Published on 28 March 1997 by Verstappen Info Page

At the end of the ... At the end of the first free practice of today Frentzen appeared to be the fastest in a time of 1:19.482. Herbert was surprisingly second while Hakkinen drove to third place. Villeneuve again showed that he is a slow starter on position 6.

Jos did very well. He ended on position 14 in a 1:21.397, within 2 seconds of Frentzen. He drove very steady with lap times of 1:21.4, 1:21.5, 1:21.6. Salo finished at position 17 in 1:21.745. Hill spinned at the end of the free practice and had to see that Diniz was faster at the end.

During the second free session, several drivers spinned. Irvine was the first followed by Larini who had a hard crash which caused a red flag for 15 minutes. Most teams had chosen for a softer compound tires which resulted in much faster times. Although Villeneuve is getting warmer he was not able to get faster then Frentzen who was fastest today in 1:17.506 just followed by Villeneuve in 1:17.829. Alesi became third followed by Herbert, Berger and Ralf Schumacher who was 0.01 sec faster then his older brother.

Tyrrell also made progress in the lap times. Especially Salo who gained position 13 (1:19.546). Jos ended up in position 17 in 1:20.076, half a second behind Salo.

You can find all times of today's free practice session on our Brazilian Grand Prix page.