Formula One: Hakkinen off to flying start
Mika Hakkinen clocked the fastest time in opening practice for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix in Zeltweg this morning.
The Finn, cruelly denied victory just half a lap from the finish at the last race in Spain, claimed top spot with a late blistering lap in his McLaren.
Hakkinen, who has won the race on the A1-Ring twice in the past three years, finished almost 0.3 seconds ahead of team-mate David Coulthard.
Championship hopeful Coulthard, who trails Ferrari’s title pacesetter Michael Schumacher by just eight points, had been quickest for much of the session.
The 30-year-old Scot’s early pace was a boost to his hopes of finally winning on the track after finishing second for the past two years.
Brazil’s Rubens Barrichello was third fastest, almost half a second down in his Ferrari, with Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen fourth for Sauber.
The Schumacher brothers, Ralf and Michael, both had excursions onto the gravel during the opening hour-long session.
Williams driver Ralf, who now lives in Austria, finished fifth fastest just ahead of his older brother.
Eddie Irvine, who won the race for Ferrari in 1999, was 14th quickest in his Jaguar Racing car while Jenson Button was 19th for Benetton.
Button has had another pain-killing injection in the shoulder that has been troubling him since the second race of the season in Malaysia.
