Six of the Best: Here comes the rain again...

Wet races have been a mainstay of Formula One since the sport's inception in 1950. Although ostensibly a summer sport, or at least a series that follows prevailing fair weather across the globe, rain has been an enduring menace - and indeed almost an annual tradition at circuits such as Spa, the Nurburgring, Sepang and Interlagos, where geography dictates that inclement conditions are almost inevitable.

A wet race in Formula One is a giddily thrilling treat in and of itself, but mixed wet/dry races add fantastic unpredictability to the mix. One of the greatest guilty pleasures in watching Formula One is the sight of rain falling onto a dry track, and the teams and drivers facing the leveling quandary of whether to pit for wet tyres or attempt to gamble on braving it out on slicks to retain track position.

An unexpected rain shower has the ability to change the complexion of any race and add an enjoyable element of random chance to proceedings - making or breaking. Here, we celebrate six of Formula One's most memorable downpours.

The 2009 Malaysian GP remains one of the few occasions half points have been awarded in a race

Since Formula One first visited the Sepang circuit on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur in 1999, 5 of the 16 Malaysian Grands Prix have been affected by rain.

For 2009, the race had been moved from its traditional 15:00 start time to a 17:00 slot in an attempt to boost the TV audience, putting the race in the heart of the window during which afternoon showers typically fall in Kuala Lumpur's tropical climate and pushing the maximum running time of two hours up against the very limits of daylight. Unsurprisingly, this blend of ingredients created a perfect storm in a very literal sense come raceday.

The race began under patchy skies, with sunny intervals flitting between ominously heavy looking clouds. The first 20 laps were run under dry conditions, with Nico Rosberg's Williams leading initially after a stunning start from fourth position, before Jenson Button's Brawn, which had started from pole, re-took the lead after the first pit stops.

Then, on lap 21, the rain began to fall, lightly at first, and all of the runners but one dashed into the pits for full wet tyres as the grip caused many drivers to take misadventures off the circuit. Timo Glock in the Toyota was sole driver who chose the intermediate tyre, and as the rain only doused half of the track initially he was able to pick off his rivals as they sought out wet patches to cool their blistering tyres.

On lap 29, Button, being caught hand over first by Glock, pitted for intermediates - just as fresh, much heavier, rain arrived. Now the race was simply a battle to stay on the track, as monsoon conditions doused the circuit and thunderbolts boomed dramatically overhead. Every driver was in for full wets by the end of lap 31, although Giancarlo Fisichella, Sebastian Buemi and Sebastian Vettel failed to make it back to the pits as they spun into retirement in the treacherous conditions.

The safety car emerged on lap 32, but the maxim 'it never rains, it pours' was in full tropical effect, and the sheer volume of both standing and falling water meant the race was ultimately red flagged on lap 33. Once the rain finally stopped it was too dark to re-start the race, so half points were awarded for just the fifth time in F1 history, and the first since the farcical 1991 Australian Grand Prix.

2008 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
Spa-Francorchamps has always been infamous for its inclement conditions. The circuit, nestled among the Eifel Mountains in Belgium, enjoys a unique micro-climate that can cause conditions to change at the drop of a hat - a trait that has seen many a Belgian Grand Prix settled on the fluctuating fortunes of the weather.

Never was this more evident than in 2008, when a late shower completely changed the complexion of the race. The season was developing into a tense two-way championship showdown between McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and the Ferrari of Felipe Massa, and Spa played host to one of its most thrilling, and controversial, plot twists.

The title rivals qualified 1-2, but as the race started on a drying track Massa was jumped by his teammate and Spa specialist Kimi Raikkonen - aiming for his fourth straight Belgian GP win. On lap two, Raikkonen streaked past Hamilton on the Kemmel Straight after the Briton ran wide at La Source, and Raikkonen tore off into what seemed to be an unassailable lead.

The margin ebbed and flowed throughout the race, but as proceedings entered the last five laps Hamilton was still too far back to mount an attack. Then the rain began to fall, not sufficiently to force the drivers to pit for wet-weather tyres, but hard enough to grease the circuit - the kind of conditions that Hamilton thrived in.

With four laps to go, Hamilton was under a second behind Raikkonen and gaining rapidly as he profited from the slippery conditions. A lap later he was right behind Raikkonen as the McLaren and Ferrari blurred through Blanchimont as one. Into the bus stop, Hamilton braked hard on the outside but Raikkonen matched him, forcing the McLaren to cede the corner and cut the chicane. Hamilton backed off to let the Ferrari through as they crossed the start-finish line but was immediately back on the attack, diving down the inside into La Source to take the lead with two laps to go.

Then farce took hold. As rain fell heavily at the back of the circuit, Raikkonen slid wide at Pouhon as Hamilton came across a tiptoeing Nico Rosberg parked on the apex at the Campus chicane. Forced into evasive action, Hamilton ran off the road, ceding the lead for seconds before Raikkonen himself spun on the run-up to Stavelot. Two corners later Raikkonen's race ended for good, as he spun again in pouring rain at Blanchimont and slithered into the wall.

