Length: 5.451 km
Number of Laps: 56 (305.066 Km)
Best Lap: M. Schumacher - 1'32''238 (2004, Ferrari)
Record Pole: R. Barrichello - 1'34''012 (2004, Ferrari)
2005 Pole: F. Alonso - 1'34''080 (Renault)
2005 Podium: F. Alonso - K. Raikkonen - R. Schumacher

Huge rooster tails of spray followed the cars as they streamed out onto the circuit for the first session, and it was soon clear, as the Renault and Mclaren runners comfortably set the pace, that Michelin wet tyres were the boots to have.

When Tiago Monteiro spun his Spyker to a standstill in a dangerous position, bringing out the red flags with three minutes of the session left, several big names found themselves in perilous positions indeed.

As well as the two Spykers of Monteiro and Christijan Albers, and the inevitable Super Aguri duo of Takuma Sato and Sakon Yamamoto, both Williams, both Toyota’s, and both Ferrari’s, believe it or not, found themselves in the bottom half of the timesheet with a frantic last run left to make. Note the proliferation of Bridgestone runners in that list.

Frantic it was, too, with Nico Rosberg in the Williams the most spectacular of he lot on his way to jus pipping team mate Mark Webber for 15th position, and safety, these two just behind the Ferrari duo of Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher, but ahead of the eliminated Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli for Toyota, a disaster for the Japanese giants, and the Spyker and Aguri pairings.

A lacklustre start for the newly-liveried Spyker equipe, then, and an embarrassment for Toyota once more, with equally worried faces at Ferrari, who appeared to be facing a struggle to make it through the next fifteen minutes.

During the break David Coulthard had been highlighting to his engineers just how treacherous it was out on the soaked circuit, presumably the feeling of many of the drivers out there today.

The second session began with the rain having eased just a little bit, and immediately the track filled with cars eager to set a banker time.

Michael Schumacher, mindful of the poor first session performance, put in an early time for third position, but the Renault and Mclaren runners had yet to come out. Felipe Massa, in the second Ferrari, is already facing a ten place grid drop having changed an engine.

Fernando Alonso, with just four minutes left, took the Renault out for a run and instantly set a time a second quicker than the rest. Meanwhile, reminders of the danger of the conditions had been given by Tonio Liuzzi spinning the Toro Rosso twice on one lap.

Following Alonso, team mate Giancarlo Fisichella, then the Mclaren duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Pedro de la Rosa, all put in top five times and suddenly, with the Honda’s and Red Bull’s going quickly too, Michael found himself in tenth, in danger from the two BMW-Saubers behind him.

With less than a minute left Nick Heidfelds BMW jumped ahead of the Ferrari, as did Liuzzi, and suddenly all was looking bleak indeed for the seven times World Champion. As the flag fell Michael was in 14th position with only the two Williams’ behind him, but on a flyer, giving it everything he had, and he did it, just, popping in a safe ninth fastest.

As well as the two Williams we lost the Toro Rosso pair who looked promising for so long, Scott Speed missing out by just a tenth and Liuzzi a further half a second down, plus Felipe Massa who, we can assume, kept off the fast pedal to preserve Michaels chances, and the unfortunate David Coulthard who’s new team mate Robert Doornbos scraped the last top ten place.

Into the final shoot out then are two Renaults, two McLarens, the Honda pair of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello who have recent form in adverse conditions, both BMW-Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica, Robert Doornbos in the Red Bull on an impressive come-back drive, and a clearly struggling Michael Schumacher.

With the conditions as they are, how will the team’s judge strategy? We enter the ever ludicrous ‘fuel burn’ stage of final qualifying, with the Renaults on top form, but an unpredictable final grid nevertheless.

Unsurprisingly all cars took to the track immediately, setting times a couple of seconds off the pace.

Fisichella pitted early, on the ten minute mark, in the Renault, indicating they may be thinking of an unusual strategy. With seven and a half minutes left the cars come in for their new tyres, the McLarens first, and the action begins. Alonso and Schumacher, plus the Honda pair, appeared to be leaving it later.

First man on a flyer is Kimi Raikkonen, the Finn having lost a wing mirror in the earlier laps of this session, setting a first sector time quickest of all. His time is only good enough for second, behind Alonso.

Rubens Barrichello is now the man on the move, going second as Pedro de la Rosa pips Raikkonen for third, and with just over a minute left nobody seems to want to have a go.

Except Alonso, who suddenly lets go with a lap that is easily over a second in front of anyone else, and puts pole position beyond doubt.

With team mate Fisichella taking second at the flag, and nobody else within shouting distance, we have a Renault front row and a major boost to Alonso’s title hopes.

The second row is all Honda, with Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button, in that order, setting times identical to the nearest one thousandths of a second, and the third row sees Kimi Raikkonen alongside Michael Schumacher, Ferrari future meets Ferrari past.

Pedro de la Rosa and Nick Heidfeld in the first of the BMW-Saubers will start on row four, with a pair of Roberts, Kubica (BMW) and Doornbos (Red Bull) occupying the fifth row.

In a session that began with drama and ended in something of an anti-climax, we have an interesting race in prospect tomorrow. Alonso sits on pole with his wing-man Fisichella alongside, the Renaults the class of the field, with ease, in the wet at Shanghai, while Schumacher, struggling on Bridgestone wet tyres, sits two rows back, alone in the crowd as team mate and loyal defender Massa will be starting from the very back of the grid.