French GP qualifying as it happened

All the action as it happened from Friday's qualifying session at Magny-Cours in France (all times BST).

Final positions:
1. Verstappen (Netherlands), Minardi, 1:20.817
2. Wilson (Britain), Minardi, 1.20.968
3. Firman (Britain), Jordan, 1:23.496
4. Heidfeld (Germany), Sauber, 1:24.042
5. Panis (France), Toyota, 1:24.175
6. Pizzonia (Brazil), Jaguar, 1:24.642
7. Villeneuve (Canada), BAR, 1:24.651
8. Webber (Australia), Jaguar, 1:25.178
9. Frentzen (Germany), Sauber, 1:26.151
10. Da Matta (Brazil), Toyota, 1:26.975
11. Barrichello (Brazil), Ferrari, 1:27.095
12. M Schumacher (Germany), Ferrari, 1:27.929
13. Fisichella (Italy), Jordan, 1:28.502
14. Coulthard (Britain), McLaren, 1:28.937
15. Montoya (Colombia), Williams, 1:28.988
16. Trulli (Italy), Renault, 1:29.024.
17. Raikkonen (Finland), McLaren, 1:29.120.
18. R Schumacher (Germany), Williams, 1:29.327
19. Alonso (Spain), Renault, 1:29.455
20. Button (Britain), BAR, 1:30.731

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1400: Justin Wilson posts a time of 1:20.968 to go second. The two Minardis will be the last cars to go in Saturday's final qualifying session.

1358: Jos Verstappen's Minardi is fastest by nearly two-and-a-half seconds as he flies round in 1:20.817

1355: Antonio Pizzonia also benefits from the drier track conditions as he puts his Jaguar fourth in 1:24.642.

1353: Despite going off the track at turn 12, Ralph Firman makes the most of being the first runner on dry-weather tyres to post the quickest time of 1:23.496.

1350: The track has warmed considerably since the start of the session and is much drier, enabling Olivier Panis to scorch round in the second fastest time of 1:24.175.

1346: Nick Heidfeld becomes the latest driver to benefit from the drying track as he posts the fastest time so far with 1:24.042.

1344: Jacques Villeneuve shrugs off the fact that his qualifying lap is the first time he has been out on the track this week by posting the fastest time of 1:24.651 as the track continues to dry.

1341: The later runners are benefiting from the drier track conditions and Cristiano da Matta goes third in 1:26.975.

1339: Heinz-Harald Frentzen finishes second fastest in 1:26.151 despite appearing to struggle round much of his lap.

1337: Mark Webber was fastest during testing on Friday morning in 1:26.9 and he starts his qualifying lap in spectacular fashion, running a second quicker at the first split and two seconds quicker than the rest at the second split.

He goes on to post a flying lap of 1:25.178 - proof that the conditions are improving all the time as he takes first by almost two seconds.

1331: Jenson Button's qualifying lap is the first time he has been round the circuit this week because his car had been impounded. Despite not knowing the circuit at all he gets round in a time of 1:30.731.

1327: Giancarlo Fisichella makes the most of his Bridgestone tyres, which seem to be better in the current conditions than their Michelin rivals, to go third fastest with 1:28.502.

1325: Jarno Trulli starts his lap well but runs wide on turn eight and can only post the fifth-fastest time of 1:29.024.

1323: The sun is shining as David Coulthard goes out on his lap and despite a stunning first section the rest of his lap is poor and his time of 1:28.937 barely beats team-mate Raikkonen, although he does go third.

1319: Rubens Barrichello has a major wobble as he comes out of Estoril but is half-a-second quicker than Michael Schumacher at the second split time as the track dries out. Despite his mistake he is nearly a second quicker than team-mate Michael Schumacher in 1:27.095.

1314: Fernando Alonso looks on course for a competitive time but he makes a costly mistake in the final sector to set the slowest time of the first five runners so far with 1:29.455. It looks as though more rain is unlikely to fall, meaning the track should dry out a bit.

1311: Juan Pablo Montoya is fastest through the first section but runs wide at the hairpin and loses time. He is the slowest so far through the final section but is second fastest overall, a second behind Michael Schumacher in 1:28.988.

1308: Although much of the track is very wet parts of it are dry, making conditions very difficult. Ralf Schumacher looks as though he is going to pip Raikkonen but loses time in the last section to post a time of 1:29.327.

1305: Kimi Raikkonen is off the pace after the first half of his lap as he struggles with the wet track. His Michelin tyres do not seem to be working as well as the Bridgestone tyres on Schumacher's Ferrari and he posts a time of 1:29.120.

1300: Michael Schumacher goes out on rain tyres and throws up heavy spray on some parts of the track. He takes some of the corners quite wide because of the tricky conditions and sets a time of 1:27.929.