Stormy weather at Imola (updated)

At last week's Valencia test in Spain, the general consensus was that Bridgestone's wet weather rubber is between a second and a second and a half quicker than the latest offerings from Michelin. That could have a strong effect on qualifying if the local meteorologists are right.

Against that, however, Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn said: "Ferrari and Bridgestone is strong in fast corners but perhaps not so strong on braking and traction, which is quite important at Imola. But wet/dry weather would have an influence. It makes it more difficult to achieve a set-up but as far as the wet tyres go, the Bridgestone did seem to be better by quite a large margin.

"The only proviso I'd add is that it's cold here and it was warm at the Valencia test. A lot depends on compounds but in Valencia, yes, the Bridgestone wets were very good."

Bridgestone-shod cars filled five of the first six places at Imola last year, but not the important one. Ralf Schumacher took the win for Williams and Michelin a year ago, when Ferrari was widely held to have opted for the wrong tyre by choosing the harder of the two Bridgestone compounds available.

But Michael Schumacher said: "There was more to it than simply tyre choice, honestly. It was about the whole package and we were simply not strong enough. Hopefully we will be this time."

Thunderstorms and rain. High: 18 (degrees Celsius) Low: 13
Cloudy with rain. High: 16 Low: 14
Cloudy with strong breeze. High: 17 Low: 8