Fisichella Predicts No Saturday Qualifying

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella said on Friday that he hopes the grid for the Japanese Grand Prix will be decided on the times from Friday practice if qualifying is cancelled due to bad weather on Saturday.

Typhoon Ma-on is due to hit the area on Saturday morning, bringing winds of up to 200km/h, and officials are meeting on Friday afternoon to discuss the possibility of closing the circuit.

It is likely that the grid will be decided with a qualifying session on Sunday morning or based on the finishing positions at the last race if Saturday running is cancelled.

But Fisichella, who finished second in both practice sessions, said: "If we cannot do the qualifying session I think the best think is to keep the positions of practice of today, which is good for me.

"If tomorrow we have the same conditions as the last 10 or 15 minutes then it is not possible to drive. It looks like that will happen because the typhoon is coming and it will be worse than today."

Fisichella said conditions late in the final session at the Suzuka circuit were treacherous due to continued rain that began to fall overnight and some of the sections of the track were filled with puddles.

"The circuit conditions were a bit difficult in places, there was a bit of aquaplaning and then when it was raining very, very heavily it was impossible to drive it," said Fisichella.

"It was a very good day for me but not for the team because on the other car they didn't run enough. On my side I am really happy because the car balance was really good, the grip, too, was very good."