Qualifying: Latest

1259BST: Eddie Irvine goes for a big spin, slides across track just after M Schumacher passes.
Hill must make this lap count if he it to qualify.

1258BST:Race order with two minutes left - Barrichello, Alesi, Panis, Coulthard, Frentzen, M Schumacher, Trulli, Herbert, Zonta, Diniz, Villeneuve, Fisichella, Wurz, Hakkinen, Zanardi, R Schumacher, Irvine, Hill, Gene, Badoer, de la Rosa, Takagi.

1255BST: M Schumacher goes off at the first turn, same place as Coulthard, but after going very close to the barriers gets back on the circuit.

1256BST: Drivers still out of the 107 per cent time include Zonta, Hill, Badoer, Gene, Takagi and de la Rosa.

1252BST: Coulthard goes off into the gravel trap.
Takagi does a 360 degree spin but keeps the car on the track and moving.

1251BST: M Schumacher back out from the pits. Can he put in a flyer to displace Barrichello's pole time of 1:38.441?

1248BST: Flames coming from Hill's car in the pits. Fire put out, and Hill gets into spare car, as he only has 11 minutes to set a qualifying time.

1247BST: Zonta, Hill, Takagi, Irvine, Hakkinen, Gene, Wurz, Badoer, Herbert, de la Rosa, Fisichella are all outside the 107 per cent time needed to qualify for the race.

1245BST: M Schumacher spins but stays on the track. Team-mate Eddie Irvine follows suit.
Alesi has done the most laps, but that is only five, Barrichello did four to currently win pole.

1243BST: M Schumacher on a flyer, but then backs off.

1241BST: Qualifying order - Barrichello, Alesi, Panis, Frentzen, Coulthard, Trulli, Diniz, M Schumacher, Villeneuve, Zanardi, R Schumacher, Zonta, Hill.

1240BST: Hakkinen spins but manages to stay on the track.

1238BST: Drivers now out include Diniz, Zanardi, Takagi, R Schumacher, Hill, Zonta, Wurz, Coulthard and M Schumacher.
Zanardi spins off at chicane.

1235BST: Frentzen gets fourth quickest. Currently, Barrichello is in pole, followed by Alesi and Panis. Trulli is fifth.

The track has not dried out at all, but teams clearly feel the need to get out with less than 30 minutes remaining.

1233BST: Zanardi ventures out, followed by Diniz.

1232BST: Heinz-Harald Frentzen braves the weather and is the fifth driver to go out on the circuit. However, he is alone at the moment.

1231BST: Michael Schumacher is waiting in his car to go out.

1228BST: Whistles and jeers can be heard coming from the French crowd, which is growing impatient as there are no drivers on the track.

1226BST: Olivier Panis said the conditions were' incredible, very difficult', but he was happy to get one fast lap in.

1222BST: McLaren Mercedes' team manager Dave Ryan said the team was waiting to 'pick the right moment' to get the drivers out. David Coulthard is waiting in his car to go out, as is Jordna's Damon Hill.

1215BST: In the early minutes only Trulli, Alesi, Panis and Barrichello ventured out. All four were back in the pits by 1215.

1200BST: French Grand Prix qualifying started at 1200BST in extremely wet conditions, making the drivers very cautious.

Steady drizzle had been coming down most of the morning.