Schumacher posts fastest time in practice

Friday, July 28, 2000 | 10:51 a.m.

The German driver has failed to finish three of the last four races and his once commanding 22-point lead in the standings has been reduced to only six.

Schumacher clocked the fastest lap on the 4.240-mile Hockenheimring in the dry one-hour morning session, driving around the circuit in one minute, 43.535 seconds.

Schumacher's last victory - his fifth of the season - was at the Canadian Grand Prix more than a month ago.

A strong shower drenched the track before the afternoon session and few drivers posted faster times than in the first run.

One of them was Heinz-Harald Frentzen of Germany, who clocked 1:43.575 in his Jordan as time ran out to take second place and give German drivers a 1-2 sweep in practice for the national Grand Prix.

Schumacher won the race in 1995 and remains the only German to have won a German Grand Prix.

Two-time defending champion Mika Hakkinen of Finland was third in his McLaren-Mercedes in 1:44.120.