WILLIAMS Renault duo Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve continued to reap the benefits of extensive winter testing with fastest times so far for tomorrow's Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne.
Hill, taking up where he left off at Adelaide last November, leap frogged new team mate Villene in the final minutes of yesterday practice before today's once only qualifying session.
Hill, seeking his 14th GP triumph to emulate his late father and two time world champion Graham Hill, zipped around the sweeping 5.269 kilometre Albert Park circuit in one minute 32.159 seconds - 0.237 seconds ahead of last year's IndyCar champion Villeneuve.
Jean Alesi's Benetton Renault, was third quickest again, timed at 1:32.475 seconds with defending champion Michael Schumacher is slowly coming to terms with his new Ferrari fourth best - 0.848 seconds adrift of Hill.
Outside the big three teams, Brazilian Rubens Barrichello enjoyed a hassle free day in his Jordan Peugeot to move up to fifth fastest in practice.
"I ran with quite a lot of fuel for most of the day and the car was good . . . I had some traffic and a braking problem, so I could have done better, but the car was pretty good," said Barrichello.
Happy with the car Barrichello added: "The track is quite nice. It looks smooth when you drive in a road car, but in a Formula One car it is bumpy, especially going into the fast corners. We have been going quiet well. I was fifth fastest by the end of the two sessions yesterday and the car has been reliable.
His team mate, Martin Brundle, ended yesterday's session in 13th: "I'm a bit disappointed with the run I did on low fuel. For some reason we had very low tyre pressure so I had significantly less grip than expected. The car hasn't missed a beat."
Schumacher had a hairy moment minutes into the afternoon practice session when his Ferrari locked up between turns three and four and snaked towards a gravel trap. He regained control and got back onto the track.
It was another encouraging day for Formula One rookie Villeneuve, who was fastest in Thursday's familiarisation laps of the new Albert Park track.
Alesi's Austrian teammate Gerhard Berger, who has been critical of the new Melbourne track's safety aspects, was upset with his Benetton Renault after his sixth fastest 1:33.528 best.
The McLarens of Scot David Coulthard and Mika Halkinen were still taking time to adjust to the new surroundings and engineering problems kept the pair at ninth and 10th fastest yesterday.
There is a single 60 minute qualifying session today, giving drivers a maximum of 12 laps to improve times.