Hamilton crawled round the last lap as conditions deteriorated, heading home Massa and Nick Heidfeld's BMW for a famous win. Or so he thought. Hamilton was demoted to third after the stewards added a 25-second time penalty to his race time for cutting the chicane and gaining an advantage while passing Raikkonen - even though he had handed any gain straight back and continued racing from the position he had been in when Raikkonen forced him off the road. It wouldn't be the last time that a late race shower played a crucial role in that season's championship either...

Fernando Alonso survives the elements to win... which is more than can be said for Jenson Button behind him

Just 60 miles east of Spa, on the German side of the Eifel Mountains, lies the N?rburgring. The modern N?rburgring GP-Strecke is a pale imitation of the original Nordschleife, but both incarnations enjoy the region's inimitably variable climate. Sudden downpours have been a contributing factor to many a classic race at the N?rburgring - although perhaps none can top the drama of Fernando Alonso's double-deluge victory at the 2007 European GP.

The political agenda and buildup may have been dominated by the beginning of the internal war that would rock the McLaren team to its foundations through the second half of the season, but the sporting focus of the race quickly shifted to the tail-end of the field and an unknown rookie named Markus Winkelhock.

Qualifying last, 1.5 seconds down on teammate Adrian Sutil, Winkelhock's expectations were no mightier than an afternoon of trundling mobile chicanery. However, inspired opportunism by Spyker Technical Director Mike Gascoyne at the end of the formation lap saw the team pit Winkelhock for wet tyres as rain began to fall ahead of the start.

In traditional Eifel Mountain style, the spots of rain became a deluge, and Spyker's gamble turned into a masterstroke. So slippery was the circuit that Kimi R?ikk?nen slithered straight through the pit entrance as the leaders flocked to the pits to change tyres at the end of lap one.

Winkelhock quickly assumed the lead, passing the crawling R?ikk?nen as monsoon-like conditions set in. At the end of lap 2, the Spyker incredibly led Felipe Massa by over 19 seconds. As a plethora of cars aquaplaned straight on at turn one, Winkelhock retained his composure to extend his lead to 33 seconds by lap 4.

With seven cars in the gravel trap at the first turn and the torrential conditions showing no signs of abating, the race was finally red-flagged on lap 5.

Opting to gamble again, Spyker kept Winkelhock on full wets for the restart, but on a drying track he was a sitting duck as the race resumed. Winkelhock was engulfed by Felipe Massa's Ferrari and Alonso into turn one, and quickly fell further back as his tyres disintegrated.

Massa subsequently led Alonso comfortably for virtually the entire race distance on a dry track, before a shower ten laps from home changed the dynamic of the race again. Massa and Alonso pitted for intermediates, and the McLaren wiped out the Ferrari's five second lead with ease as they returned to the track in increasingly greasy conditions.

Six laps from the end, Alonso was right with Massa exiting the first corner, and the two snaked their way through the sodden stadium section side by side - but the Ferrari held on. A lap later, championship challenge on the line, Alonso took a slingshot run around the outside of Massa at turn six, spectacularly banging wheels and forcing his way into the lead. Massa had no answer, and Alonso powered to the chequered flag to take his first, and possibly finest, wet weather victory.

1993 BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX

The Interlagos circuit on the outskirts of Sao Paulo is another racetrack notorious for wet weather-addled race. Its name may mean 'between two lakes', but its frequently the track surface that resembles a water feature as tropical storms blow in to drench the bowl-like circuit. The 2012, 2008 and 2003 races are just some of the wet weather classics from the Brazilian Grand Prix's recent past, but for a true race-altering downpour it's hard to look past the stormy showers that affected the running midway through the 1993 edition.

The first race of the season, in South Africa, had seen a late-race deluge as Alain Prost held on to claim victory for Williams on his F1 comeback. Round 2 at Interlagos would repeat the pattern, although this time with dire consequences for the returning three-time champion.

Prost led comfortably at the start from pole position, ignoring the carnage caused by an enormous airborne shunt for McLaren rookie Michael Andretti at the first corner to build up a substantial lead through the first part of the race.

Prost's great rival and hometown hero Ayrton Senna ran second for McLaren in the first part of the race, but he could do nothing about the searing pace of the Williams - and his challenge was further hampered by a stop-go penalty for lapping a backmarker under yellow flags on lap 25.

As Senna re-emerged the heavens opened, and the conditions were part of a double dose of good fortune for the Brazilian wet-weather specialist. As Aguri Suzuki aquaplaned into the wall on the main straight, blocking the course, the safety car was deployed - although not before Prost had spun himself out of the race via a synchronised spinning collision with Christian Fittipaldi's Footwork at turn one.

The race restarted on lap 38, with Senna right in the slipstream of Damon Hill's Williams on a still-wet track. Two laps later, as the circuit dried rapidly in the searing Sao Paulo heat, Senna was in for slicks - embarking on a trademark display of mastery in deploying dry tyres on a slipper surface. Hill pitted two laps later, but was a sitting duck to Senna when he emerged from the pits - the McLaren charging past the Williams into Ferradura.

