EDDIE IRVINE was thanking his lucky stars that the new look format of Grand Prix practices means that only this afternoon's one hour session counts for grid positions for tomorrow's Brazilian Grand Prix. Irvine failed to complete a single lap in either of yesterday's two free practices after damaging his car on his initial out lap.

Rubens Barrichello was best of the four locals in the 22 car field but was disappointed to drop from fifth to 10th fastest in the closing minutes - minutes that saw Jean Alesi go clear of team mate Gerhard Berger at the top of the timesheets to make it a Benetton Renault one two.

The rough and tough Sao Paulo circuit threw up a host of practice surprises - the Marlboro McLarens were third and fourth, ahead of championship leader Damon Hill while new hotshot, Jacques Villeneuve, could only manage 15th place. Irvine's teammate Michael Schumacher struggled to get his Ferrari up to seventh place.

Eddie Irvine went to Brazil as the leading Ferrari driver on the championship scoreboard but in team pecking order he is the number two to Schumacher. "I'm here to help him win the championship - and yes, there are team orders," says Irvine.

His number two status was confirmed when the team denied him the use of Schumacher's unused spare car for both of the two one hour sessions.

Irvine had left the pits and was just up to speed when the Ferrari bottomed and began to spin: "I thought I might get away with it but the back wheel just caught the barrier." The whole rear of Irvine's car was torn off and the repairs were not completed until late last night.

Irvine is a master of the instant ultra quick lap with no build up and he will need that skill this afternoon when there are just 12 laps to decide grid positions.

Ferrari have got rid of their unreliable carbon fibre gearbox casing and reverted to a 1995 rear end for this first of the two south American races.

Motor racing is a religion in Sao Paulo and Ayrton Senna is the god. Senna is gone but not forgotten and Rubens Barrichello, whose grandmother lives between turns one and two, carries the mantle.

He has been looking forward to the race and seems much more relaxed with Irvine gone: "It's great to race here at home but a lot is expected," he said. Barrichello had been in good shape - in fifth place with 20 minutes to go; "then there was a bad vibration in the engine and he turned it off," said team commercial director, Ian Philips, as he threw his eyes up to heaven.

Philips took no solace from the fact that Barrichello finished fourth from 14th on the grid in Interlagos two years ago: "We've got to be qualifying well into the top six. We're not here to be cruising around hoping to pick up a result when others drop out".

Barrichello never used a new set of tyres in the second session and this should have provided "about a second a lap," according to Philips.

Martin Brundle was hampered by a broken gearbox in the morning. Worries remain whether the bearing of the latest Peugeot V10 will stand 71 laps of Interlagos.

Benetton Renault really showed their class Ales and Berger were conclusively quickest in both sessions. The well organised super team of 200 plus employees have used their resources to redesign and rebuild much of their 1996 car to greatly improve performance since Melbourne. This is something smaller teams simply haven't the manpower to do.

Villeneuve was not too worried by his poor position. "I was just learning the track," he explained. "I was trying to get the car working better at the same time but that is not easy.

"We didn't put on any new tyres because we have 30 laps tomorrow (Saturday) to do that and to work on the qualifying set up. But I must admit it is never fun to be at the back."

Hill, a hot favourite to win, said he felt reasonably confident about being competitive. But he admitted: "It is very difficult on a Friday to say one way or the other what everyone is doing. I was happy with the day's work we did and I have been doing some homework for the race."

Alesi said he was satisfied with his progress for the first time this season. "I had no problems in the session at all and that was really satisfying for me and the team. I think we still have some work to do, but we are on the right track and I feel good.

"The team has been working hard since Melbourne to try and resolve some of the problems we had there and a lot of intense preparations were made to be in good condition for this weekend.

"It looks like it is paying off but it is too early to make any predictions."

Berger said he felt the track, which had been resurfaced since last year's race, remained bumpy and slippery although the grip was improved. "It is encouraging for us," said Berger.