Hello and welcome to a soaking wet Spa Francorchamps for the first practice session of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.

The first Formula BMW session had to be red flagged due to the weather and in the last half hour thunder and lightning has surrounded the circuit. It's eased off a bit now but there is no doubt that we are in for a wet practice session.

Weather update from Mike Gascoyne of Lotus: "Radar says this heavy shower just about to end, next big one scheduled to hit the track at 10.30"

The big news since the teams arrived in Spa is that none of the top teams have felt the need to make changes to their front wings to pass stricter weight tests. We will also have more stingent floor tests at Monza.

Rubens Barrichello is celebrating his 300th GP weekend here at Spa and Mark Webber is celebrating his brithday today. So congratulations to both.

Feel free to send your questions or comments in throughout the session by clicking on the link at the bottom of this window.

With just five minutes before the first session starts, the rain has eased up but there is standing water on several sections of the circuit.

Vettel is sat in his car but is currently on slicks so I'm not sure we'll see him going out on track anytime soon. Most drivers should put in an installation lap to start with but after that running may be very limited. Remember they only have four sets of intermediates and three sets of full wet tyres to last them the whole weekend so they have to use those fairly sparingly.

Glock is the first driver to head out, followed by Alguersuari.

Just to keep you updated, Force India is running its blown diffuser on Liuzzi's car but not Sutil's so they can do back-to-back comparisons. Ferrari also has a new version of its blown diffuser this weekend.

Vettel has left the pits in the Red Bull with his car covered in aero paint. Kubica and Massa join him on track.

Massa is out in the Ferrari with a huge tail of spray blowing out the back of the car. He's not pushing particularly hard and is just trying to get to grips with the circuit and where the big puddles are.

Barrichello has gone out on track to begin his milestone weekend.

The only drivers not to have hit the track are Button and Hamilton.

Rain is starting to fall as Button heads out on track.

Timo Glock is back out on track and had to drop two gears through Eau Rouge, However, he isn't really pushing as he only manages sixth gear down the Kemmel Straight.

Don't forget you can send your questions or comments to us throughout the session by clicking on the link at the bottom of this window.

Nenad asks: "Guys, any info about the weather for the weekend?"

As always the forecasts aren't that reliable here in Spa but the lastest one I've seen is for rain all weekend. Saturday might be a bit drier but there are no gaurantees.

Hamilton has completed his installation lap and returned to the pits.

Alonso is sat in the back of the garage laughing and joking with Ferrari's engineers.

Glock is the only driver to have set a time with a 2:06.752.

Vettel and Webber are back out on track, running their Red Bulls line astern. They are cruising round, nowhere near top gear through blanchimont. But Vettel locks up into La Source on his next attempt as he ramps up the pace.

Schumacher has a huge front right lock up into the final chicane. He runs wide but there is no damage done to the car.

Vettel's best time is a 2:09.693 but he wasn't pushing hard for the whole lap.

Sutil heading out, says Force India: "Adrian goes out for a four lap run on the extreme wets. Still light rain, heavier to fall soon. He'll also make a practice start"

Kubica is getting Renault's session underway: "Robert is heading out for a first run to kick off today's programme"

Sutil goes fastest with a 2:05.117

Eustace asks: "How many sets of wets is there for each driver for a weekend? with the new rules there's so many limitations."

Four intermediates and three sets of full wets.

Colin says: "I think I speak on behalf of many fans on Congratulating to Rubens Barrichello to achieve such a milestone during a wonderful carrier."

Sutil sets another fast time with a 2:03.331.

For those asking, we cannot show live laptimes due to FOM restrictions.

Hamilton is out on track setting a flying lap.

Hamilton has set the second fastest time with a 2:03.353, Hulkenberg is third with a 2:03.783.

Schumacher now appears to be on a flying lap in his Mercedes.... and he sets the seventh fastest lap with a 2:04.750.

Sutil is currently going faster and faster and has set a 2:02.646.

James asks: "Considering the horrible conditions, are there any spectators in the stands?"

The ones I've seen look fairly full. Any spectator going to Spa knows there is a fairly high chance of rain so they can't complain.

Tom asks: "How much time do you think Renault could make up with this F-duct package judging by gains of teams who previously introduced such innovation?"

Yep, just to fill everyone in, Renault is running a new F-duct this weekend. It could be worth a lot round here and I believe they are targeting McLaren this weekend. Personally I'm not sure it will offer enough to do that, but they should be challenging to be the fourth fastest team here. However, they will have tough competition from the likes of Force India, Williams and Mercedes.

