Schumacher dominates Spa pre-qualifying

Michael Schumacher again proved his supremacy in the rain by splashing his way through to the fastest time in today’s pre-qualifying session for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

After 19 hours of solid rain and just 13 minutes of practice this morning, the drivers were faced with a difficult task in pre-qualifying, which decides the order in which they run in qualifying proper.

On a sodden circuit, Schumacher went out first courtesy of his win last time out in Hungary and set a lap of one minute 53.75seconds.

The rain continued to come down and none of the German’s rivals were able to overhaul him, with Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello his nearest challenger over a second slower.

Kimi Raikkonen put his McLaren third while Sauber team-mates Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella were fourth and fifth respectively as Bridgestone claimed four of the top five positions.

David Coulthard was seventh for McLaren while Jenson Button took his BAR to 10th, five seconds off Schumacher’s pace.

Ricardo Zonta was caught out by the wet track, losing the back end of his Toyota on the kerb before bouncing through a gravel trap and nudging a tyre barrier.

Belgian Grand Prix, Spa Francorchamps, Belgium Positions after first qualifying:

1 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1:53.755, 2 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 1:54.913, 3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren Mercedes 1:55.371, 4 Felipe Massa (Bra) Sauber Petronas 1:56.057, 5 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Sauber Petronas 1:56.068, 6 Juan Montoya (Col) Williams BMW 1:56.842, 7 David Coulthard (Gbr) McLaren Mercedes 1:56.994, 8 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:58.242, 9 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Renault 1:58.606, 10 Jenson Button (Gbr) BAR Honda 1:58.837, 11 Takuma Sato (Jpn) BAR Honda 1:58.929, 12 Antonio Pizzonia (Bra) Williams BMW 1:59.100, 13 Mark Webber (Aus) Jaguar 1:59.437, 14 Giorgio Pantano (Ita) Jordan Cosworth 1:59.442, 15 Christian Klien (Aut) Jaguar 1:59.997, 16 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Jordan Cosworth 2:00.166, 17 Zsolt Baumgartner (Hun) Minardi Cosworth 2:01.195, 18 Olivier Panis (Fra) Toyota 2:01.472, 19 Gianmaria Bruni (Ita) Minardi Cosworth 2:03.226, 20 Ricardo Zonta (Bra) Toyota No Time