F1 Canadian Grand Prix weather threat looms large as FIA declares rain hazard

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Canadian Grand Prix

F1 Canadian Grand Prix weather threat looms large as FIA declares rain hazard

Rain is expected to his Montreal at deeply unhelpful times on Sunday

By Chris Deeley.

Sunday 24 May 2026 17:55

The FIA has declared a 'rain hazard' at the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend, the second time in as many races they've taken the step.

With the forecast looking turbulent for Sunday's race, the hazard was declared ahead of qualifying on Saturday, during which George Russell took an increasingly important pole position and a race start free of tyre spray.

The 'rain hazard' rule is a new one for the 2026 season (you'll understand why that is shortly), but it isn't quite the gamechanger that it appears.

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The short version is: if the official forecast predicts a decent chance of rain, teams are allowed a very, very minimal amount of work on the cars in order to avoid excessive skid plank wear. Er. That's it. This is very much something that the teams need to know about, but fans shouldn't rip up their race-watching plans because of it.

What's a rain hazard in F1, anyway?

The hazard needs to be declared no later than two hours before qualifying, and if the cars are in parc ferme when a rain hazard is declared, work detailed in 'FIA-F1-DOC080' can be undertaken.

That's very much not a setup change concession for performance, though. This is because teams set up their cars with the assumption that their new active aero will be in play, reducing downforce on fast straights.

If it's raining and the active aero is reduced to zero or partial activation, then those cars will be sucked down onto the track more in the speedy sections, chipping away at their skid planks and risking disqualification.

To prevent a farcical situation with half the field disqualified after post-race inspections, teams under a rain hazard are allowed to change active front aero settings, which could see them reduce corner downforce and prevent plank wear in that way.

They will also, more simply, be allowed to adjust the ride height of their cars.

Got it? Good.

F1 FIA Canadian Grand Prix