By Jamie Makin
July 2 2004

SAUBER PETRONAS drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa finished 12th and 18th respectively after today´s first rain-spoiled practice sessions for the French Grand Prix. Friday, Free Practice 1:

Driver	Chassis	Best Time	Position
G. Fisichella	C23-04	No Time	19
F. Massa	C23-01	No Time	21
Spare Car	C23-03	-	-

Thursday, Free Practice 2:

Driver	Chassis	Best Time	Position
G. Fisichella	C23-04	1:17.324	12
F. Massa	C23-01	1:18.614	18
Spare Car	C23-03	-	-

Steady rain during today's practice sessions kept the Sauber drivers parked in the garage for most of the two practice sessions. Cloudy, but dry weather is predicted for the next two days, so there was no benefit to putting the cars on track and risking damage or engine wear.

Giancarlo Fisichella did not have much to offer after the sessions. "I did only one lap today on new tyres in the dry, so there´s not much to say after the unusual conditions that we experienced. I didn´t go out this morning and this afternoon I only did a few laps before switching the tyres. The day was nothing special!"

Felipe Massa echoed the same sentiment as his more experienced teammate. "It´s a shame things were inconclusive today because of the rain. There was no point running this morning, and the rain came this afternoon while I was in the pits for my new tyres. All I got was a chance to check out the changes made to the track since I last raced here in 2002. We had a good test in Barcelona last week, though, so I´m optimistic if we have a dry day tomorrow and on Sunday."

Team Principal, Peter Sauber was at the same loss to find meaningful results from the day. "With the very unusual wet conditions that we had this morning and this afternoon it wasn´t possible to draw any special conclusions about the day. Neither car had any technical problems, and we´ll start afresh tomorrow."

Despite the fact that Sauber gained little useful information from the session, the same is true for all of the other teams up and down pitlane. As a result of the bad weather, the FIA has granted the teams an extension until noon tomorrow to make their tyre selections. This will be after the two morning practice sessions, so Sauber should be able to do some meaningful work during that time.

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