before practice starts tomorrow so if there are any other problems that
04:19they've not found or if the suspension is acting in a curious way once the driver gets back onto the circuit
04:23that gives them tonight to get the car set up for that they'll be working furiously they need to get
04:27that car out see a lot of jackets in the grandstand temperatures in the 63 degree range both track and
04:34air but that's not uncommon here in the ardenne forest you bring your heavy overcoats because it can get
04:40cold and it can rain in fact it's very threatening right now as we take a look at ralph schumacher
04:45in the williams garage he has a new chassis this weekend the modified fw23b with the bmw v10
04:53engine set lower in the chassis and plenty of aerodynamic modifications his teammate
04:57one pablo montoya currently does not have one of those cars at his disposal schumacher was the
05:03quicker of the two in this morning's opening hour now the engines come to life and onto the racetrack
05:10comes our first car plunging downhill toward eau rouge this is enrique bernaldi in the arrows
05:17flashing through ready on on to the long uphill kemel straightaway
05:25very difficult circuit i guess in a way all circuits are very difficult for the engineers
05:31to set the cars up but here we're just seeing the car go through eau rouge and up the top of
05:35the hill now towards malmody as it starts to come plunging back down the other side of the circuit
05:39the engineers and the drivers would of course like to put more downforce on the car but because of
05:44the fast straightaway nature of the circuit it takes too much it saps too much engine power as
05:48the guys are trying to climb up the hill it's all about a compromise there's michael schumacher
05:53newly crowned world champion ferrari picks up its third straight constructors title but there's still
05:59lots to race for in this formula one season including your jobs which brings us to this man enrique
06:04bernaldi lots of rumors flying about where bernaldi might be next year probably out of the arrows team
06:11which will run next year with the cosworth v10 engines currently being used by the jaguar team
06:17leading up to the garages was mika hackinen's car finn will be back on track shortly recall a year ago
06:26he laid the pass of the year on this man michael schumacher up at the head of the kemel straightaway a
06:32brilliant pass going around the slower car of ricardo zonta stands the hair up on the back of my neck just
06:39thinking of it it's a very demanding circuit for engineers and drivers of course it's very much a
06:44standalone event the spa grand prix everybody wants to do well here the the nature of the circuit is
06:50very very demanding and if you can get the car to perform around here you're showing all the major
06:55talents to become a major force you don't fluke a winner spa it's not possible no question about
07:00that and this is just the first of four heroic race tracks that'll wrap up the formula one season
07:05in two weeks it'll be the italian grand prix at monza two weeks after that the u.s grand prix at
07:10indianapolis and then suzuka for the japanese grand prix oh a twitch there from bernoldi as he
07:16climbed the hill from eau rouge to radion
07:18and eau rouge is really the corner of this circuit that's the one that everyone's gets sorted out the
07:25car setup is really all generated around trying to get the maximum performance out of the car to get
07:30through eau rouge and it's not really going into eau rouge it's the same with every other problem in
07:34life bob it's easy to get yourself into trouble it's how well you can get yourself back out of it and
07:39eau rouge is exactly that sort of corner you can go barrel in there in six gear flat out but it's
07:44being able to control the car as it's coming back out desperately trying to snake away into the arm
07:48coat and if you get the car set up perfectly for one corner there are 20 others waiting to catch
07:55you out regional lacy who's been a bit of a revelation this weekend in the jordan honda sixth
08:00in that first session on board plunging downhill let's see if he goes flat
08:06not quite a bit of a lift there at the bottom now onto the kemel straight
08:18this is le combe
08:28we've gone past the highest part of the circuit we start to drop down the back side of the circuit
08:41look at those dark rain clouds at the top of the screen there and to the left that was rivage
08:45this is pourron
08:53here comes fania this is where coulthard went off
09:04get ready for the blast bruce stavello
09:19up toward blanchemont
09:22195 mile an hour left hander
09:27hard on the brakes for the bus stop chicane
09:38oh he went right by it and headed for the pit lane
09:41here's a look at your top six we'll be back for more of the second hour of friday practice
09:46welcome back to friday practice in belgium be sure to be with us throughout this grand prix weekend
