As the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix approaches, one factor has emerged that could disrupt the grid. No, it’s not the shock return of Sebastian Vettel, despite the upgrades many teams are planning to bring to Suzuka and the many rumors about such a move from Mercedes. We’ve already seen it this season, even with emergency appendectomies. No, something more fundamental threatens to shake up the field this weekend.
rain.
The week started with rain in the forecast, especially on Sunday during the Grand Prix, and the chance of rain has only increased since then.according to accuweatherThere is currently a 94% chance of rain on Friday, when the first two practice sessions will be held. There is also a 13% chance of thunderstorms on Friday.The first practice session is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. local time, and the second practice session is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
Saturday, the third practice session and qualifying session, looks like the best day of the weekend so far, with only a 25% chance of rain. accuweather. The third practice session begins at 11:30 a.m. local time, followed by qualifying at 3 p.m.
It looks like it’s going to rain on race day as well. accuweather The current forecast is[c]It will be very cloudy with a chance of rain in the afternoon,” listing the chance of precipitation as 90%. Lights out at the Japanese Grand Prix will be at 2pm local time.
Rain is no stranger to the Japanese Grand Prix, and if the race is held in wet conditions, it will be the second time in the past three years that drivers have had to deal with precipitation. The 2022 Japanese Grand Prix was hit by heavy rain and was red-flagged due to difficult conditions. The race was halted for approximately two hours before restarting and finished after just 28 of the scheduled 53 laps.
However, if it does rain this weekend, it will be the first F1 race to feature wet conditions since last season’s Dutch Grand Prix. On this day, Guanyu Chou crashed in the final stages due to wet conditions, causing a delay in restarting the race. While Max Verstappen finished first, there was a surprise on the podium as Pierre Gasly was promoted to third after Sergio Perez was penalized. This was Gasly’s first podium with Alpine and his only podium of the 2023 season.
Given the “challenging” start to the 2024 campaign, Alpine will be hoping for a similar result this weekend. Even if we had to come in the rain.
