Suzuka Soaked with Rain; Qualifying in Doubt

The Suzuka circuit was hit by heavy overnight rain on Thursday to leave the track soaking ahead of Friday's opening practice sessions for this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.

The circuit is directly in the line of a Typhoon, called Ma-on, which is sweeping up Japan from the south and is due to hit Suzuka with extremely heavy rains between 9am and 3pm local time on Saturday.

The FIA are monitoring the situation and have yet to decide on a procedure if the sessions are cancelled but one source said that the most likely solution would be for the grid to line up in the order they finished the last race.

That would put Brazilian Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello on pole with Briton Jenson Button alongside him in his BAR-Honda but it would leave World Champion Michael Schumacher starting from 12th place, alongside former World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, in 11th.

The first morning session on Friday was able to get underway without any delays but cars already had to head out onto the track on extreme wet tyres for the hour-long practice.