09:54qualifying is coming your way live here on speed vision tomorrow at 7 a.m eastern time and of course the race on sunday
10:00beginning at 7 30 a.m eastern with pre-race reports from peter windsor
10:04welcome back just as kimmy reichen and crosses the line and leaps from ninth to fifth young sauber driver who last
10:12raced this circuit in a formula renault car with about 125 horsepower doing just fine with about 850
10:24luciano berti in the prost just behind berti suffered from an oil leak and got very little time on track in this morning's hour
10:31here's jacques villeneuve who threw the bar honda off the track he is now back on having done no damage when he beached the car
10:38but he is currently mired in 20th place
10:45still have dark clouds overhead so the teams will be looking skyward trying to get as much work done as possible in case the rains come
10:55as they always do here in the ardenne forest and when they come they don't necessarily bathe the entire race track
11:02they might just be on one corner or another leaving the rest of the track dry
11:06it's a very curious almost microclimate situation that they have around the ardenne you can guarantee it will rain you can guarantee the sunshine as well
11:13it can be raining at one part of the circuit it's completely oddball
11:20this is rubens barichello coming up to speed you see the time remaining in the one hour session
11:25back in july i paid a quiet visit to this wonderful race track while covering the tour de france bicycle race for our sister network outdoor life
11:34and i can tell you this place is majestic even when it's deserted and silent
11:41it's been here since 1922 the first grand prix was held in 1925
11:46barichello just flashed past the old pit lane
11:49currently used for support races
11:56we've just seen the top speed as farichello flash through the speed trap there just over 303 km an hour
12:04we get a chance to look at the rear wing on the car now
12:06look how less rear wing the ferrari is carrying in comparison to the arrows car that we were looking at earlier
12:12and when we get another chance to see the williams chassis see that williams have been running a third element on their car as well
12:17which gives them that extra downforce
12:19as we talked about at the top of the show though bob the problem is that it starts to sap horsepower
12:23and you watch the straight line speed traps figures of the cars go through
12:27you see ferrari are a good sort of four five six kilometers an hour quicker than their rivals
12:33now there are the benefits of having a very very powerful engine because you can carry more downforce
12:39the engineers call this a medium downforce circuit
12:44there are two things you can do if you've got extra power in the engine that you can use
12:48yes you can put extra downforce on
12:50and the power of the engine will carry the car forward and get you over that
12:53go over the deficit of having the downforce on
12:55however if you've got somebody like michael schumacher or barichello
12:58somebody that's capable of good car control
13:00you can take the downforce off and make maximum use of the power of the engine
13:04and when you're climbing up the hill
13:06you're going through kemel up to the top of la combe and malmody
13:09the long strike section
13:11boy you can gain so much time over the opposition
13:15out of the bus stop chicane and across the start finish line
13:19barichello no improvement
13:21but there has been elsewhere on the timing screen
13:23jensen button has the benetton renault up to 10th
13:27we'll be right back
13:36welcome back bob varsha and steve match it with you for friday practice at the formula one belgian grand prix
13:42and this is jensen button who moments ago
13:44pushed that benetton renault up to a very uncharacteristic tenth place on the timing charts
13:51it's been such a miserable season for benetton
13:57just getting into the top ten even in a timed practice
14:00would be a huge moral victory for this team
14:03well we know they've made one or two aero tweaks again to that chassis
14:07and we have to say i think now that you can see advancements coming on
14:11but remember it's friday practice and we don't know how much fuel everybody's running etc etc
14:15but nevertheless exciting to see them doing well so far on the weekend
14:20jensen button will look forward to a new teammate next year in yarno truly
14:25one of the developments of the last two weeks truly and giancarlo fisichella will change teams
14:31fisichella going to jordan truly coming to benetton
14:37as you see button well off the pace but his teammate fisichella has just posted fourth quickest time
14:43so suddenly that radical 111 degree v10 engine from renault appears to be coming good
14:50with this very problematic benetton chassis
14:56here's a look at mika hakenen moments ago
15:01a bit too stout through and into la source
15:06and we go now to the helicopter to show you that it has in fact begun to rain
