EXCLUSIVE TACH COVERAGE

Australian Grand Prix: Hill Leads 1st Practice

by Nicholas Frankl

TACH European Bureau

"I think we can go even faster tomorrow if the sun doesn't come out, I'm obviously pleased to have set such a good time but it really doesn't count for anything, it won't help me get a good grid position, that will only come from the qualifying session."

Hill was also complimentary about his rookie Canadian team mate Villeneuve, who finished just over two tenth's of a second behind him in 1.32.396.

" I've been saying all winter that Jacques is bloody good, I knew he'd be a threat and he's a serious contender for the championship".

It's clear from the buzz at Williams that the arrival of the Indy car Champion has spurred Hill on and given him a real benchmark to compare with from the outset.

The only other driver to make it into the 92 second barrier was an upbeat and flying Jean Alesi in the Benetton. The fiery Sicilian seems to have taken some happy pills and relaxed significantly now that he's out of the hot house pressure suit that IS Ferrari. The chassis is clearly more to his liking than old mate Berger who is still complaining of nervous handling and sudden oversteer.

" I'm not comfortable with the set-up yet and so I think the new system of just one qualifying session will suit me - we can continue to get ready for the race."

Meantime reining Champ Schumacher was still struggling ( by his standards ) to get the Ferrari to function, competing his full allotment of 30 laps with a best time of 1.33.007 good enough for 4 spot. Suffering from a lack of any real testing he accepted that it would be a miracle if the car finished:

"This race is all about sorting out the car, we've had a difficult time preparing for this race and I think the first few GP's will be more long term tests than actual win situations for us. I haven't change my mind about our Championship chances... to win you have to score points and to achieve this you must first finish the race... we'll have to see what happens".

But, without a doubt the team with the most riding on this season is the troubled McLaren Mercedes. David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen set the 9th & 10th fastest times and are complaining that the car is set up for Estoril ( the track in Portugal where the team did all it's winter testing) and therefore suffering from poor balance and a lack of grip,

"We're making constant progress and it's great to be back in Oz and to be racing... I'm looking forward to tomorrow" said Hakkinen.

And he's not the only one. Villeneuve admitted that the prospect of finally "getting it on" has got his stomach turning, the first qualifying session of the new season on a new circuit and with the most open field in many years should be one of the closest for years, and don't be too surprised if all of a sudden you find a prancing horse on the front row.