Sutil touch means shock lead

Qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix could turn into a lottery if the wet conditions that dominated final practice fail to ease.

The bright blue skies and glorious sunshine of the past few days over the principality have given way to the grey clouds and showers that had been forecast.

The 3.340km street circuit around Monte Carlo is difficult to drive under normal conditions, but a wet track turns the roads into a virtual skating rink as the cars tip-toe their way round.

Understandably, there were a few hairy moments as cars went off track as they missed corners and turns.

But unlike on Thursday, when there were four separate accidents, the 22 drivers managed to avoid the tyre walls and barriers.

By the end of the hour-long session it was the remarkable sight of Adrian Sutil out in front in his Spyker with a time of one minute 36.612 seconds.

The German rookie has yet to score a point this season, while his best qualifying performance was 20th in both Bahrain and Spain.

It is likely to be the one and only occasion he will top the timesheets while with the Dutch team – unless such conditions materialise again.

Sutil’s time came right at end of the session just as the rain had eased and on a less damp track, although he ended up red faced soon after.

After the hour had elapsed, the 24-year-old pulled on to the grid to make a practice start, only to stall his car which eventually had to be wheeled away by marshals.

Behind Sutil, the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen was second quickest, followed by Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren, with the championship leader completing 15 laps.

The Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella, Scott Speed in his Toro Rosso and reigning world champion Fernando Alonso in the second McLaren completed the top six with times that were virtually irrelevant.

Of the other Britons, Jenson Button was ninth for Honda, the Super Aguri of Anthony Davidson was 14th, with David Coulthard 15th for Red Bull Racing, with the Scot managing only six laps.