Schumacher: It was Almost Impossible to Drive

Ferrari's Michael Schumacher said it was almost impossible to drive at the Suzuka circuit at today's practice for the Japanese Grand Prix as organisers considered postponing qualifying due to typhoon conditions.

Race organisers and Formula One officials were due to meet later to decide whether to push Saturday's qualifying back to Sunday morning after torrential rain made practice for the season's penultimate race almost impossible.

Typhoon "Ma-on", packing winds of up to 180kph near its centre, is forecast to hit central Japan this weekend.

Despite posting the quickest time of the day, Schumacher said the conditions were very tricky.

"Near the end, there was too much rain and too much aqua-planing," said Schumacher, the seven times World Champion who clocked a quickest lap of 1:45.388 in the afternoon session. "We saw all the cars spinning off - it was impossible to drive."

Schumacher's time was almost 14 seconds slower than his Brazilian teammate Rubens Barrichello's pole-setting pace at Suzuka last year. The German, who clinched the Championship in August, survived a spin as the poor weather made the going treacherous.

"We have to wait and see what happens tomorrow with the weather," he added. "Already today, it was almost impossible to drive and if conditions get worse, which seems likely, I don't think we could go out on track. If that happens, maybe I'll play football or backgammon."