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SAN MARINO GRAND PRIX
Schumacher on Top
Nicholas Frankl
TACH European Bureau
Defending World Champion and Ferrari No.1 Michael Schumacher set the pace here today and sent thousands of Italian fans in practical mass hysteria. Schumacher who had, earlier on, set pole, only to eclipsed by the Williams duo found himself down to 3rd spot with only 3 minutes remaining of the one hour session. A last effort was required and to the sounds of horns, fireworks and rapturous cheers from the tifosi, the Scarlet Ferrari lapped in a best time of 1:26.890, 0:215 seconds in front of Hill who tried but failed to catch his arch rival, who by this time had crossed the line and spun out into the gravel trap, the result of a broken rear suspension.
Schumacher was delighted. "I'm happy today because I was able to meet the expectations of the (fans), and beca
use Ferrari competitiveness went beyond my hopes, Schumacher said. "The car was perfect thanks to some set-up ... I'm looking forward to another happy day tomorrow."
Hill conceded that he had been surprised by the pace of the F310. " We knew that the advantage we had wouldn't last for ever and I have to hand it to Michael that he did a great job today, I think that tomorrows race is going to be very exciting"
Team mate Villeneuve secured third spot after initially setting the fastest lap, with a characteristically spirited, if somewhat way would drive. McLaren continued their fight back with Coulthard in fourth spot clearly adapting much quicker to the car than Hakkinen who could only manage eleventh. Irvine finally got to grips with the car he was describing as undriveable, putting the second Ferrari on the third row of the grid behind Alesi in the Benetton.
It's over a year since Ferrari were on pole and practically a year to the day since Alesi won his first race at the Canadian Grand Prix. If Schumacher pulls off the win tomorrow he'll probably be crowned President of the Country and all those millions will suddenly look like good money well spent.
