Jarno Trulli was fifth fastest and Heinz-Harald Frentzen seventh at the end of the two 60-minute sessions.

Jordan have introduced a heavily revised EJ11 this weekend. Apart from modifications to the suspension, additions to the aerodynamics include a small wing, mounted amidships on a stalk directly in front of the driver. On a slow circuit such as Monte Carlo, teams are attempting to gain as much extra downforce as possible.

'We have a lot of work to do; the balance on new tyres is not really good at this point,' said Trulli. 'We worked on race set-up and I have to say it seems pretty competitive so we need to look at the data now and see what we can do for qualifying on Saturday. It took a while to feel really comfortable with the car ­ and that's important if you want to do a quick time round here ­but it was getting better towards the end. We tried the body-mounted wing later on and it felt okay. But we need to check the telemetry and see if it is worth running on Saturday. It's difficult to tell at this stage.'

'A good day's work for Thursday at this circuit,' said Frentzen. 'We didn't have any major problems which meant we were able to do a lot of work on the set-up. I'm pretty happy so far. I didn't test the extra wing last week, so I didn't run it today. At the end of the session, they allowed us to do a practise start on the actual starting grid (as opposed to the pit lane exit). It's a good thing to be able to do that here because the starting grid is very narrow and no one wants to stall on Sunday.'

'A good day's work for the team,' said Tim Holloway, Head of Engineering at Jordan Grand Prix. 'This track is difficult for everybody, including the mechanics because of the working conditions in the cramped pit lane and the distance from the paddock (in a car park, a quarter of a mile away). The drivers did a really good job today because this place is all about not making mistakes. Monaco is very much a one-off track and we have been working through our usual set-up for the street circuit. There is more work to do for Saturday because the track conditions will almost certainly have changed by then.'

Several drivers slid into the escape road at the end of the start/finish straight while others, including Juan Palbo Montoya (Williams), damaged their cars after crashing at the entry to Rascasse at the end of the lap.

In the final minute of practice, Montoya's team-mate, Ralf Schumacher, lost control and badly damaged his Williams at the exit of the swimming pool chicane.

Mika Hakkinen, who got off lightly after tapping a barrier, was fastest for McLaren, team-mate David Coulthard setting sixth fastest time after losing half an hour while suspension repairs were carried out after he had touched a wall. Michael Schumacher was second fastest for Ferrari.

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Jordan Grand Prix