Charlie Whiting has admitted qualifying will not take place in Saturday afternoon’s heavy rain.
With the session already officially delayed for 90 minutes beyond the scheduled 1400 start-time, the FIA will wait until 1630 - when the light will be fading - before announcing the postponement of qualifying to 10am on Sunday.
But as bored drivers and team personnel pushed makeshift boats down the pitlane stream, the BBC ceased its live broadcast and the Virgin drivers played poker in the garage, race director Whiting all but admitted the Sunday postponement is now a certainty.
"With so much rain, we cannot start qualifying — not in these conditions," Whiting told France’s Auto Hebdo website.
He said he will recommend to the stewards that qualifying be held on Sunday morning.
"That’s feasible because there is no minimum time between qualifying and the race," the Briton confirmed.