The F1 circus has arrived at a cloudy, cool and damp Istanbul where rain is expected to affect some of this weekend’s F1 sessions.
Friday is very likely to see rain (70-80% chance) but most forecasts agree the chance of precipitation decreases sharply after that.
There are some exceptions – the BBC currently expect “heavy rain” on Sunday.
When F1 first visited Turkey five years ago it did so in the hottest month of the year – August, when maximum temperatures in the Istanbul region are in the high 20s (C).
The race has been moved earlier and earlier and is now scheduled one week after the month which is typically the coolest of the year.
Istanbul is a punishing track for tyres but with temperatures in the low teens on all three days the extreme demands will be lessened.
Location of the Istanbul Park circuit
The Istanbul Park track is east of Istanbul:
2011 Turkish Grand Prix
Image © Motioncompany
Timi
5th May 2011, 11:56
Boy oh boy! A wet race at istanbul would be sweet. Always wondered what it would be like.
Wets, and intermediates that haven’t been run v much by the teams, the cars in wet downforce setup. If it’s a wet race it’s gonna be very very exciting
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
5th May 2011, 12:05
Dear racing gods,
Please bring rain to the Turkish Grand Prix. Perferably early in qualifying and again late in the race.
Love,
Jason.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
5th May 2011, 12:07
Wow, that low? I know how weird that sounds but I’ve had many a summer of mid-to-high 30s in the Mediterranean.
Anyway, I have mixed feelings about the rain. It would be interesting but the races haven’t really needed rain to spice them up. Perhaps wet qualifying and a dry race?
James
5th May 2011, 12:16
It varies. Istanbul is close to the Black Sea which is pretty cool. Also depends on the wind direction, at the moment they’re getting cool air from NE Scandanavia (according to @fergieweather on twitter). But if the wind is from the warm and dry south or east, it’ll be scorching. I think typically mid 30s are quite common in Istanbul during summer though.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
5th May 2011, 12:19
Well I had to check because I didn’t think the figure sounded right and lo and behold, high 20s really are the highest average temperatures. Perhaps a mix of 35° and 24° days alternating, from what you say.
Fixy (@)
5th May 2011, 13:07
I’d save the rain for Barcelona…
Icthyes (@icthyes)
5th May 2011, 22:17
If only.
sato113 (@sato113)
5th May 2011, 12:11
those BBC forecasts change everyday from heavy rain to sunny!
right here are some radars-
EUMETSAT precipitation radar-
http://oiswww.eumetsat.org/IPPS/html/MSG/PRODUCTS/MPE/EASTERNEUROPE/index.htm
Turkish meteorological service turkey radar-
http://www.dmi.gov.tr/en-US/satellite.aspx?uB=tr&uT=e&uG=a
their 5 day maps- http://www.dmi.gov.tr/en-US/forecast-5days.aspx
Foreca radar FORECAST-
http://www.foreca.com/Turkey/Istanbul?map=rain
NDINYO
5th May 2011, 12:26
(rain + high demands on tires + untested pirellis in changeable conditions + unknowm updates from Ferrari,Mercedes,RB,Renault,McLaren) = (Strategic nightmare + a race you fear to watch but wouldn’t want to miss)
NDINYO
5th May 2011, 12:29
(rain + high demands on tires + untested pirellis in changeable conditions + unknowm updates from Ferrari,Mercedes,RB,Renault,McLaren)- (Strategic nightmare) = (a race you fear to watch but wouldn’t want to miss)
VXR
5th May 2011, 12:34
Use of rain tyres only in Saturday qualifying means six sets of brand new dry tyres for Sunday. Or if certain of rain on Sunday means greater use of dry tyres in qualifying. Swings and roundabouts.
Ertugrul
5th May 2011, 14:10
Hi from Istanbul.
We had a really heavy rain yesterday, I wonder what will happen if it rains on Saturday or Sunday as heavy as that. Istanbul is a very large city so weather forecasts are not always true for all parts of the city. Furthermore we have much cooler temperatures in Istanbul compared to previous years.
Here is the weather forecast for the Istanbul Park circuit, provided by the Turkish State Meteorological Service
http://www.dmi.gov.tr/tahmin/f1.aspx
Hope to see great racing
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
5th May 2011, 14:14
Thanks for that Ertugrul, enjoy the race!
Fallon
5th May 2011, 15:09
Please let the rain which never properly appeared last year arrive late in the race this time. Seeing them go through turn 8 in the wet, that would be amazing.
macahan
5th May 2011, 16:11
Wasn’t it the low temperatures during Barca testing that was the blame for the extreme high tirewear?
The predictions was going to Oz with higher temps then Barca that the tires would last lot longer? This statement here low temps would lessen the extreme demands?
James Brickles
5th May 2011, 18:50
Expect a dry race then :P
Electrolite
6th May 2011, 1:15
I couldn’t think of much more epic things than a possible last ever Turkish Grand Prix – chucking it down with rain. With perhaps a Renault or Mercedes winner.