Sutil saying that the gears are very long on his Force India and that he has not yet hit top gear. He also says the F-duct is working well. He is currently second fastest, 0.064 off Alonso.

Vettel goes fastest with a 2:02.450, about a tenth up on Alonso.

Webber hustles his Red Bull through the final chicane and goes fifth fastest with a 2:02.926.

Alonso is back on track and is going even faster with a 2:01.223. Some parts of the tracks are definitely drying now but rain is still falling.

Loreti has a view on Barrichello: "300 GPs and he really never actually achieved anything - I think that's something he should think about more."

Dave says: "What's the reasoning behind such a restricted number of wet tires for the whole weekend? One would think this would be a case where more tires would equal more safety for the drivers, not to mention more track time for the fans."

It's a good point but you have to have a limit. As long as the wet tyres are used in wet conditions they actually last quite a long time so I don't think it will cause any massive problems this weekend.

Denise says: "I wish Mark a happy birthday and a great weekend"

Greg asks: "Is F-duct system effective in wet conditions as on dry track?"

Yes pretty much. It's all relative to what you would achieve without it. Of course the cars don't go anywhere near as fast in the wet as they do in the dry but there will still be a difference between running it and not.

The rain is now hammering down. Thunder and lightning is now predicted so expect the cars to return to the pits.

Buemi has a gearbox problem so might return to the track for the rest of the session.

Huge amounts of standing water on the track now, all cars have returned to the pits.

Lotus says: "And here comes the rain! The sky is so dark it almost feels like evening!"

Santh asks: "How is Sutil faster by almost a second in the first sector over everybody else? Are the others not pushing as hard, or something else."

Looking at the times now, he isn't quite a second faster but he may well have been when you emailed. We know the Force India is very fast in a straight line and last year that was what allowed it to qualify on pole, by being very fast in the first and final sectors. We know he is running a working F-duct this session so that will also play a part.

George has responded to Loreti's comment on Barrichello: "Just think of poor Chris Amon who competed in 108 GP's and failed to win a single one."

Gurmeet asks: "What further sort of modifications do you think will it be possible for Mercedes to introduce on MSC's car in this season to increase his competitiveness? He says he knows the direction the team has to take to make him compete at Rosberg's level this season."

I'm not sure they will introduce a huge amount more to the W01 this season. The focus at that team is already shifting to next year and also the chassis is homologated this year, so it is very difficult and expensive to make changes. If Schumacher wants to challenge Rosberg he will have to do it on the track or by altering the set-up.

No action on track at the moment with 30 minutes still to go.

Schumacher is now out on track with standing water everywhere. Very brave but Mercedes are still trying to get their troublesome F-duct to work and need all the track time they can get.

Schumacher heads straight back to the pits for a practice stop. Alguersuari and Kovalainen are also on track now.

Alguersuari aquaplanes slightly heading into Eau Rouge, he holds the car but that would have got some adrenaline pumping. Huge amounts of spray are coming up off his tyres. And he says that there is too much water on the track.

But he carries on for another lap regardless, very brave.

Renault says the F-duct is matching its expectations this weekend. Team boss Boullier says it's difficult to tell exactly how much time they are gaining because the track conditions are changing.

Yamamoto is now the only driver out on track.

The floor of Rosberg's car has been taken off and he is not likely to be back out on track for the rest of this session.

The sun is just coming out so we might see a few cars hit the track soon.

Petrov, Kubica and Barrichello still haven't set a time. The two Renaults are evaluating the F-duct, Barrichello, who has set just one lap, may have a problem.

Massa runs wide through Pouhon.

Neither Mercedes will go back out in these conditions. The pit wall has packed up and headed off to the briefing room.

Barrichello is back on track to set some flying laps.

Kovalainen runs wide at Paul Frere and ends up in the gravel. He keeps the car going and there is no damage done.

A drier line is definitely appearing now but the drivers only have 3 minutes to make the most of it.

Alonso is on a very fast lap in the Ferrari... and sets a 2:00.797, 0.770 up on Hamilton's best.

Petrov and Hulkenberg have made mistakes amd run wide at the top of the hill at Les Combes.

Kubica is now third fastest but still 1.284 off Alonso.

Hamilton is not going to set another time in these conditions, Vettel has just started another lap.

The chequered flag is out, nobody looks as though they will beat Alonso.

So Alonso and Ferrari top the timesheets but that doesn't tell us a huge amount about how this weekend might pan out. There is now blue sky overhead so we might get a drier second session. Remember nobody has actually set a time on intermediate tyres yet, let alone slicks.

Make sure you join us again for all the action from the second session at 12:00 GMT.