Senna coasted to his second home victory, leading Hill home by 16 seconds to take the delirious acclaim of his countrymen. In a straight fight in the dry Senna had no match for the dominant Williams FW15C, but, maximising the turbulent conditions and Prost's misfortune he was able to take a memorable victory.

1982 MONACO GRAND PRIX

Unfortunately for Prost, Brazil 1993 wasn't the first time a mistake in tricky conditions had cost him a seemingly cast-iron victory. The conclusion to the 1982 Monaco Grand Prix was one of Formula One's most memorable denouements, and at the centre of the narrative was a late race shower that turned a processional parade into a jumbled jambouree.

Starting fourth for Renault, Prost quickly dispensed with Riccardo Patrese's Brabham and Bruno Giacomelli's Alfa Romeo to take second place behind fast-starting pole-sitter and Renault teammate Rene Arnoux. After Arnoux spun out on lap 15, Prost inherited the lead and comfortably headed Patrese for 60 fairly uneventful laps before the narrative changed dramatically as the race neared its conclusion.

Spots of rain started peppering the circuit from around lap 67, creating an added layer of difficulty around Monaco's tunnel-like streets. After a race of high attrition there were very few runners left to deal with the changeable elements - but that also meant fewer cars to help clear the surface drizzle from the tarmac. The steady shower created a surface like sheet ice for the slick-shod runners, and Prost came unstuck just two laps from home - bouncing his Renault off the barriers on both sides on the run down to Tabac.

This left Patrese in the lead and en route to take his maiden victory, but remarkably he too hit a damp patch and spun at Leows on the penultimate tour, stalling his Brabham as he rolled backwards over the high kerbs. Didier Pironi's Ferrari, Andrea de Cesaris' Alfa Romeo and Derek Daly's Williams all passed the foundering Brabham before Patrese was able to bump start his car by rolling down the hill towards Portier.

Pironi, sporting a mangled front wing, led the dwindling field onto the last lap, but remarkably he ran out of fuel in the tunnel - handing the advantage to de Cesaris. Incredibly, before the Italian could overhaul the Brabham he too ran out of fuel and the next man down the road, Derek Daly (already driving with a broken front wing and no rear wing!), saw his gearbox seize up as he crossed the line to start the final tour. Patrese miraculously exited the last corner to take the cheqeuered flag, having thought that he, like Prost, had thrown it all away in the greasy conditions.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen slides to the first two wins for the Jordan team in a successful 1999 season

A mid-race downpour in and of itself is a great thing, affording the chance to enjoy the great levelling aspect of the rain and the opportunity it affords for underdogs to have their day. In terms of guilty pleasures though it ranks just behind the topsy-turvy grid order almost invariably produced by a wet qualifying session. Combine the two and you have strong ingredients for a classic race, which is exactly what the 1999 French Grand Prix served up.

In a season hitherto dominated by the usual Ferrari and McLaren suspects, the wet qualifying session threw up an enjoyable lottery-style grid, with Rubens Barrichello claiming pole position for Stewart ahead of Jean Alesi's Sauber and the Prost-Peugeot of Olivier Panis. The race started in dry conditions, which caused a frantic scramble to reassert the natural order as the McLarens and Ferraris charged through the field.

David Coulthard briefly led for McLaren before suffering a complete electrical failure, and with Michael Schumacher's Ferrari set up for a wet race he was powerless to prevent Mika Hakkinen's McLaren passing him and taking up the challenge to Barrichello, Alesi and the fast-charging Jordan of Heinz-Harald Frentzen - stoically racing after breaking bones in his knee at the Canadian GP two weeks previously.

Then the rain came, falling harder than at any point during qualifying and catching out Alesi and Giancarlo Fisichella amidst a mad scramble to reach the pits and change to wet tyres. Even with the safety car deployed, Jacques Villeneuve, Alex Wurz and Alex Zanardi all managed to spin off while running behind it due to the sheer amount of standing water on the road.

The race restarted on lap 35, still under full wet conditions, and the field resumed their fierce squabbling in earnest. Barrichello defended his lead staunchly from first Hakkinen, causing the McLaren to spin down to seventh place, and subsequently Schumacher - before the Ferrari eventually muscled past on lap 44.
The typically bullet-proof Ferrari then experienced electrical gremlins, wiping out Schumacher's lead to Barrichello and forcing him to pit early for fuel. As the laps ticked away all of the front-runners, now led by a recovering Hakkinen, made their final 'splash and dash' fuel stops. All except Frentzen that is. In a masterstroke the Jordan team had fuelled him to the finish when he first stopped for wet tyres, and with the field bunched together by the safety car period and slower cars holding up the fast runners Frentzen was able to sail past almost by stealth and into an insurmountable lead.

He crossed the line from Hakkinen and Barrichello for both his and the Jordan team's second victory. It was a win which owed as much to Frentzen's skill behind the wheel as the tactics on the pit wall - not to mention the perfectly timed mid-race downpour that made his winning strategy possible.