Mika Hakkinen pipped Michael Schumacher to the post in today's free practice in Malaysia with a fastest time of 1.40.262.

The Benson and Hedges Jordan driver Jarno Trulli who had a good free practice session said, “This is the first practice I have had for a while which was free of troubles – so this was a positive start for me. I spent the sessions learning the track, since last year I retired from the race on the warm up lap, so I have not run very much here before. I feel quite positive about our competitiveness, but I do not want to make any predictions for tomorrow as in Suzuka I thought we looked good on Friday but things did not work out for us in qualifying. Overall though, I am happy with today.”

Heinz-Harald Frentzen was satisfied with the car's performance today and said, “Our car is more running better here than I had expected, although it is too early to make any predictions for tomorrow. We did our usual Friday homework, first checking all the systems were working and then trying different set-ups. The track became increasingly quick throughout the day as the grip levels improved, but we were also able to find some extra speed through the set-up changes we made, so I am satisfied with the work we did.”

Jordan Grand Prix