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Ferrari driver takes P1 in Budapest

Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari emerged quickest in this morning’s first free practice from the Hungaroring, clocking a 1MIN 20.216 during the dying seconds of the 45-minute session.

The German completed 10 laps and finished just 0.266 ahead of Williams’ Antonio Pizzonia, who threatened the top of the timesheets throughout the session. Team-mate, Juan-Pablo Montoya, mustered third place with 1MIN 20.696.

In a relatively quiet session which saw temperatures a lot cooler than yesterday - the air temperature was only 20 degrees - Jenson Button improved on yesterday’s performance to take fourth place, just over half a second down on the leading Ferrari.

Rubens Barrichello failed to match the pace of his team-mate and has to settle for fifth spot, having clocked a 1MIN 20.830. The Brazilian finished four-tenths ahead of Jarno Trulli in the leading Renault. His team-mate, Fernando Alonso, also performed well in the Michelin-shod car by finishing sixth.

McLaren failed to capitalise on their impressive form from Friday’s practice, with David Coulthard finishing eighth with 1 MIN 21.555. The Scotsman finished two places ahead of his Finnish team-mate; Raikkonen only managing 10th place, 1.6 seconds off the pace. The two were separated by Felipe Massa in the leading Sauber.

Toyota’s revised car continued to work well at Budapest, with Olivier Panis and Ricardo Zonta finishing 11th and 12th respectively, less than a tenth slower than Raikkonen. Giancarlo Fisichella followed in his Sauber, with Mark Webber setting a 1MIN 22.068 in the Jaguar R5 to take 14th.

The Australian was closely pursued by team-mate, Christian Klien, in 15th spot with Giorgio Pantano outpacing his veteran team-mate, Nick Heidfeld. The German finished in 18th place behind the Minardi of Gianmaria Bruni. Zsolt Baumgartner brings up the rear for Minardi, while Takuma Sato failed to set a time in the BAR.

Report by: Julie Gates

Written: Sat, 14 Aug 2004 07:51:00