Length: 4.361 km
Number of Laps: 70 (305.270 Km)
Best Lap: J-P. Montoya - 1'15''960 (2002, BMW Williams)
Record Pole: J-P. Montoya - 1'12''836 (2002, BMW Williams)
2002 Pole: J-P. Montoya - 1'12''836 (Williams)
2002 Podium: M. Schumacher - D. Coulthard - R. Barrichello

Pre qualifying for the grand prix of Canada was conducted under wet conditions today. From drizzle to downpour the drivers’ had no dry track during the 1 hour session.

As the rules dictate points leader Raikkonen was 1st out followed by Michael Schumacher whose time was nearly 4 seconds under the McLaren, briefly taking the top spot. Barrichello topped Schumacher shortly afterwards with a 1m30.925 lap which held for the remainder of the day.

In the miserable conditions at the Isle of Notre Dame the drivers fought to stay on track, never mind pop off a quick time. Several times the Casino chicane caught them out including the World champion.

Villeneuve spun and recovered just missing a barrier having provided the closest call of the day, from what I saw. Other notable errors include David Coulthard, Juan Montoya and Jarno Trulli.

Let’s hope tomorrow’s qualifying session is dry or else we’ll be seeing a very odd field if it goes off like today’s did.

Report by: Tony Moffett