World Champion Michael Schumacher lead a Ferrari one-two in the free practice session ahead of Sunday's Italian Grand Prix. Schumacher was 0.225 of a second quicker than Brazilian team mate Rubens Barrichello, with McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen in third place, 0.583 behind the German Champion.
Eddie Irvine continued his recent good run of form and was fourth fastest in his Jaguar, however the Irishman was still not 100% satisfied with his car. "The good news is that we are quick, the bad news is that we are worried about the brakes. We have suffered from a brake issue all season and if there is one circuit that exposes the fact more than any other, it's Monza," Irvine insisted.
Ferrari have no such problems and team boss Jean Todt is looking forward to Sunday's race at Ferrari's home track. "It is a pleasure for us to be here in Monza for the Italian Grand Prix where our fans have given us a really warm welcome."
Schumacher is also confident of a Ferrari party, "We did some tyre checks, we made a few set-up changes trying to improve our performance, and we can be quite confident even if at this stage of the weekend nobody knows too much," he said.
Elsewhere, the Jordan team endured another disappointing day, with Giancarlo Fisichella 11th fastest and Takuma Sato three places further back in 14th.
Filed by Rob Wright