15:11in fact i wonder if that contributed to hakenen going straight on at la source
15:15well we we can see one or two range raindrops starting to fall
15:19you can see the tires were very grain there from where the mclaren locked up
15:22whether or not that was rain induced i don't know but look now
15:24there's no doubt that the rain's falling now
15:26now the thing is whereabouts is that on the circuit
15:29comparison to where we've just seen hakenen down at the source
15:32look look down in the pit lane now there's not a spot of rain there
15:35very typical of spa
15:39jauna lacy being pushed back in here comes bernoldi
15:42obviously the drivers have decided it might be a good time to try the intermediates and the wets
15:47well this is one circuit really where the team and the engineers have the final say over tire choice
15:53normally you have to put that responsibility into the drivers because the drivers are seeing the conditions change throughout the course of a lap
16:00but of course here as we've just seen before we can see the downpour and the engineers of course can see that downpour on the monitors the driver has absolutely no idea so here more than anywhere else
16:10this is probably a unique example of that whenever the engineers say pit now for tires the driver must must must must come in and get the tires changed there's no question of arguing with the team i think i can handle it i think i can get around for another lap
16:22forget it boy come in and get the tires changed
16:25we've seen so many dramatic races over the years where suddenly the clouds will open
16:30drivers will make perfectly timed pit stops or perhaps less than perfectly timed pit stops
16:35and that will determine whether or not they succeed in the race
16:39and look at the downpour we've got now out there
16:42down at poo home
16:44Mika Hakkinen
16:45who was as far from the pit entry as he could have possibly been at la source
16:49is now having to make his way all the way around
16:52on those grooved dry weather tires
16:55well what they don't want to do what McLaren don't want to risk and of course Mika Hakkinen is a bright guy
17:00they don't want to risk that second McLaren chassis going off and losing all the data from Friday
17:04even if one driver's out not being able to compete in the Friday practice session
17:08you can at least get a general pool of data from the other driver
17:11and then in the briefings tonight of course we can look at it
17:13here we are going around now at Fania
17:15so you can see the circuit is just completely changed
17:18and yet the shot we've just seen again back in the pit lane
17:20still no water falling
17:23just about to rejoin the Frankershaw Stavalo Road
17:27this was one of the last of the true road circuits
17:29public roads made into an absolutely heroic race track
17:33now completely closed off to public traffic
17:37and lots of improvements made during the off season
17:40three million dollars worth of renovation
17:42including new high abrasive tarmac runoffs
17:48you can see the contrails start to form on the rear wings now
17:53the condensation trails there formed by the compression of the air
17:56and of course when it's starting to rain even if it's not raining down in the pit lane
17:59around the O Rouge area there's so much moisture build up now in the air
18:03that it starts to condense as the air flows over the car
18:06and you can see it coming off the contrails spilling off
18:09pretty much like small rooster tails when you see when the rain starts to have the same effect on the car
18:13this is after all the Ardenne forest so there are lots of tall pine trees around
18:20and even when the sun comes back out it can be difficult to get the entire track dried again
18:24the trees like the Hockenheim circuit in Germany tend to hold that moisture down
18:30close look from Belgian TV at the bus stop chicane
18:37Jenson Button using the curbs
18:40here's Enrique Bernoldi once again
18:44so we have a momentary lag in the action
18:47Mika Hakkinen has made it around to the McLaren garage
18:50they'll push him back in
18:51change the setup to the wet setup we assume
18:54put on the rain tires and we'll be back in action
18:57welcome back
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19:24as you watch Jasper Stoppen in replay
19:27fighting through the teeth of the current downpour
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19:39here on Speed Vision
19:41it's one of the Jordans
19:44on the now thoroughly damp 4.3 miles of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit
19:50Jean Alessi plunging downhill
19:53this is where the Frenchman really shines
19:55ooh
19:56a little hydroplaning there as he makes his way down into Eau Rouge
20:00Steve it's probably worth pointing out the teams have a golden opportunity right now to work on that wet weather setup
20:05yeah of course there's no way that the cars are going to go quicker than the times they've just set
