SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium, Aug 28 (AFP) - Brazilian Rubens Barrichello led a Ferrari one-two in a rain-hit final practice for the Belgian Grand Prix as bad weather caused havoc in the Ardennes forests here Saturday.
Drivers were given just 15 minutes to prepare for the afternoon qualifying session after the first 45-minute practice was cancelled and the second was shortened by 30 minutes when low fog prevented the medical helicopter from taking off.
When the cars eventually hit the track, at 8:45 GMT, the track was soaking after heavy rain that has persisted here since Friday afternoon and the session was stopped with one min and 52 secs to go after two heavy crashes.
Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia hit the tyre barriers first when he lost control of his Williams-BMW at the Rivage corner then Minardi driver Gianmaria Bruni crashed heavily at Eau Rouge to halt the running.
Bruni hit the tyre barriers as he headed into the notorious high-speed corner, where Toyota test driver Ryan Briscoe crashed on Friday afternoon, and he slid backwards down the track before coming to a halt.
The Italian driver, who is in his debut year in Formula One, was given medical assistance and had a safety neck brace put on him before being taken away in a car for further checks.
But through all the chaos and confusion came Ferrari who, as usual, got things right to top the times with Barrichello's lap of one min 57.085 secs putting him 0.821 seconds clear of German team-mate Michael Schumacher.
Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who was fastest for McLaren-Mercedes in Friday's dry sessions, finished third, just 0.069 secs behind world champion Schumacher, with Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, in his Sauber, fourth fastest.
Scot David Coulthard, in the second McLaren, finished fifth with Brazilian Felipe Massa, in the second Sauber, in sixth place and Briton Jenson Button, of BAR-Honda, seventh.
Renault drivers Jarno Trulli, of Italy, and Fernando Alonso, of Spain, finished the session in eighth and tenth places as they sandwiched the ninth-placed BAR of Japanese driver Takuma Sato.
The session gave teams little time to prepare their cars for wet weather, which requires a totally different set-up to dry weather, and most runners completed just six laps of the circuit.
The race is back on the calendar after an enforced break due to a tobacco advertising ban last year and the circuit is notorious for bad weather because clouds cling to the surrounding forested hills.
Fog forced organisers to cancel one Saturday practice session during the 2001 event but qualifying went ahead as scheduled on that occasion. There was also a delay to proceedings due do bad weather during Formula One's last visit in 2002.