Herbert 3rd in Practice, Gene 11th

[Valve Bounce]

What's going on?? I know I have been saying that practice is only practice, but Herbert in the Jag in third place is almost as sensational as Gene in 11th. Herbert has lost his place in Jag, and come to think of it, I can't remember him driving a bad race yet this year. Most of the time, his car went kaput. And Gene doing so well?? How?? The car does need grunt to get around Spa fast. Unless Gene has cut two holes underneath and has been using his feet like Fred. I know MF is going to faint when he finds out!!

[Danielsun]

You beat me to the punch!! I was gonna give Minardi Fan a nice surprise and tell him that Gene had qualified 11th. Only practice, as you say, so you can't really read too much into it.

I certainly hope not, as the Prosts are waaaay behind even the Minardi of Mazzacane - and we can't allow that, can we? As for Johnny Herbert in third, I hope he stays somewhere in the vicinity of that position tomorrow.

And go DC!! That would liven up the Championship even more to have him repeat last season's storming win...

[Minardi fan]

1. David Coulthard GB McLaren-Mercedes 1:53.398
2. Mika Hakkinen FIN McLaren-Mercedes 1:53.919 0.521 0.521
3. Johnny Herbert GB Jaguar 1:53.945 0.026 0.547
4. Jacques Villeneuve CDN BAR-Honda 1:54.136 0.191 0.738
5. Michael Schumacher D Ferrari 1:54.226 0.090 0.828
6. Alexander Wurz A Benetton-Playlife 1:54.266 0.040 0.868
7. Jos Verstappen NL Arrows-Supertec 1:54.338 0.072 0.940
8. Giancarlo Fisichella I Benetton-Playlife 1:54.350 0.012 0.952
9. Rubens Barrichello BR Ferrari 1:54.502 0.152 1.104
10. Jarno Trulli I Jordan-Honda 1:54.666 0.164 1.268
11. Marc Gene E Minardi-Ford 1:54.832 0.166 1.434
12. Ralf Schumacher D Williams-BMW 1:55.209 0.377 1.811
13. Jenson Button GB Williams-BMW 1:55.270 0.061 1.872
14. Pedro Diniz BR Sauber-Petronas 1:55.312 0.042 1.914
15. Ricardo Zonta BR BAR-Honda 1:55.546 0.234 2.148
16. Eddie Irvine GB Jaguar 1:55.645 0.099 2.247
17. Heinz-Harald Frentzen D Jordan-Honda 1:55.750 0.105 2.352
18. Mika Salo FIN Sauber-Petronas 1:55.847 0.097 2.449
19. Gaston Mazzacane RA Minardi-Ford 1:56.122 0.275 2.724
20. Pedro de la Rosa E Arrows-Supertec 1:56.252 0.130 2.854
21. Jean Alesi F Prost-Peugeot 1:56.508 0.256 3.110
22. Nick Heidfeld D Prost-Peugeot 1:56.857 0.349 3.459

107% of fastest time: 1:61.336

Go Marc! Go Marc! Go Marc! Go Marc! Go Marc!

And from the times, I'm guessing it was raining.

Hallelujah!

[Toth]

Not a drop of rain MFan, yet.

But the times do mean nothing, several people did a few quick laps at the end. A few minutes before the end Verstappen was 22nd and the Minardi's were around those positions for most of the session.
But we can still dream..

[fastracer]

Herbert was third because he was running on a light fuel load and brand new tires, so I wouldn't be so convinced by his lap. Remember he was 12th or something like that before he did his lap and that is the place he should have ended up in if he continued on a heavy fuel load and worn tires like everyone else.