Coulthard tops F1’s opening day in Indy

Mike Harris

Friday, Sept. 22, 2000 | 4:52 a.m.

INDIANAPOLIS - The stars of Formula One began practice for the U.S. Grand Prix on Friday, looking much at home on the new track.

There was hardly a hitch as the biggest names quickly made it to the top of the speed chart. David Coulthard led the way on the 2.606-mile, 13-turn road circuit at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

After months of anticipation, Sunday's race will be the first Formula One event in the United States in nine years and the first ever at Indy.

A crowd of about 50,000 watched the F1 cars christen the new road course, with the high-pitched howl of the powerful open-wheel cars reverberating off the massive speedway grandstands.

"It's a wonderful sound," said CART points leader Gil de Ferran, on hand as a spectator. "This whole thing is very impressive."

Coulthard overcame an early electrical problem in his McLaren-Mercedes. He covered the winding circuit, which includes about one-third of the historic Indy oval, in 1 minute, 14.561 seconds, a speed of 125.766 mph.

"Being fastest today is encouraging, but I always say on Friday we just have to be careful," Coulthard said. "After 2 o'clock tomorrow, when qualifying is over, is when we'll truly find out how quick we are.

"This track is challenging because it's flowing," he added. "Once you get into that infield section, you're not really heavy into the brakes in any one corner, so you have to keep a rhythm. If you miss one corner, then you miss the next two."

Teammate Mika Hakkinen, the two-time defending F1 champion, and Ferrari's Michael Schumacher, Hakkinen's chief rival for the 2000 title, were close behind Coulthard at 1:14.695 and 1:14.927, respectively.

Jacques Villeneuve, who won the 1995 Indianapolis 500 before leaving for F1 the next season, was 10th among the 22 drivers who made laps Friday. His BAR-Honda was timed in 1:16.147.

"It's a very difficult track," said the Canadian, the only F1 driver with any previous experience at Indy, all on the oval. "The infield is very slow, but it's very intricate, so it's difficult to get a good lap. There are two very slow corners near the end that shouldn't be there. That's very annoying."

The circuit poses a challenging puzzle for the F1 teams, with its blend of the high-speed banked oval and the tight, twisting infield section.

Schumacher trails Hakkinen by two points in the championship battle with three races remaining.

"I did not find it difficult to adapt to this track," he said. "Going round the turns on the oval is not as exciting as it might look from outside the cockpit because the entry speed is not so high.

"Therefore, it means the element of danger is also reduced compared with what we might have expected. The fact that the track is so flat means that it takes a few laps to find the right turn-in points for the corners."

Several drivers slid off the circuit, including Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella, who slammed nose-first into a tire barrier during morning practice. No injuries were reported.