Race organisers and Formula One officials were due to meet later to decide whether to postpone Saturday's qualifying at Suzuka to Sunday morning after two rain-soaked practice runs.

The penultimate race of 2004 could be disrupted by typhoon "Ma-on" which is forecast to hit central Japan this weekend. The storm system is carrying winds of up to 180kph near its centre.

Schumacher seemed oblivious, the seven times world champion clocking a quickest lap time of one minute 45.388 seconds in torrential rain in the afternoon session.

However, his time was almost 14 seconds slower than his Brazilian team mate Rubens Barrichello's pole-setting pace at Suzuka last year.

Schumacher, who clinched the championship in August, survived a spin as the poor weather made the going treacherous.

Sauber's Giancarlo Fisichella was second fastest in both sessions, the Italian lapping within a second of Schumacher.

"If tomorrow's weather is like it was in the last 15 minutes today we can't drive," said Fisichella. "The conditions were very tricky for the drivers."

Barrichello was third quickest in the morning while McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen improved from sixth in the first session to third as the rain got heavier and visibility deteriorated.

Several drivers skidded off during the afternoon, Fisichella spinning onto the gravel on the approach to the chicane with Jordan's Timo Glock and Minardi's Zsolt Baumgartner also losing control.

Japan's Takuma Sato disappointed home fans by stopping after one lap in the morning but bounced back to finish eighth quickest for BAR in the second session.