Friday April 4th, 2003
Friday qualifying for this Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix is on the verge of being cancelled after several drivers revealed they have fears over the safety of running in torrential rain.
The Interlagos circuit has been beset by storms all day and the deluge has strengthened since the morning practice session leaving the track in a potentially dangerous condition. New regulations mean that both Bridgestone and Michelin can choose only one wet-weather tyre this season and both have brought intermediate tyres rather than full wets.
Drivers are concerned they may lose control of their cars during the high-pressure one-lap sprints in the qualifying session and the FIA could be forced to cancel the session.
This morning's practice session was forced to be red-flagged for 15 minutes after Jaguar's Antonio Pizzonia crashed heavily at turn 4. Four drivers, including Malaysian GP winner Kimi Raikkonen were unable to set a time this morning. The McLaren driver covered two laps in practice and he will be the first man on track in qualifying.
If the qualifying does not go ahead as planned the Saturday qualifying, which will decide the grid for Sunday's race, will be run in reverse Championship order with those with no points running based on number of laps completed.
Published at 16:11:02 GMT