Michael again fastest in first free practice

Published on 14 September 2001 by Verstappen Info Page

The first free practice in preparation of the Grand Prix at Monza started 10 minutes earlier to keep their 3 minutes silence in remembrance of the tragedy in America. There were more signs of mourning: the Ferraris drove without any sponsor logos and had a black nose cone.

Michael Schumacher was fastest in a time of 1.25.524. Jos finished early; he ended his outlap in the tyres after he went off track at a 300kph speed. The damage was limited and Jos was okay, but his session was over. After our conversation with Jos it appeared that the chassis was too low and Jos hit the kerbstones too hard which made Jos lose control of the car. Jos was not the only one who went off track; both Saubers could not fullfill their 1 hour training session. Raikkonen and Heidfeld both went off track at high speed.