FIA issue official weather warning at Italian Grand Prix

Norris, start, mclaren, monza — Photo: © IMAGO

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FIA issue official weather warning at Italian Grand Prix

It's going to be hot... very hot in Italy

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Thursday 3 September 2026 13:55

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If you are in the UK, September pretty much ends the prospect of a heatwave for another eight months at least.

But in Italy, they are still well and truly cooking. They are cooking so much that at this weekend's F1 Italian Grand Prix the FIA have declared an official heat hazard for the race.

A statement from the governing body read: "In accordance with Article B1.5.10 of the FIA F1 Regulations, having received a forecast from the Official Weather Service predicting that the Heat Index will be greater than 31.0 °C at some time during the Race at this Competition, a Heat Hazard is declared."

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If only it was 31 degrees some drivers may be thinking. Temperatures won't drop below 33 degrees all weekend with that being the actual day of the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Qualifying though will be sweltering, with 35 degrees predicted. That's bad enough when you are down to the last of your undergarments to try and keep cool.

Now think of F1 drivers who have to wear a race suit, fireproof overalls, a crash helmet and be stuck inside a poorly ventilated race car giving off its own heat for at least an hour.

I'd stick with a zuppa inglese gelato under a shaded stand watching the action into turn one thanks.

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What is an F1 heat hazard?

But what does a heat hazard actually mean? It's not just a document from the FIA saying 'yep, it's bit hot today, lads'.

It triggers a procedure, allowing drivers to either wear a cooling vest or, to avoid gaining a performance advantage from not doing so, add a ballast of 0.5kg to their car.

Now given the above and knowing that you won't take a weight penalty from wearing the cooling vest, you might think who wouldn't take the chance for some cooling respite?

The answer lots of F1 drivers. This is because many have actually complained about the cooling vests, and not just for their comfort but also if they actually work.

This has become a big talking point among F1 drivers, given the FIA were hoping to make the vests mandatory.

Isack Hadjar wears a cooling vest with tubes shown on his chest and back

Drivers outspoken on cooling vests

You probably won't be surprised to know F1's creature of habit Max Verstappen isn't a big fan. He said back in October: "I feel like this needs to be a driver choice.

"Of course, from the FIA side, they will always throw it on safety, but then we can talk about a lot of stuff that can be improved on safety - including pit entries in certain places.

"I think that has a bit more priority than a vest in the car because I don't like it. I don't like the tubes that are on you, on your body, with the belts that go next to you."

But he was backed up by his rivals including Lewis Hamilton who added: "I don't think it should ever be forced on drivers. They keep saying it's a safety issue, but there's no driver that's ever died from overheating in the race, apart from obviously in flames back in the day.

"It's just getting silly now; that should be our choice to have it."

It was Charles Leclerc who dropped the ultimate bombshell though, saying it eventually became useless anyway.

"I don't think the system is quite ready for any teams for it to be mandatory because it can have its downside and can actually feel worse in the car," he said.

"In some scenarios where when the ice is gone, you have no cold water coming into your vest, but you've got hot water coming into your vest and it's not a nice feeling."