Wet start to British Grand Prix weekend

2011 British GP weather forecast

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Start, Silverstone, 2008

Teams will have to cope with a rain-hit practice session as the British Grand Prix weekend gets underway.

But forecasts say conditions will improve as the weekend progresses.

A low-pressure system to the wet of Britain is sending showers across the country.

A fresh band will head towards Northamptonshire early on Friday morning. Showers will return throughout the day to douse the track.

Stiff breezes are also likely at the exposed airfield circuit.

The rain will become less frequent as the weekend goes on. Temperatures should also climb above 20C.

But with the threat of showers hanging in the air, teams will need a pair of eyes glued to the weather radar images to gauge whether qualifying or the race will be affected.

The last wet British Grand Prix was in 2008, and won by Lewis Hamilton.

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Location of Silverstone


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    Author information

    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    28 comments on “Wet start to British Grand Prix weekend”

    1. I do hope the cars are forced to run behind the safety car during any sessions that are even slightly damp.

      1. I think I’ve seen enough of the safety car during the Canadian GP. I’m stocked up on images of the safety car train for at least until Spa…

      2. Well it saves them having to scrub wet weather tyres. Could be a cost cutting measure :)

        Think Sunday wil be dry :(

      3. Glad you are joking dave. That wish would otherwise be calling doom upon us!

    2. The way the weather has been over the past few days here in Bedfordshire, I wouldn’t bet against there being a few short, sharp rainshowers at random points throughout qualifying and the race, even if they do predict sunshine.

    3. Do you think it’ll mean anything to them?

      What I’m trying to get at is, Formula One these days doesn’t run in the rain. But it’s the British GP, basically the home of F1. In a time where they need to keep the PR up and constantly talk about the “show”, will they refuse to run in damp conditions in front of the “home” crowd?

      Surely it would be a massive nail in the coffin if they continue their new-found tradition?

      I’ll be heading to the practice sessions, looks like it’ll be raining, I hope they do some running but I shouldn’t hold my breath. Nor should anyone else.

      1. Yes, because of two unique cases, Korea 2010 (new track, extremely heavy rain) and Canada 2011 (new wet tyres, extremely heavy rain), Formula 1 no longer runs in the rain.

        Yep.

        1. Not to mention the reason at both those tracks was visibility, we wouldn’t get that issue at Silverstone unless it was seriously wet.

          Have they actually red flagged a practice session due to rain recently? I dont see any reason why they would, since the teams have the choice to go out or not anyway.

    4. You should become a weather reporter with an article like that, Keith :P

    5. I’m hoping for a wet – or at least moist – race. Because frankly, Vettel’s going to walk it otherwise.

      1. True. I’m hoping for Canada-like chaos, without the 2 hour break in between.

    6. Bad, I predicted 0 wet sessions for this race :(

      1. I predicted 1 only. We’re not good at these random-ish things, are we?

      2. Yep.. I predicted 0 wet sessions as well. But I think you have enough time to change it before the practice session gets underway.

        1. I’m going to have to get in on this random predictions thingo! :P

    7. Lewis Hamilton will be rubbing his hands together at the thought of a wet Silverstone!

      Sebastian Vettel will be grateful that Coulthard isn’t here to push him into the gravel. :)

      1. A DC & HAM conspiracy, perhaps?

        “Come here, kitty, kitty, kitty… Come here, Kätzchen, to the litter box!”

        1. Not likely. Coulthard would go gay for Vettel in a second.

          1. Which could very well play into the luring-Vettel-off-track strategy, mind you. :-D

    8. Just a thought here, what if qualifying happens to be in the wet but race day is dry? Will teams have to start on the wet tires? (those from Q3 anyway)

      1. I haven’t read the rules for a while, so I can’t tell you definitively, but I’m almost 100% certain that isn’t the case.

        You can always check the FIA site! :)

      2. No.

        They would be allowed to start on whatever tyre compound they liked.

      3. Yes, they have to start on the same wet weather tyres they qualified on. /snark ;D

        (That would sure as hell make for a much more entertaining first several laps though, wouldn’t it?) :D

    9. The weather forecast is basically the same as it was for Melbourne, which is slightly disappointing. I like wet races, but I like it when it only rains on the Sunday – because no-one is adequately prepared. When it’s wet all weekend (including the race) the Grand Prix tends not to be as chaotic as when it rains only on race day. And example is the 2008 Italian Grand Prix, which was very uneventful as far as I can remember.

      Back to the point though, I wish they could reverse the progression from wet to dry and instead make it get progressively wetter over the weekend. But I’m sure the race will be just as exciting in the dry. I used to pray for wet races all of the time, but I haven’t done so since Melbourne this year now.

      1. We’ve been mostly having short showers this week, and with the breeze and heat it’s been drying up quite quickly. If we get one of those in the race it’ll be interesting regardless.

      2. I’d much rather see a wet qualifying (not quite Canada ‘wet’), and then a dry race.

        It would be very interesting to see what tyre strategy all the teams come up with when everyone’s dry tyre inventories are totally new, fresh and unused.

    10. Beautifully put, Keith. With words like that you really ought to be presenting the weather!

      Seriously though, it’s been tipping it down in West Yorkshire.

    11. I’ve been following the Met Office and BBC Weather and all three days look like washouts to me. I just hope there is a brief respite as we pitch our tents on Friday around 10.30am and taking them down on Sunday at 10.00am. And of course I am hoping Fri and Sat evenings will be dry – nothing worse than a soggy BBQ.

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