Japanese Grand Prix – qualifying
Track temperature 24°C; air temp 24°C; wind 0.7m/s; humidity 90%; pressure 1009.4mBar … and it’s very wet!
Batch 1 = DC, AP, RD, MW, TM
D.Coulthard (Red Bull): he’s on intermediate (wet weather) tyres. Sector1=38.2; s2=85.7; 1:46.892 = provisional Pole (pP1)
A.Pizzonia is on intermediates; he spins on his out-lap! s1=38.4; s2=86.6; 1:48.898 = pP2
R.Doornbos (Minardi) on full wet tyres; s1=39.5; s2=90.2; 1:52.894 = pP3
M.Webber (Williams) on intermediates; s1=37.5; s2=85.5; 1:47.233 = pP2
T.Monteiro’s spun his Jordan on his out-lap and he’s stuck in the gravel, bringing out the yellow flags.
Batch 2 = NK, CA, JT, JV, FM
The rain may be easing up a little but the track’s still pretty damp, with little streams crossing the track in a few places
N.Karthikeyan (Jordan) is on intermediates; s1=38.6; s2=86.9; 1:48.718 = pP3
C.Albers (Minardi) – inters; s1=39.2; s2=88.3; 1:50.843 = pP5, 2secs ahead of teammate Doornbos
J.Trulli (Toyota) – s1=37.6 (0.6s quicker than DC) … and he’s off into the gravel! … at the same spot as Monteiro went off earlier
J.Villeneuve (Sauber) – s1=37.5 (0.7s up on DC); twitchy through Spoon; s2=89.8; 1:47.440 = pP3
F.Massa (Sauber) – s1=38.3; he even looks slower than JV; s2=86.8; 1:48.278 = pP1
Batch 3 = TS, CK, RS, JB, RB
The rain’s started coming down hard again
T.Sato (BAR) on intermediate tyres; s1=38.0 (ahead of DC by just 0.2s); s2=89.8; 1:46.841 = pP1, taking the provisional pole from Coulthard by 0.051secs
C.Klien (Red Bull) – it’s really twitchy in the rain; s1=37.9; s2=85.4; 1:48.464 = pP1, pipping Sato by 0.377s
We’ve lost the TV feed from Japan 
R.Schumacher (Toyota) – s1=37.3; s2=84.8; 1:46.106 = pP1, 0.358s faster than Klien
J.Button (BAR) – s1=37.6; s2=85.0; 1:46.141 = pP2
TV feed returns, and it looks like the rain’s eased off a little 
R.Barrichello (Ferrari) – s1=38.4; s2=86.5; 1:48.248 = pP8!
Batch 4 = GF, MS, FA, KR, JM
The rain’s picked up again
G.Fisichella (Renault) was fastest in practice today; s1=37.3 (0.07s quicker than RS); s2=84.9; 1:46.276 = pP3
M.Schumacher (Ferrari) crashed earlier today in the rain; s1=37.9; runs a little wide at Spoon; s2=88.0; he’s on intermediates – I’m sure full wets would be more appropriate; 1:52.676 = pP14 – only Doornbos has set a slower time!
F.Alonso (Renault) – s1=39.7; the onboard camera shows visibility is attrocious! s2=90.6; 1:54.667 = pP16
K.Raikkonen (McLaren) – he’s already got a 10-spot penalty waiting for him after an engine change yesterday – why is he even trying to set a time in this weather?? s1=44.5; s2=97.6; really twitchy through the chicane; 2:02.309 = pP17
J.Montoya (McLaren) – s1=41.3; s2=91.5; he heads for the pit lane, and that’s the end of the qualifying session.
[...] henman.ca Starring Paul, Kerri and the Boys « We need HDTV! Japanese Grand Prix – qualifying » [...]