Ferrari Hope to Shine in the Rain

Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello completed limited mileage in the damp first session before sitting out the wet second session - with the team hoping that the rain keeps coming for the rest of the weekend.

Ferrari sporting director Jean Todt said: "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."

Technical director Ross Brawn added: "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."