20:09so if anybody's thinking you know what is the point of getting these cars out onto a wet circuit
20:13what are they going to learn
20:14there's so much rain potential at this race probably more than any because of the microclimate we've just been discussing
20:20and the storm clouds can open up five minutes before the actual start of the race
20:24the teams need to get as much wet weather running data as possible
20:27even if it doesn't rain for the rest of the weekend no problem
20:30but the teams need to work on the traction control settings
20:33they need to work on the high downforce settings for the rain
20:36they need to work on all sorts of different components on the car
20:38get out there and run it's essential
20:40now that the teams get out and use it
20:45plunging downhill through rivage
20:47incredibly quick look at the cloud coverage over the top those black clouds have now gone blown away now we're at the far end of the circuit we can see all those storm clouds have
21:15shifted over around the pit lane and on beyond clouds are completely cleared up again
21:22simply the way it is around here almost bright sunshine there now as a lazy makes his way around still kicking up
21:29a huge rooster tail as he drives through Stavolo
21:33now here comes the really breathtaking part of the course
21:36there's that new paving on the outside of Blanchimau replacing the gravel trap
21:47he's heading in
21:53he's still very very wet at the pit entrance
21:59this pit lane used to be so narrow as well
22:10if you remember a couple of years ago the thing was really no wider than that
22:13joke of a thing we used to have at Monaco
22:15still got it Monaco
22:16but now what they've managed to do is widen the circuit a little bit by gaining some land just over the road from the pit lane
22:22that's enabled the builders to just get a couple more meters of extra width onto the pit lane
22:26it's made it a lot safer for everybody that's working there
22:29there are big plans for the Spa-Francorchamps circuit
22:33including a dirt course for
22:36motocross bikes going in
22:38this is Ralph Schumacher
22:43recall last year the Belgian Grand Prix began on a very wet track
22:47the first lap was run behind the safety car
22:53Schumacher in that modified FW23B chassis from the Williams team
22:58with the incredibly powerful BMW V10 engine and Michelin tires
23:03unlike the Hungaroring two weeks ago where Michelin did not test and had very little information
23:08they know this Spa-Francorchamps circuit very well
23:12of course Toyota the team that aren't racing in this season
23:17the new Formula One team that's going to be racing for next season
23:20have actually done a private test with Michelin's on the car
23:23not long ago around the Spa circuit of course
23:25and all that data
23:27although by Michelin and Toyota
23:29probably being played down to a large extent
23:31saying well it was just a private test
23:33we were using controlled tires
23:34we're not really going to be learning anything
23:35boy you get onto the circuit
23:37you can run tires
23:38you're learning something every single lap
23:40there's no doubt about that
23:41Schumacher obviously going slowly
23:43word from the pit lane is
23:44he has radioed in that he only has fourth gear
23:47a gearbox problem
23:51and that
23:54will cost him valuable setup time
23:57in this second one hour session of Friday practice
24:00here's your top six
24:03back in Belgium the track is drying but remains thoroughly wet at this point in the second hour of Friday practice
24:18Bob Barsha Steve match it with you
24:20this was Jenson Button moments ago coming out of the bus stop chicane and smacking the wall on the right hand side
24:28you don't need an awful lot of contact under that arm coach
24:30you just disarrange the suspension enough that there's no point in continuing
24:34you might as well just pull over and save the car
24:36Benetton car is going very well here at Spa
24:40this is Jarno truly
24:42second quick this morning he remains so and is likely to now that the track is wet
24:46and the minutes in this second hour of practice continue to tick away
24:52now the sun out as you can see stark shadows on the ground
24:58see if we get any dry lapping before the session is over
25:04there's an awful lot of water still out there
25:08delicately through la source and now the downhill run steeply downhill too
25:14to O'Rouge
25:16red water
25:18well if O'Rouge is a gasper in good weather you can imagine what it's like going through there in the wet
25:30the car must come so light because it goes down and becomes under so much compression
25:34as the car bottoms out into the bottom of O'Rouge there down in the dip
25:38as it starts to come out of course all that weight is lifted off
25:40the thing must become so light and of course like you just said Bob in these wet conditions
25:44are wet so it's just been slip slip slipping over
25:48you don't need to lose an awful lot before it's gone
25:52plunging downhill
