In a typically Spa scenario, after hot weather and brilliant sunshine yesterday when no racing cars were scheduled to be on track, this afternoon’s second practice session also ended with no cars on track, simply because heavy rain meant the circuit was virtually undriveable. Only three drivers appeared on the second time sheet: Tonio Liuzzi who crashed the Red Bull on his opening lap, bringing out the red flag, Robert Doornbos in the Minardi and championship leader Fernando Alonso in the Renault, who had chosen not to go out in the morning. Once the track was clear again, not one driver ventured out of the pits.

For the record, on a track that was slightly damp this morning, the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro duo of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello set the eighth and twelfth fastest times. The McLaren-Mercedes duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Alex Wurx were fastest, with Giancarlo Fisichella’s Renault third ahead of Toyota’s Ricardo Zonta. Completing the top six are the BAR-Honda of Jenson Button and Jarno Trulli in a Toyota.

With more bad weather forecast for the next two days, all the teams will be hoping for at least the chance of slightly less rain, in order to evaluate their car-tyre package in the wet, something that has not been seen for a long time in Formula 1. Nick Heidfeld, who missed the Italian Grand Prix, suffering the after effects of an accident in the previous week’s Monza testing, is still not well enough to drive. As in Italy, he is replaced by Antonio Pizzonia.

Jean Todt: “Rain was the main story of the day, making it impossible for this afternoon’s free practice to run in the normal way. In the first hour, our two drivers did just one run each when the track was still damp. Therefore it is difficult to know what is the true situation. According to the weather forecast, the next two days could be similar to this afternoon. We will have to wait and see just when the rain will fall and how heavily.
 

"It has been a very long time since we have seen a race in the rain. In the past, the Ferrari-Bridgestone package was very competitive on a wet track. Naturally, we hope that is still the case.”

Michael Schumacher: “This morning we did not look that competitive, but this afternoon we never got the chance to find out the real situation in terms of how we compare with the others. It was just too wet to go out. I think we would have needed a boat propeller to power our way round the track! The forecast is for more rain and if that is the case on Sunday, I can see us having to start the race behind the Safety Car. Maybe our tifosi have done too good a job with their rain dance!”

Rubens Barrichello: “Even though I like driving in the wet, this afternoon there was just too much water on track and it was impossible to drive a Formula 1 car in these conditions. I hope it will not rain as much over the next two days…”

Ross Brawn: “We only had one short run in the dry this morning with each of our drivers, when our car seemed reasonably well balanced, apart from a bit too much understeer. We made adjustments to deal with this, but of course we have not been able to check them to see if they have worked or not. Apparently, this mixed weather is what we can expect for the rest of the weekend, so hopefully we will have an opportunity to see how good the Ferrari-Bridgestone package is in the wet.”

Free practice - First session: Michael Schumacher: 8th 1.50.564 4 laps chassis 249; Rubens Barrichello: 12th 1.51.177 5 laps chassis 248; Temp: air 21°C, track 25°C