The Spa-Francorchamps circuit might be the most beautiful race track in the world and a favourite with most of the drivers, but it has a nasty habit of upsetting the well ordered world of F1.

Today was no exception and although the sun was shining on the track, fog was preventing the rescue helicopter from landing at the nearest hospital. According to the sport’s safety rules that meant the cars could not run, so the first half of the day’s events was reduced from an hour to just 30 minutes with only a half hour gap in between.

Although Friday’s times can never be taken too seriously, McLaren will have been encouraged to see their two drivers top the time sheet with Kimi Raikkonen ahead of David Coulthard. The next two places belonged to Ferrari, Michael Schumacher quicker than Rubens Barrichello, who ended his session with a harmless spin into the gravel.

It seemed like a day for the non-Bridgestone runners, as one had to go all the way down the list to 13th placed Jacques Villeneuve to find the next Bridgestone user after the Prancing Horse boys. The Canadian finished just ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella and Takuma Sato.

Free Practice was not a productive as it could have been for DHL Jordan Honda. Giancarlo had a suspected damper problem during the shortened first session and struggled to find a good balance during the second session, while Taku was working to improve the balance on his EJ12 before his engine failed 18 minutes before practice ended.

Fisi commented, "During the first half hour we had a problem with the dampers and a very unstable car. The second session was better but at the moment our grip is not good and the balance is not perfect.  We are struggling a little bit, but let's see what happens tomorrow."

"I was really looking forward to coming back to Spa, driving here for the first time in Formula One because I have such good memories here from Formula 3 days", said Taku. "In the first session we immediately had good pace.  This is a great circuit and it was fantastic to drive through Eau Rouge. It was unfortunate that we only had 30 minutes for the first session and in the second session we couldn’t get the car and tyre balance quite right.  We were in the process of trying to improve it when the engine blew, which was a shame.  We’re working hard and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day."

Mystery surrounds the Arrows team yet again. After failing to show in Hungary, the cars were neatly lined up in the pits but did not turn a wheel today. Apparently, an announcement is expected tonight.

Thankfully, the character of this the longest track on the calendar remains intact, but there have been a few changes, most notably to the final corner before the pits, the "Bus Stop" chicane. The exit has been made more user friendly, so there is now less need to bash the kerbs to get a quick lap. With a risk of damaging tyres and suspension just two corners before the scary-quick Eau Rouge rollercoaster, this is obviously a sensible modification in safety terms.

It was fog that caused trouble today and the Spa weather gods are predicting rain at some point tomorrow. As the locals put it: "if you can’t see the trees, it’s raining and if you can see them then it’s about to rain."