Rain washes out Belgian GP second practice

Heavy rain during the second Friday practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix resulted in no times being set, so the 1:48.206 clocked by McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen in the morning remained the best of the day. Only three cars tried to tackle the conditions at Spa-Francorchamps in the afternoon, one going off track, before giving it up as not worth the effort.

The pitlane under a heavy rain.

Photo by xpb.cc.

"I did one run at the end of the first session, but the conditions on the drying track were not ideal," said Raikkonen. "However the car felt good straight away, and we will just have to wait and see what the weather does tomorrow. I like Spa and this is an important weekend me and the team, and we will just continue to focus on winning the race -- whether it's wet or dry."

Juan Pablo Montoya's McLaren had an engine change this morning but he will not suffer any penalty as he was due a new engine this weekend anyway and did not leave the garage in the first practice session. McLaren said the change was a precautionary measure. Raikkonen is using the same engine as he used at Monza.

After a damp track in the morning from earlier rain, come the start of the afternoon session it was raining heavily. Red Bull third driver Tonio Liuzzi and Minardi's Robert Doornbos ventured out but it was short lived for Liuzzi as he almost immediately spun off into the barriers at Les Combes. He was unharmed and the session was red-flagged while the car was retrieved.

The restart was some 10 minutes later and Renault's Fernando Alonso, who did not run this morning, appeared for a rather cautious installation lap. The rain was very heavy and he quickly returned to the pits. Nobody else was tempted to try their luck in the conditions and the track remained empty for the rest of the session.

Ferrari might have been wishing for rain but this was perhaps a little too much. Everyone will just have to hope for better conditions on Saturday morning to get some track time. Renault may have to change Fisichella's engine as a problem he encountered at Monza is still present. If that proves the case, he will have to take the ten place grid demotion penalty.

So, not a terribly interesting Friday at Spa. In the conditions it was not worth drivers risking an accident or putting unnecessary wear on the engines. Spa is almost as punishing as Monza so the drivers whose engines are on their second race will be keener than usual to preserve them. Due to the poor weather tyre choice has been delayed until after tomorrow's practices.