SUZUKA, Japan -- A typhoon forecast to hit the area today forced organizers to abandon the regular qualifying format for the Japanese Grand Prix.
Qualifying will now be held before Sunday's race, the first time Saturday qualifying has been canceled for a Formula One event.
Typhoon Ma-on, meaning horse saddle in Cantonese, was near Japan's southern island of Okinawa on Friday evening, packing winds up to 112 mph. It is expected to dump as much as 16 inches of rain in central Japan -- where Suzuka is located -- this morning, the Meteorological Agency said.
After yesterday's practice in steady and heavy rain, race organizers and the International Automobile Federation shifted both the prequalifying and qualifying to tomorrow morning. The race will be held in the afternoon.
"It's a very unusual situation," seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher said. "Luckily, for most of the teams and drivers, the championship is decided already."
FIA also said that race stewards have canceled all sessions scheduled to take place today. The public will not be allowed at the track.
In yesterday's practice, more than half the 25 cars had some kind of sliding problems or went off the track. Schumacher was fastest in both sessions on the 3.609-mile Suzuka Circuit, with teams running only limited laps. He did just five laps, his best being 1 minute, 47.906 seconds in the morning. In the afternoon, with rain getting harder, he was timed in 1:45.388.
The German said he wasn't prepared to drive in a typhoon.
"None of us have the experience in that situation," he said. "Toward the end of the second session, conditions were already undriveable."
Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve, who replaced Jarno Trulli at Renault, bemoaned the conditions.
"The car was aquaplaning a lot, which meant it was actually floating on the track surface and the driver had no control," Villeneuve said.
Second in both sessions was Giancarlo Fisichella in a Sauber. He recorded 1:48.362 early, then improved to 1:46.102. Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren was third in the afternoon with 1:46.749.
Schumacher has spun in the last two races, and had another spinout in qualifying at the new Shanghai circuit. Teammate Rubens Barrichello finished first in each race to give Ferrari a total of 14 victories in 16 races so far this season -- losing only to Raikkonen and Trulli.
Barrichello was third in the early session and fourth in the later practice. He had the pole last year in capturing this event and has won the last two races -- the Italian Grand Prix and Chinese Grand Prix.
"As much as I like driving in the wet, today's conditions have made it almost impossible to do any meaningful work," Barrichello said. "I was not even pushing on the straights, and it was not worth it."
