WilliamsF1 3rd & 4th after Friday qualifying

The session would see new championship leader Michael Schumacher take to the track first, and with a partisan crowd supporting the German he would set a lap time of 1m:30.353 to take provisional pole. The FW25's would run with new bodywork in front of the rear wheels as well as chimney pipes on the side body work, presumably to assist in the removal of heat.

Next would be championship rival McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, who would lose one tenth in the first sector but despite this would set a time 0.3 secs., a lap time of 1m:29.989, to put him ahead of the Ferrari. Third would be Renault's Fernando Alonso, with the Spaniard is seven tenths slower in the first sector. He would finish third with a time of 1m:31.533.

For the BMW WilliamsF1 team it would be Ralf Schumacher who would take to the track first. Ralf would be one tenth behind in the first timed sector, but would pull this back to move into third ahead of Alonso. His time would be a 1m:30.522. Juan Pablo was next out, and he would jump ahead of Ralf to take third place with a lap of 1m:30.378.

For Rubens Barrichello he would be the next one to go for his qualifying effort, and lose four tenths in the first sector, to finish fifth with a lap of 1m:30.842. For McLaren's David Coulthard's he would be out to beat Kimi's time, but he could only manage sixth, after losing three tenths in the first timed sector and running wide in the first turn, with a time of 1m:30.903 to be behind Barrichello but in front of Alonso.

Next would be Renault's Jarno Trulli, who would cross the line with a time of 1m:31.143 to move into seventh place, just ahead of his team-mate. Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella was to struggle been almost one second behind after the first sector, finishing in ninth place with a time of 1m:32.196, to be more than two seconds slower than Raikkonen.

For BAR's Jenson Button it would be his turn to qualify but he would lose eight tenths in the first sector, to finish in tenth. Button would finish the lap with a damaged front wing after hitting the kerbs. This would require some attention by the marshals to remove the debris.

While this was happening there were concerned faces staring skyward, with the possibility of rain becoming more likely. Next would be Heinz Harald Frentzen, six tenths behind in the first sector, to finish just in front of Button in tenth place in 1m:32.201. As light rain started to fall Jaguar's Mark Webber would start his lap. He would lose 1.6 sec in the first sector, with the track becoming more and more difficult as the rain continued to fall. Webber would complete his lap to move into twelfth with a lap of 1m:35.972.

As the rain stared to become more heavy Toyota's Cristiano Da Matta would spin on his warm-up lap and would return to the pits without making an attempt to qualify, putting him at the bottom of the grid . BAR's Jacques Villeneuve would attempt his qualifying lap with with intermediate tyres, but he would also spin ending in the gravel. He would join Da Matta at the bottom of the times.

As the rain continued the session would be stopped. For Oliver Panis he was already on the track before the red flag so he would return to his pit. The marshals would remove the BAR from the gravel and the session was restarted even though the track was very wet.

Olivier Panis would return to the track but with the rain he is going to find it impossible to set a time anywhere near those who ran under dry conditions. Panis was eight seconds behind Raikkonen in the first sector, ending his lap with a time of 1m:57.327.

As the rain continued to fall Sauber's Nick Heidfeld would be the next one to follow Panis on the circuit. Heidfeld would move into thirteenth position, with a time of 1m:52.300. But the rain would stop but with the track still wet it was Jordan's Ralph Firman's turn to qualify. Firman would finish in fourteenth place, with a 1m:53.893 lap. Jaguar's Antonio Pizzonia was is the last Michelin driver to go out to qualify and would end up lap with a time of 1m:57.435, to be sixteenth.

Minardi's Jos Verstappen was next out and he would go ahead of Panis to move into fifteenth place. Team-mate Justin Wilson was the last one to go. He would finish ahead of his team-mate with a lap time of 1m:54.546.