Doubts develop over Belgian Grand Prix

[Yeo]

Leading drivers cast doubt over Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix after revealing Friday that the race cannot run if atrocious weather conditions persist here this weekend.

Friday's second practice session around the forested Spa Francorchamps circuit was a wash-out when heavy rain made the track completely undriveable and none of the 25 drivers set a time.

Only a handful of laps were run in the first session and with the weather predicted to worsen rather than improve even world champion Michael Schumacher was left wondering whether the race will go ahead.

"A normal race in these conditions is not possible," said Schumacher. "Maybe it can get better, but if conditions are like this then it is not possible to race apart from behind the safety car."

"I think this is the best (conditions) it will be this weekend. As far as we know now it is predicted to get worse and at the moment they are predicting heavy rain on Sunday. Today was supposed to be the best in terms of rain, so we still have to find out what that means for the weekend. It is difficult to explain how difficult it is driving in these conditions."

"It is too much rain. We probably needed a propeller to make it through this amount of water! You could see when the drivers that went out were on track that they couldn't really drive. In these conditions nobody can drive except maybe the safety car. In the end, you can only do things that are possible. If it is impossible to drive we will have to find another way."

The two one-hour practice sessions were the first run in rain since qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix in March and there has not yet been a wet race this season.

World championship leader Fernando Alonso revealed here Friday that he has not even driven his Renault car in the wet because the team does not run if it is raining to maximise their limited amount of available test days.

Italian test driver Vitantonio Liuzzi, of Red Bull, lost control of his car in the practice session and crashed into the barrier after his car aquaplaned off the circuit at Les Combes. The accident displayed how dangerous heavy rain can be, particularly at this long traditional circuit where crash barriers are closer to the track than normal.

Drivers can use wet weather tyres in the rain and there are specially designed extreme weather' tyres, but Michelin boss Pierre Dupasquier said even those were not good enough to tackle the amount of water on track here Friday.

Jenson Button backed Schumacher's claims that the race cannot go ahead if conditions persist and explained: "It is disappointing for the fans but we can't really help with that situation. We can't stop it raining here. It's been a pretty boring day for all of us, not being able to do any running, but there was no chance and if it is raining like that we can't race on Sunday. It would be too wet. It is dangerous."

"You are not in control of the car in any way. If you hit a big puddle like Liuzzi did that's it, it could be a massive accident. You are not in control and that's not what we're here to do. And the forecast is for rain on Sunday."
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[Yeo]

Heavy rain made the second practice session of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend effectively a washout this afternoon at Spa Francorchamps. Just three drivers ventured out of the pits and no one set a timed lap.

Red Bull Racing sent Vitantonio Liuzzi out a minute in to the 60- minute session, but the Italian went off under braking for Les Combes bringing out the red flags just a few seconds later.

The test driver was able to climb for the RB1 uninjured while the following Robert Doornbos made his way slowly back to the Minardi pit. After Liuzzi�s Red Bull had been removed from the circuit, Fernando Alonso would complete a slow exploratory lap in his Renault before he too returned to the pits and stayed there.

To underline how treacherous the conditions were, no one else would even venture out of the pits, even though rain is predicted for the remainder of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.

Earlier this morning in drying conditions, Kimi Raikkonen set the pace for McLaren Mercedes with a best lap of 1:48.206s ahead of Alexander Wurz in the second McLaren, Giancarlo Fisichella in his Renault and Ricardo Zonta. Mark Webber was fifth for BMW Williams ahead of Jenson Button, Jarno Trulli, Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher and the unfortunate Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Due to the fact in both the sessions today were deemed wet, the dry tyre compound choice is delayed to Saturday lunchtime following the two morning practice sessions. The teams will now be busy looking at the weather predictions for the rest of the weekend. The 20 racers now just have the two 45-minute practice sessions to prepare for qualifying and the 44-lap race on Sunday.
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[worksux101]

Wont be the first time....hope there's a race though...my fav track of all!!!!
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Eating meh Zauce doubles...