25:56personnel shuffle continues
25:58at Jordan
26:00in addition to truly getting set to move over
26:02to Benetton
26:04the Jordan Head of Research and Development
26:06Bob Bell has decided to leave the team
26:08and join his old colleague Mike Gascoigne
26:10at Benetton as well
26:14missed hanging in the air from the car out ahead of the Jordan
26:20it's a Ferrari
26:22currently on a part of the racetrack that was added
26:36when the mammoth old seven miles plus of the Spa-Frankershaw circuit was reduced to something close to its current 4.3 mile length
26:46this track hosted the Belgian Grand Prix from 1925
26:50it was a regular stop in the modern era of Formula One beginning in 1950
26:54until the 1970s when it was considered too fast and too dangerous
26:58so the Belgian Grand Prix journeyed to Zolder and Nivelle
27:04Spa was rebuilt in the early 80s
27:06held the race in 83
27:08and has been here ever since
27:10well except for 1985
27:12when the racetrack surface
27:14began to break up and the race had to be cancelled
27:16but
27:18no problem here
27:20front wing damage
27:22this is Michael Schumacher
27:24so he's obviously hit something
27:26you see the front wing main plane is completely broken away from underneath the mountings
27:30and pushed the suspension up as well
27:32so that's not just going to be a simple nose change
27:34if the guy makes it back to the pits
27:36that's going to have damaged the suspension
27:38there's a bit of the front wing
27:40the right front tire is deflated
27:44this is heading up towards Radion
27:46this is through Eau Rouge
27:48what a place to have a problem
27:50no word yet on who he has hit
27:53but we're hearing
27:54it might have been one of the Jaguars
27:56there's Jean Tote looking on
27:58a long way still to go for Michael Schumacher to get that car around
28:07he might not make it at all
28:09he's on the Kemmel straight
28:11Eau Rouge where that incident happened
28:13although we haven't seen it yet
28:14hopefully we'll get a replay of it
28:16but Eau Rouge is only just past the pit lane exit in reality
28:19so he's got 4.3 miles to do to get that car back into the pits
28:23oh and there's the confirmation there on the right front rim
28:26look how bent it is
28:27that's confirmation that Michael just hasn't gone over a curb
28:29and damaged that by himself
28:30he's actually contacted something
28:32and there he is
28:33De La Rosa's Jaguar
28:35with definite left rear damage
28:37you see the tire completely off the rim there
28:40of course the news for Jaguar in the last two weeks
28:42has been the departure of American Bobby Rahal
28:46after just nine months of a three year contract
28:49to run the Jaguar Formula One team
28:52lost out in a power struggle
28:54to former three time world Formula One champion
28:57Nicky Lauda
28:59all parties made it sound amicable in the published reports
29:02but the word up and down the pit lane is
29:04it was anything but
29:06we'll be back in a moment to Spa
29:09welcome back to Friday Practice
29:15it's Bob Frankershaw
29:16I'm Bob Barsha with Steve Matchett
29:18this is Michael Schumacher who has finally made his way back to the pits
29:22after contract with Pedro De La Rosa's Jaguar on the plunge down to Eau Rouge
29:27a four mile crawl back to the pit lane for the damaged Ferrari
29:32you can see Schumacher's on intermediate tire
29:35Bridgestone tires on that car there
29:37so I wonder whether or not he was just using the wrong tires for the weather conditions
29:41or it might have been just too much spray in the air
29:44this is the part of the racetrack where he apparently came together with the Jaguar
29:48as you watch Giancarlo Fisichella up into fourth
29:51a spectacular performance for both Fisichella and Jensen Button
30:01see patches of the racetrack beginning to dry out just that little bit
30:07of course it helps when you have these wet weather tires sucking gallons of water off the racetrack
30:12it doesn't take long before you get a dry line start to form as you say Bob
30:16and the clouds have gone you know I think the rain has gone
30:18and we'll start to see that dry line all start to hook up all the way around the circuit
30:22and times will start to tumble back down again to a degree
30:25of course we're not going to see the sort of performance we were seeing at the start of the session
30:29and Spa of course you know once you get the rain coming down like this
30:33and the laps will then go over the two minute mark
30:35it always used to confuse me I have to admit when I was a mechanic working on the front end of the car
30:39one of our responsibilities was to operate the pit board in qualifying
30:43in the race course we were doing the pit stop so somebody else stood in
30:46but in qualifying and practice we used to do the pit board
30:48and of course when you go over two minutes it becomes very confusing
30:51because well before you'd see one minute fifty six one minute fifty seven
30:54all of a sudden it goes over two minutes
