November in Abu Dhabi is one of several months where the region gets virtually no rainfall. So drivers can bank on there being no repeat of the dire conditions which greeted them at Interlagos.
The raging heat of the summer months may have subsided but the mercury is still going to reach the high twenties this weekend and could hit 30C on the first day of practice.
The unique timing of this race means sunset will fall just over an hour after the start of the race. The timing is the same for qualifying on Saturday and second practice on Friday. Therefore tomorrow evening’s session will be the most representative of conditions during the two periods of competitive action.
How useful the first and third practice sessions are depends on the track conditions. In the past these sessions have seen track temperatures in the high 40s, far above what qualifying and race levels.
Last year they were more representative, in the mid-thirties. But if these sessions are hot again it could leads teams to do little running in these sessions. A desire to save engine mileage, as teams will now be on well-used units, could also contribute to this.
For more updates on the track conditions during each session keep an eye on F1 Fanatic Live and the F1 Fanatic Twitter account.
Location of Yas Marina
See the location of every race on the 2016 F1 calendar here:
2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
- 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix team radio transcript
- 2016 F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship won by SBFIM29
- Top ten pictures from the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
- 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix driver ratings
- Rosberg ends longest-ever wait for championship
GeeMac (@geemac)
24th November 2016, 9:35
@keithcollantine This was the most read story on Abu Dhabi’s “The National” this morning. There is rain and high wind about in the rest of the UAE at the moment. The places mentioned in the article (Fujairah, Dibba etc) are miles away from Yas Island…so it’ll probably be business as usual come Sunday.
http://www.thenational.ae/uae/uae-weather-rain-and-high-wind-warning-ahead-of-abu-dhabi-grand-prix
Phylyp (@phylyp)
24th November 2016, 10:14
@geemac – thanks for sharing that.
Pedro Lopes Garcia
24th November 2016, 11:20
@GeeMac, There is no sign of rain here, no weather forecast for rain on this weekend
GeeMac (@geemac)
24th November 2016, 14:20
Thought as much. As I said, Fujairah and Dibba are on the other side of the country to Yas Island so it’s most likely going to be dry again.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
24th November 2016, 18:36
@geemac – the weather or the race? You meant both, right? 😂
Ben Needham (@ben-n)
24th November 2016, 11:59
Meanwhile, the silhouette of a small bespectacled man has been glimpsed under cover of darkness installing sprinklers at Turn 1…
Sravan Krishnan (@sravan-pe)
24th November 2016, 13:51
“a small bespectacled man”
Had to read that twice… LOL
Jerejj
24th November 2016, 15:21
”The unique timing of this race means sunset will fall just over an hour after the start of the race.” – Wrong, the sunset time for the race day in Abu Dhabi is 17:33 (local time), so the sunset will fall approximately 30 minutes after the start of the race, not an hour.