Rain threatens to impact Australian GP qualifying day

Saturday's Formula 1 practice and qualifying running ahead of the Australian Grand Prix looks set to be impacted by rain after the forecast showers hit the Albert Park circuit in late morning.

Following some warm, sunny running through Friday's two practice sessions, the F1 field was braced for rain as forecasts noted a 100 percent chance of showers at some stage of the day.

Rain began to fall around 10 a.m. local time and remained for the start of the first support race of the day, Ferrari Challenge Asia Pacific, that saw a number of drivers spin off the circuit before the race was completed behind the safety car due to the wet weather.

As per both Apple and Google's weather forecasts, the rain is set to continue until at least 2 p.m. local time when the final F1 practice session is due to start. There is then an anticipated break in the rain through late afternoon until after qualifying, which will run between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.

One challenge for organisers should rain cause delays is that sunset will occur at 7:26 p.m., leaving not much of a window should any delays occur.

The last Australian GP qualifying day to be rescheduled by rain was in 2013, when heavy showers only allowed Q1 to be completed on Saturday before Q2 and Q3 were staged on Sunday morning.