30:56what am I supposed to display to the guys zero zero point what you know
31:01it used to get to me a little bit
31:02Fisichella as we mentioned earlier bound to be a Jordan driver next year
31:09he drove for the Jordan team back in 1997
31:12look how dry it is down there in Stavolo
31:14you can bet Giancarlo Fisichella is grateful for it
31:19as he goes up through the gearbox and here at Blanchema corners at about 185 miles an hour
31:25maybe a few ticks short of that in the damp conditions
31:30this is the bus stop chicane
31:32which was once an actual bus stop hence the name
31:37no longer in use since the racetrack has been completely closed off to public use
31:42and as you see Fisichella
31:44a good time in the rain but still fifteen and a half seconds
31:48off of what Michael Schumacher did in the dry session this morning
31:52now here's a look at what happened to Michael Schumacher
31:55you see right up the jet stream of Pedro de la Rosa's Jaguar
31:59I'm sure he couldn't see anything until the last moment
32:02he looked very much like that
32:03I think it was coming down
32:04there was a cloud of spray coming off the back of the Jaguar of course as it would be
32:07and I think it was just taken out by the speed
32:10I think he tried to duck out behind the car to see what was going off
32:13but too late all over in the blink of an eye
32:15here's more of that high adhesion tarmac on the outside
32:19at Radeyon
32:21boy that was an incredibly dangerous moment
32:23two very lucky drivers
32:30this was Jarno truly moments ago at Lacombe
32:33little too much speed for the conditions
32:35oh and loses the back end
32:38you see he had one little stab at it turn in the steering
32:40where you could just see his hand come to the top
32:42just one little stab at trying to turn to the right
32:44gave up and went straight over the grass
32:45the safest thing to do I think in that circumstance
32:48and you saw on the track side wall
32:50spectators standing with umbrellas open
32:52so it appears to be raining up at Lacombe
32:55this part of the track still looks very wet
32:58as you look at the top 8
32:59Eddie Irvine going well in the Jaguar
33:01up into 8th at this point
33:02Kimi Raikkonen
33:04who just amazes us race after race
33:06currently 6th in the Sauber
33:08look at Jean Alassi in 8th
33:10Jensen Button 10th
33:12nothing like a little dampness
33:14to turn the timesheets upside down
33:16here's Mika Hakkinen
33:21David Coulthard still has not gotten back on track
33:26after that shunt
33:27in the opening laps of the morning hour
33:29Hakkinen currently 5th
33:34with the quickest time in the wet thus far
33:44once again that amazing race he had a year ago
33:46where he spun the car
33:47gave up the lead to Michael Schumacher
33:49then ran him down and passed him
33:51at top speed on the Kemmel straightaway
33:53just entering the braking area for Lacombe
33:56and there is Schumacher
33:58even a 4 time world champion
34:00learned some hard lessons about driving in the rain
34:03well he's acknowledged of course Schumacher
34:05as being really the reigning rainmeister
34:08now of course we haven't got Sennaweathers any longer
34:11he was of course brilliant in the rain
34:12and I can remember asking Michael once
34:14when we were together at Benetton
34:16how he felt the car reacted differently in the rain
34:19it's something that's always baffled me of course
34:20because I'm a mechanic and I'm an engineer
34:22I'm not a driver
34:23I wonder how the cars reacted and how they felt differently
34:25he came out with a great little poetic story
34:27he said Steve when you're driving a car
34:29you will hear each corner of the car talking to you
34:32as you're driving around in the wet
34:34you know you get the feel the sense of it
34:35coming through each four tires
34:37and he says the tires the corners talk to you
34:40in the wet he says they still talk to you
34:42but they whisper they don't talk as loud
34:44and you have to listen very very carefully
34:46because they only give you one slight warning
34:48before they let you go
34:50great story
34:52there's his teammate Rubens Barichello
34:54no slouch in the rain himself
34:57nor is Mika Hakkinen
34:58whom we just saw
34:59here's the fin once again
35:00lots of rumors continue to swirl
35:02about Mika Hakkinen's future in Formula One
35:05his manager
35:06great Formula One champion
35:08Kike Rosberg says
35:10Mika's not going anywhere yet
35:12McLaren Mercedes have yet to announce their driver lineup
35:15we are told it's because they haven't settled their test driver situation
35:21but we'll have to wait and see what McLaren has up their sleeves
35:25Barichello being pushed back
35:27of course Hakkinen's teammate David Coulthard
35:30is locked up for another two years
35:33speaking of locking up
35:34here's Yarno Trulli
35:38oh
35:40that tells you everything you need to know about
35:42just how slick this place can be
35:44in the wet
35:45Michael Schumacher
