Rain interrupts qualifying at Silverstone as fans defy weather and chaos

7 July, 2012

Fans bravely endure trying conditions at Silverstone

Jul.7 (Apex) Crowds continued to defy the weather and chaos at Silverstone on Saturday as they arrived in droves for the British Grand Prix qualifying, but rain returned just as the cars filed out for the crucial session to cause havoc and ultimately interrupt qualifying with half dozen minutes to go in Q2.

Earlier local hero Jenson Button was the big scalp to be bumped out in Q1, as he struggled in his McLaren and was only good for the 18th best time and an early shower.

He explained, “I could not get any heat on the front tyres. I felt it straight out of the pits. I couldn’t get any heat on the fronts and that is why I could not get a lap time on those tyres.”

By the time Q2 started rain had arrived to stay and the track simply became almost undriveable and with 6 minutes and 19 seconds to go the red flag came out and the session was put on hold as the rain finally subsided and Silverstone marshals tackled the puddles with their brooms.

Once again biggest heroes on the day were the fans who turned out undeterred, braving some of the worst conditions seen at a grand prix weekend in memory.

This is how they stood when Q2 was stopped:

Subbed by AJN.