Verstappen Hoping for Rain in Brazil

Dutch driver Jos Verstappen is praying for rain at Sunday's Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix to help his Arrows team challenge for points.

"Our car seems to be more consistent in the rain, but it's not as good as it should be in the dry," he told a news conference on Thursday. "It also seems to run better in race set-up than in qualifying."

Arrows have yet to win a Grand Prix in 356 races but Verstappen had hearts racing a little faster in the last race in Malaysia when he found himself in second place after eleven laps as torrential rain played havoc with the field.

Verstappen finished seventh after surprising his rivals with his turn of speed in the wet conditions.

Asked whether he hoped for a similar race at Interlagos, which was hit by a tropical deluge on Wednesday, the Dutchman said: "Maybe a dry start and then rain, just like it was in Malaysia."

However, Benetton technical director Mike Gascoyne, who recognised that his drivers could also benefit from a wet race, warned that rain could also be catastrophic.

"When it rains here it can be quite dangerous and it's not something you actually want to see," said Gascoyne.

Verstappen said Arrows had made significant advances in recent testing in Spain and had identified aerodynamic improvements that needed to be made.

"We know where the problem is...and once we have corrected it, we can really start to gain time on the top teams," he said.