35:46remains at the top of the time charts
35:48truly in second place
35:50we'll be right back to Spa
35:51welcome back just a few minutes remaining in the second one hour practice session
36:04on Friday of Grand Prix weekend at Spa-Francorchamps
36:07this is Rubens Barichello in the Ferrari
36:10great race two weeks ago in Hungary
36:15Barichello is now just five points behind David Coulthard
36:18for second place in the world championship
36:20well Schumacher right there as well with 44 points
36:24just two behind Barichello
36:25so there's a great three way battle going on
36:28for second place in the world championship
36:30and of course Ferrari would like nothing better than to have
36:33the constructors title and first and second
36:36in the drivers standings
36:39if there's a possibility of taking it
36:41you take it in Formula One
36:42you don't give anything away
36:44absolutely
36:46I read about professional golfers recently
36:48that they'll smile at you while slitting your throat in competition
36:52and Grand Prix racing is certainly no different
36:56of course David Coulthard has done himself no favors
36:59crashing out in the first one hour session
37:01it appears he will get no time at all on the racetrack today
37:06and that will make his job even that much tougher on Saturday
37:13yeah we know that we've seen the mechanics working on the car
37:16we haven't had many good shots of actually what the mechanic is doing
37:19but the fact that they're working on the chassis means that the chassis has survived
37:22so now we must be looking at putting suspension on
37:24getting the thing on the ground
37:26quick flat patch check
37:27and get it out there
37:28oh
37:29just as Rubens Barichello crosses the start finish line
37:32this is Juan Pablo Montoya
37:3416th
37:35and likely to stay that way
37:38he has spun off and clouded the right front
37:41let's take another look
37:45another of the problems of driving in the wet
37:47ooh
37:48heavy impact
37:50in the wet
37:51of course you don't slow down as much when you get out of control
37:55because the surface is so slick
37:57that's at the top of the circuit
37:58just after Lacombe
37:59in between Lacombe and Malmedy
38:01and you could see how quick the car spun round
38:04and the impact on the nose
38:06this is Tarso Marquez who's gone around in the Minardi
38:11this is at the bus stop chicane
38:14Marquez running out the string this weekend with Minardi
38:16he'll be replaced by young Malaysian Alex Jung
38:20here's another look at the Brazilian going around in the chicane
38:25boy I'll bet that's easy to do
38:27he made the first part of it look pretty easy
38:29but I think it was probably carrying a little bit too much speed
38:31and as soon as he tried to correct it and put on the opposite look
38:34of course the back end just flicked round on him
38:37here's another look
38:38and you notice that bright yellow M on the airbox
38:41that's the symbol of the Magnum Corporation from Malaysia
38:44that's paying a large part of the multi-million dollars in sponsorship
38:49that is getting Alex Jung the drive
38:52there's Juan Pablo Montoya
38:53there is Patrick Head at the center of your picture
38:56as the Williams team
38:57sees the same picture as you are
38:59and tries to figure out what happened to their young star
39:02I wouldn't be surprised if Montoya ends up with a sore neck after this session
39:08once the adrenaline has gone out of him and he sits down and thinks about that
39:11because that was quite a bit of whiplash the car took when it went into the Armco
39:14kind of ironic that so much of this Armco fencing is protected by those tire walls
39:20he managed to find that one gap with the nose of his car
39:25the wheels seem to be in good shape except the left front
39:29and you notice those extra aerodynamic pieces still in use even on this high speed circuit
39:35average speeds up over 140 miles an hour
39:37get a quick look at Giancarlo Fisichella
39:40here's Kimi Raikkonen
39:42once again his first visit to this racetrack
39:45since his visit in a Formula Renault car
39:49so he now has about 6 or 7 times the horsepower
39:53he's been faced with these wet conditions
39:55and yet as far as we can tell he hasn't put a wheel wrong all day
39:58I think it just goes to show and it's becoming more obvious I think as new drivers
40:03young talent comes into the sport
40:05you don't really need to have years and years of experience
40:07you've either got that raw basic skill to be able to drive any car quick
40:11or you haven't
40:13this kid definitely has it
40:16flashing downhill past the old pits
40:19through Eau Rouge
40:21up to Redillon
40:23onto the Kimmel straight away
40:24interesting to know
40:29Michael Schumacher
40:31with the fastest straight line speed
40:33expected to see that from the Williams cars
40:37yeah and I think again
40:39you know Bob even in these wet conditions
40:41we've seen that the Ferrari are running considerably less wing than what the Williams are
