OCTOBER 8, 2004

Qualifying on Sunday morning

The qualifying sessions for the Japanese Grand Prix will be taking place on Sunday morning. The pre-qualifying runs will take place starting at 09.00 and the main session will then follow at 10.00. The race is then expected to start on schedule at 14.30. The decision over qualifying procedures has been made by the FIA Stewards under the powers granted to them in the FIA International Sporting Code, which covers what happens in cases of force majeure. A tropical storm is clearly force majeure and Article 66 of the International Sporting Code says that changes to regulations can be made on the decision of the stewards "for reasons of force majeure or safety. The actual rules do not allow for anything other than qualifying on Saturdays and state that "the qualifying practice session will take place the day before the race commencing at 14.00".