Thankfully, following this morning's shenanigans, the rain, and fog, has cleared and conditions are much improved for this afternoon's qualifying sessions.

That said, temperatures have hardly risen, the ambient temperature is now 18 degrees, while the track temperature is 19 degrees. Although the rain has stopped, the track is still very wet in places, therefore drivers may use extreme wet-weather tyres should they wish.

Fist out for the initial pre-qualifying session, will be Michael Schumacher, who will be followed by Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello and then Alonso, Montoya and Button. Last out will be yesterday's pacesetter, Kimi Raikkonen.

At 13:00 precisely, Michael Schumacher leaves the Ferrari garage, on heavy wets. The German completes the first sector - which includes Eau rouge - in 31.2, and the second in 50.2. He crosses the line at 1:53.755, to set the benchmark.

Barrichello is slightly slower in the first sector, breaking the 'beam' at 31.4. He continues to lose ground in the second sector (51.3), finally crossing the line at 1:54.913, having gone quicker than his teammate in the final sector, which includes Blanchimont.

Fernando Alonso is next out, the Renaults not looking too impressive thus far this weekend. At the first split the Spaniard posts 32.0, he's already well down on Schumacher. At the second split it's 53.4 as he continues to lose a heap of time. The Michelins are clearly no match for the Bridgestones in these conditions, certainly as far as Fernando is concerned, consequently he crosses the line at 1:58.242, that's 4.487s off Schumacher's time.

Another Michelin runner on track, Juan Pablo Montoya in the WilliamsF1. At 31.4 he's slower than Schumacher in the first sector, but it's marginal. He loses a lot of time in the second sector, breaking the 'beam' at 52.8. At the line it's 1:56.842, more than 3s off the German's time. He goes third.

Next out is Jenson Button in the BAR. At the first split it's 31.5, followed by a 53.9s at the second. The Englishman is clearly struggling, finally crossing the line at 1:58.837, which puts him fifth, behind Alonso, 5s off the pace.

Teammate Takuma Sato is next out, what can he do? At the first split the Japanese driver posts 31.7, he's over half-a-second down on the German. He's slowest of all through the second sector, posting 54.1. At the line it's 1:58.929, he goes sixth, behind his teammate.

Antonio Pizzonia crashed out of this morning's mini-session, what can he do now? At the first split the Brazilian posts 31.8, slowest of the lot. Either conditions are worsening or he's opting on the side of caution. He loses more ground in the second sector, finally crossing the line at 1:59.100, which puts him seventh.

This should give us a rough idea regarding tyres, Giancarlo Fisichella is next out, the Sauber driver is using Bridgestones. At the first split it's 31.5, he's down on Schumacher, but it's marginal. At the second split it's 51.7, he made up a lot of ground. At the line the 2003 Brazil GP winner posts 1:56.068 to go third, giving Bridgestone a 1-2-3.

David Coulthard is next out. At the first split the Scot posts 31.3, which is mighty impressive considering that he's on Michelins. That said, it's in the last two sectors where they really seem to be losing time. At the second split it's 53.2, he's lost time but not that much. He crosses the line at 1:56.994, which puts him fifth, behind the Ferraris, Fisichella and Montoya.