For the last week weather experts have been predicting rain for this Sunday's French Grand Prix, which, should they be proved right, would make it the first wet race of the 2007 season.

The track surface at Magny-Cours is extremely slippery at the best of times, a heavy downpour, even before Sunday's big race, would certainly liven up proceedings.

While Friday should see some sunshine, providing the clouds allow it to peek through, things take a turn for the worse on Saturday, with heavy cloud predicted throughout the day with the possibility of a few rain showers.

However, Sunday is when it is due to turn nasty, with the bad weather remaining for the early part of next week.

Should the forecasters have got it right, this could well be the first major test for Lewis Hamilton, who had an eventful weekend last season when contesting the GP2 Series. The Englishman crashed out in Race 1, but gave a (typically) strong performance in Race 2, finishing fifth, despite having started from nineteenth on the grid.

The last race affected by rain was last year's Chinese Grand Prix, which was won by Michael Schumacher. However, the Hungarian race saw some seriously heavy downpours, with Jenson Button avoiding the mayhem to take his maiden F1 win.