F1 Saturday qualifying in severe doubt as heavy rain halts F3 race
F1 Saturday qualifying in severe doubt as heavy rain halts F3 race
Formula 1's Saturday programme appears to be in serious doubt after the F3 race was red-flagged due to the extreme weather conditions at the Red Bull Ring.
The first of the two F3 races this weekend had to be halted on lap 15 as heavy rain lashed the circuit, resulting in a number of incidents.
The weather radar originally predicted it would be a brief 'shower', but, as cars waited in the pitlane for official confirmation as to whether the race would restart or not, radio messages confirmed the bleak picture.
In preparation for such an eventuality, F1 officials informed teams that practice two from Friday could potentially decide the grid for Sunday's race if it was not possible to reschedule qualifying for Sunday morning.
Explaining the options available to the FIA, race director Michael Masi, speaking on Friday, said: “If a worst-case scenario was to come about, we’ve already had a look, and qualifying could take place on Sunday morning. So that’s a great option there.
“If we had a complete wash-out on Saturday, so free practice three didn’t take place and qualifying didn’t take place, and hypothetically qualifying couldn’t happen on Sunday morning because of weather, we would revert back to the free practice two times from today.
“Or there’s the third iteration, which is that free practice three can happen, but we can’t have qualifying in the afternoon or qualifying Sunday morning, and the grid would be highly likely to be set on the free practice three times.”
To underline how seriously the teams viewed the forecast, the soft compound tyre was used more extensively in FP2 that is ordinarily the case.
Max Verstappen topped the session with Lewis Hamilton in sixth, and Sebastian Vettel P16 after running on the medium tyre in order to further evaluate upgrades on Ferrari's SF1000.
There is currently no word on whether practice three, originally scheduled to take place at 11:00 BST (12:00 local time), will run or not.
The weather forecast is far brighter for Sunday morning, and at this early stage it appears the best option for the qualifying session.
Before you go...
Reverse grids a missed opportunity? The paddock is now divided
No reason not to include driver salaries in budget cap - Steiner
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Haas announce Hulkenberg EXIT as F1 star's new team confirmed
- Today 11:27
F1 champion claims Drive to Survive success was 'very lucky'
- 1 hour ago
F1 franchise welcomes return of INCREDIBLE feature
- 2 hours ago
F1 News Today: Red Bull star set to QUIT team as F1 driver role CONFIRMED for 2025
- 2 hours ago
F1 team set to axe BOTH star drivers
- 3 hours ago
Red Bull to lose F1 MVP as true cost of Horner saga hits
- Today 09:57
Related news
Styrian Grand Prix: Five talking points
Binotto: The worst conclusion to an already bad weekend
Hamilton performance "like seeing a unicorn" - Wolff
Sergio Perez: I was lucky to only lose one position after Albon contact
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860