Both practice sessions delayed.

Today's practice sessions before qualifying for Sunday's Belgium GP this afternoon have been severely delayed due to adverse weather conditions.

A thick fog presently surrounds the circuit and the first session originally scheduled to start at 9am has now been delayed eight times each for a period of 15 minutes. The session is now due to start at 11am (10am UK time), which is 45 minutes after the second session was due to have begun. The reason for the delay is related to safety, as the FIA's emergency helicopter is unable to take off in the present conditions with such low visibility.

The FIA and team owners are currently discussing options available to them but the governing body is understood not to want qualifying to start an hour later due to the knock on effect this would have on world wide television audiences - a vital part of modern F1. It thus looks likely that one of the 45 minute sessions may be dropped so that qualifying can still take place at its planned time.