History predicts CHAOS if Miami Grand Prix weather forecast holds true

Red Bull, RussianGP, Wet — Photo: © LAT Images

Miami Grand Prix

History predicts CHAOS if Miami GP weather forecast holds true

Rain and street circuits are an awfully fun combination for the fans!

Jim Kimberley

Thursday 4 May 2023 23:27 Updated: 09:25

As new Formula 1 races go, the inaugural Miami Grand Prix didn't entertain as much on track as it did off, but that looks likely to change for 2023.

Forecasts suggest the subtropical Floridian weather has a high likelihood of rainfall on Sunday afternoon over the Magic City — with some reports suggesting any wet conditions would be the thundery variety rather than a springtime shower.

Wet conditions are the great leveller in Formula 1 that provides some parity across the cars, and in a season that Red Bull looks peerless, there's no better time for a soaked street circuit to spice up the action.

You only have to look at last year's rain-affected Monaco Grand Prix for an example of how much a downpour can make even the toughest-to-pass street track entertaining.

Wet grands prix at street circuits are a rare beast, but when they happen, two drivers of the current grid reign above everyone else.

2022 Singapore Grand Prix

Tropical thunderstorms delayed the start of last year's Singapore round, extending its unwanted hiatus from Formula 1 after the pandemic-induced two-year absence.

The race had the championship on the line, with Max Verstappen set to take his second title if he won the race and other results went his way amid growing speculation Red Bull had breached the cost cap (along with now-brazen-looking defamation threats from the Milton Keynes squad).

It wasn't to be for Verstappen, who ran out of fuel on his best Q1 lap to qualify P8 before struggling to make progress in the race.

The celebrations came from the other side of the garage as Sergio Perez took his second win of two for 2022, leading from the first corner when he snatched the lead from Charles Leclerc on intermediate tyres.

Perez's eventual gap to Leclerc let him have such a buffer that even a five-second penalty still had him as the victor, with Verstappen finishing a minute behind.

2022 Monaco Grand Prix

You can't get a reputation of being a street circuit ace without having a Monaco Grand Prix win on your CV, and that's what Perez claimed with his second-ever win for Red Bull.

The Brazilian Grand Prix later in the year unearthed a deep-seated grudge between the Red Bull drivers about the win, with Verstappen hinting the Mexican deliberately spun in qualifying at the track where grid position is key.

Whether there's truth to that or not, Perez benefited from being the lead Red Bull driver at the Circuit de Monaco when it eventually got going behind the safety car over an hour from the intended start time after heavy rain delayed proceedings.

Ferrari's pit stop blunders in the drying conditions saw them cede P1 and P2 to Perez after Red Bull executed the lesser-spotted overcut strategy to net Perez a lead he kept until the end, earning the honour of Prince Albert II handing him the winner's trophy.

2021 Russian Grand Prix

Rain affected the Saturday and Sunday of the 2021 Russian Grand Prix, and a British driver took full advantage to take pole position and the race lead – up until the final three laps.

Only the heartless couldn't feel for Lando Norris, who looked so close to enjoying the perfect weekend on what would be Sochi's final Formula 1 race.

The McLaren star took pole position on a drying track, but the rain that helped him be a hero became his worst enemy one day later.

A lack of clear communication between the pit wall and the car had Norris ignore his team's advice to pit in the rapidly deteriorating conditions.

Norris fell off the track, handing Lewis Hamilton the lead, before his slippery pit lane entry slowed him down further, eventually finishing P7.

The dramatic scenes overshadowed the symbolic milestone for Hamilton, who became the first driver in Formula 1 history to reach 100 wins by expertly navigating the damp Sochi circuit and reclaiming the championship lead in style, 53 seconds ahead of Verstappen in P2.

2017 Singapore Grand Prix

Look away now, Ferrari fans; it's that 2017 race. The Ferrari sandwich that engulfed Verstappen in the opening metres ended three of the top four runners' hopes in one wet lap.

The pre-race downpour made for spectacular shots of wet F1 running under the night sky for the first time, but the sparkle soon ended for Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, leaving the door wide open for Hamilton to make it three race wins in a row.

From P5, Hamilton surged to first place as both Ferraris, Verstappen, and a helpless Fernando Alonso smashed into each other in the craziest Singapore GP start to date. This was that race that seemed to break the Ferrari spirit and allowed Hamilton to put the afterburners on to continue nudging closer to his fourth world championship title.

Wet conditions lasted until halfway through running before the remaining drivers swapped to slick rubber. The slower-running laps and safety cars meant Hamilton's win came three laps early, with the race reaching F1's two-hour time limit.

2016 Monaco Grand Prix

You might think the 2022 pit stop craziness in the Ferrari garage was woeful. You'd be correct, but the 2016 Red Bull error was far more egregious after Daniel Ricciardo proved he had the raw talent to be a Monaco race winner but left with the P2 trophy.

As with 2022, rain fell before the race began. A safety car start helped Ricciardo get into the flow of Monte Carlo's streets to extend a lead over the chasing Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Hamilton behind him.

Hamilton's wet weather prowess and championship leader Rosberg's lack of pace had Toto Wolff's team issue orders to let Hamilton by to close the gap to the lead. However, Red Bull would prove to be the thorn in Ricciardo's side, rather than Hamilton, who matched his pace but wasn't closing in.

The Australian came into the pits to switch from inters to dry rubber, only to find his pit crew didn't have tyres ready, with the jackman shouting and a despondent Ricciardo making for unforgettable scenes.

The delay let Hamilton into the lead, and despite repeated attempts from Ricciardo to get by, the Brit held on to win his second Monaco Grand Prix after his 2008 triumph — also in wet conditions.