40:45and I think that's just sapping so much power out of the engine
40:48as they climb up to the top of the hill
40:50of course you know
40:51it's the downforce that keeps the thing on the road
40:53so it's back down to driver skill again
40:55if the driver can keep it on the road
40:56and you can take downforce off
40:57you're always going to go quicker
41:01Sauber team had an interesting situation earlier this week
41:04Peter Sauber had promised his Swiss countryman
41:07Marcel Fossler a test
41:09after he won his first race in the German Touring Car Series
41:13Fossler was supposed to test next weekend in the Sauber
41:16but then Peter Sauber found out that two weeks later
41:18Fossler was going to test the McLaren Mercedes
41:22so Sauber decided to withdraw that offer of a test
41:25saying it wouldn't be in the interest of our engine supplier
41:28meaning Ferrari
41:30there is David Coulthard getting into his car
41:32is it possible he might actually get on the racetrack
41:35well they're working fast there
41:37Pat Frye's race engineer you see just walking out in front
41:39and you see the mechanics putting the seatbelts on
41:41so even if what's happening now
41:43even if the car's not in that final stage ready to go onto the circuit
41:45get the driver bolted into the thing so that's another job done
41:49now they can just do the final tweaks on the suspension
41:51hopefully get him out before the flag falls
41:53it's going to be tight
41:55it's got to be incredibly frustrating
41:58because the checkered flag is in the hands of the flagman
42:01as Kimi Raikkonen comes around and splashes through that puddle at the start finish line
42:06good performance for the young finish rookie
42:08meanwhile Coulthard climbs out
42:11if he intended to get on the racetrack
42:15well that was it you just saw the clock ticking down there
42:19two seconds to one second to zero
42:22so unfortunately all that hard work by the McLaren mechanics and the engineers to get that car ready
42:27all they needed it looked to me
42:28I don't know what you thought Bob
42:31about another ten seconds or they could probably have got that car out onto the circuit
42:34and even one lap of this 4.3 mile circuit
42:38would have been something
42:40as it is
42:42he has nothing to show for his Friday
42:46watching Jarno Trulli
42:48track looking very dry at this point
42:50watch how quickly it changes
42:51blasting out of the chicane
43:01quick rooster tail
43:03big puddle right there
43:05checkered flag falls on Jarno Trulli
43:11well Mika Hakkinen is still out there pounding around
43:14once the lap begins as long as it does so before the checkered flag it counts
43:18currently the fast time in the wet is a 2.01.5 by Rubens Botticello
43:29and you can see the difference as the track dries
43:32Hakkinen just 8 seconds off of best time at that point
43:36I know that's a long time
43:38but considering earlier on we were seeing 12 and 15 second gaps at that intermediate
43:43Hakkinen is making the best use of this drying surface
43:48checking the time, will he break 2 minutes?
43:53no!
43:55but right at 2 minutes flat
43:57Hakkinen with the best time since the clouds opened
44:01about 15 minutes into this second one hour session
44:05and in replay
44:07one more spin for good measure
44:08good measure from Jean Alessi
44:13there's a look at the damage to the nose of Juan Pablo Montoya's
44:17Williams BMW
44:19here's a look at the top times
44:21we'll be back in just a moment
44:26welcome back
44:28moments ago this was Jarno Trulli practicing his start
44:31and Eddie Irvine doing the same
44:33with considerably less success in the Jaguar
44:35but it eventually did work
44:38here's a look at our Friday practice times
44:39brought to you by Bridgestone
44:41Michael Schumacher leads 4 drivers under last year's pole time
44:45the Ferrari world champion
44:472 full seconds under Mika Hakkinen's time from a year ago
44:51final thoughts, Steve Matchett?
44:53well I guess really it's going to be the car that's right down at the bottom position on the standings
44:57when we have a look at Coulthard
44:59the woes continue and it just goes to show
45:00you cannot afford to lose any time around this circuit
45:04or indeed any circuit
45:05but here particularly being so long
45:06all that date is so essential
45:08and Coulthard there right down the bottom
45:10absolutely zero gained out of it
45:12woes of this season continue to plague that fella
45:15one more good reason to be with us for our live coverage of qualifying
45:18tomorrow at 7am eastern time
45:20and then our Grand Prix coverage on Sunday
45:23beginning at 7.30am eastern
45:25with our special paddock reports from Peter Windsor
45:27bringing you all the news and gossip
45:30from Spa Frankershaw
45:32it all begins Sunday morning at 7.30am eastern
45:35only on SpeedVision
45:37for Steve Matchett, I'm Bob Varsha
45:39thanks for being with us
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