Frentzen was 'lucky' in 'crazy' conditions

Frentzen, in his first qualifying session since his massive shunt in Canada a fortnight ago, defied the lashing rain to outqualify Jordan team-mate Damon Hill for the sixth time in seven races and give his hopes of another podium position this season a massive boost.

'It was completely crazy out there,' said Frentzen, who was detained in hospital in Montreal and only passed fit to compete in France after a medical on Thursday.

'Thank God nothing serious happened.

'It was so difficult to keep the car straight as the track was so slippery and I was aquaplaning everywhere. I was lucky though and made a good time.

'It is easy to be wise after the session has ended and say we should have gone out sooner, but the track could have dried out - in fact almost as soon as we stopped the rain stopped.

'We decided to go out when we did to avoid the traffic. We expected most people would go out with 25 minutes to go, so we went out with about 28 minutes to go."