The Formula 2 sprint race was postponed earlier due to the wet conditions but as Andrew mentioned, the rain has eased off and the umbrellas have gone down.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

Rain has stopped as qualifying approaches at the Belgian Grand Prix.

More is expected part way through qualifying, it seems.

Image source, Getty Images

Hello again, folks. Trying to predict who will claim the best seat in the house for tomorrow's Belgian Grand Prix is a difficult task after this morning's damp squib of a third practice session.

Qualifying gets under way at 15:00 BST.

Commentary is online-only, so you need to click the 'listen live' tab at the top of this page to tune in. Or, you can ask BBC Sounds to play Belgian Grand Prix qualifying via most smart speakers and the team will meet you there.

Weather update klaxon...

Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day.

Get ready for what could be a slippery dogfight for pole position at Spa.

Image source, Reuters

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the pace in a final practice session at the Belgian Grand Prix truncated by wet conditions.

Lance Stroll crashed his Aston Martin at the high-speed Eau Rouge to bring out the red flag after just 11 minutes.

The session was restarted nine minutes later. But no drivers ventured out in the heavy rain before the red flag was shown again 14 minutes later because conditions were deemed to be too dangerous.

The rest of the session was held under a red flag, until the drivers were allowed out with two minutes remaining so they could do practice starts.

Verstappen, who has a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding his permitted allowance of engine parts, ended up 1.433 seconds quicker than McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was third, from McLaren’s Lando Norris, the second Alpine of Esteban Ocon and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Most drivers managed only a single flying lap before Stroll’s accident.

The Canadian lost control through the right-handed part of the left-right-left combination. He caught the initial slide but it took him off track into the run-off area, where the car spun a full 360 degrees before hitting the barrier left-front first.

Mercedes have reverted to a previous specification of their car after trialling a new floor design on Friday.

Lacking pace through Friday practice, and with wet conditions forecast throughout Saturday, the team decide their safest bet was to revert to the spec of floor with which Lewis Hamilton won at Silverstone two races ago and analyse the data from Friday back at the factory.

Wet.

Damp.

Soggy.

And it'll be much of the same (we think) for the fight for pole position later on.

We'll crank the live page up again at 14:30 BST for qualifying build-up.

See you shortly!

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

You are going into a very high-risk session. The teams and drivers are under-prepared for this but with the track being so low grip, you can’t afford to go out qualifying half-hearted.

You have to leave it all out there.

Some drivers are doing practice starts under the gloomy skies before we wrap up this final practice session completely. The rain is forecast to return for qualifying this afternoon.

Max Verstappen was top of the timesheets ahead of Oscar Piastri and Pierre Gasly.

Carlos Sainz was first in the queue to head out in the Ferrari. The Spaniard is kicking up a load of spray and is off the track already.

It's nowhere near the type of spin that Lance Stroll experienced earlier - more just into the gravel - and Sainz is back up and running, but the conditions are still treacherous for the drivers.

Just time for one lap in the wet and that'll be third practice over and done with.

Drivers, you have one minute to get ready.

Image source, Reuters

Red flag be gone!

Red flagpublished at 12:27 British Summer Time 27 July 2024

12:27 BST 27 July 2024

The dry fans are having a right old party in the grandstands. The clock is ticking down and the red flag is still very much in play here at Spa.

Image source, Getty Images

After topping second practice, Lando Norris - who is 76 points behind leader Max Verstappen in the drivers' championship - said he still needs to find "rhythm" with his car.

"I've just not felt very comfortable today with the car, so hopefully I'll just wake up tomorrow and feel a bit more comfortable with it," said the 24-year-old Briton.

"We did try and improve a few things but I don't know, we looked good on the timesheets but I did not feel super-comfortable with going out and doing it."

Norris said McLaren had a "prepared well and had a good set-up on the car", but added: "Just from my side, [in terms of] feeling like I could just go out and nail it, I'm not quite there just yet."

Red flagpublished at 12:23 British Summer Time 27 July 2024

12:23 BST 27 July 2024

Well, Charles Leclerc is putting his race helmet back on, and George Russell is climbing into the Mercedes cockpit. The red flag is still waving, however...

Red flagpublished at 12:20 British Summer Time 27 July 2024

12:20 BST 27 July 2024

Image source, Getty Images

The only replays we're being treated to at the moment is the competitive action from the karting track, with plenty of slipping and sliding happening on the soggy asphalt.

Max Verstappen is chatting in the garage with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and motorsport adviser Helmut Marko.

OK, rain chat. Use the thumbs below.

Can you see Verstappen leaving Red Bull and joining rivals Mercedes?

Image source, Getty Images

Spray and the blurred background of umbrellas and ponchos...

It sure is lovely to be back at Spa!

Ian Fergusson
BBC weather forecaster

Rain rate is now easing. However, high humidity/low cloudbase/poor visibility here up in the Ardennes leaves us with some fairly familiar Spa scenes...