MOTOR SPORT:JENSON BUTTON has suggested tomorrow's British Grand Prix might not take place if the "scary" and "treacherous" conditions persist over the weekend.

Unrelenting rain throughout yesterdayturned the two 90-minute practice sessions into damp squibs, with McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton even going for a wander down the pit lane such was his boredom.

For the fans who had paid hard-earned money to watch Formula One in action, they at least saw some cars on track in the gathering gloom, but far from at full speed.

Large puddles and rivers did not help matters, leaving Button to wonder as to the prospects of racing tomorrow should there be no let up. “It’s quite scary out there, treacherous conditions, with a lot of standing water,” said the McLaren star, seeking his first podium in 13 home races.

“One of the worst places is Hangar Straight going into Stowe. You are doing 290kmh and you cross a river that gives you wheelspin. When you get wheelspin in an F1 car it can snap very easily, so that’s probably the scariest place.

“When you are in a car on your own it’s not so bad, you can pick your way around, lift off where you want, but when you are in a pack it’s very difficult.

“You wouldn’t want to be racing in those conditions, going wheel to wheel because you can’t see the aquaplaning until you arrive.

“I can’t see us being allowed to race in these conditions, but qualifying, yes, so it’s useful to do some mileage out there, get an understanding of the car and the circuit. I just hope it’s not like this on Sunday, that there’s not so much standing water so we can really go racing.”

In stark contrast, Hamilton, who set the fastest time of the day of one minute 56.345 secs, claimed to have “some fun out there”, finding the conditions “exciting”. Hamilton added: “You grip on to the steering wheel more than you would normally do to ensure you are fully in control of the car. You are aquaplaning all the time, so you have to make sure you are in tune with your senses, more so than other times.”

The 27-year-old admitted, though, to being concerned for a record Friday crowd of around 80,000 who braved the conditions, although many failed to make it due to horrendous traffic jams.One of the issues surrounding the lack of running, with the norm for the drivers being around eight to 10 laps in either session, is the lack of tyres available. Each driver has only three sets of extreme sets for an entire weekend, so there was concern that with the rain to continue, there might not be enough to last.

Suggesting more sets on a Friday in future, Hamilton said: “It’s something we need to keep an eye on. Just in case we have another day like this, and there is a big turn out, that we should have it as an option to do something.”

Button concurred as he said: “I agree with Lewis 100 per cent.

“I feel we need more tyres on Friday, tyres we can throw away at the nd of the day because otherwise we don’t run. Luckily enough it was so wet we didn’t hurt the tyres too much, so we ran and the fans had something to watch at least, although they deserved more.”

With more rain forecast across the weekend as Britain’s sorry summer evolves into the wettest on record, there was a case to at least get laps under their belts and gather data. With puddles to negotiate on the Northamptonshire circuit, there were obvious dangers, with Bruno Senna and Fernando Alonso two of those caught out.

Both hit standing water, leaving them helpless in uncontrollable cars, and with Senna the major casualty as he ploughed into a wall in his Williams with 30 minutes remaining, bringing out the red flag for a 10-minute hiatus.

As for championship leader Alonso, the Spaniard could do nothing as he slid off the track and on to the grass, his brakes of no use on such a wet surface, hitting a barrier and losing his front wing.

At the top of the timesheet it was Hamilton who led the way in his McLaren.

Drivers' standings

Top 10

1 Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 111pts

2 Webber (Aus) Red Bull 91

3 Hamilton (Brit) McLaren 88

4 Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 85

5 Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 75

6 Raikkonen (Fin) Renault 73

7 Grosjean (Fra) Renault 53

8 Button (Brit) McLaren 49

9 Perez (Mex) Sauber 39

10 Maldonado (Ven) Williams 29