Rain and Spa go together like frites and mayonnaise.
But although a spell of wet weather does feature in the forecast for this weekend, at the moment it is not expected to affect the race.
Friday’s two practice sessions are the most likely to see wet running. After that the rain is expected to clear up with a good chance of a dry qualifying session and race.
But this region is notorious for its rapidly-changing weather conditions and there may be changes in the forecast between now and Sunday.
Temperatures are likely to be on the cool side to begin with. Although the weekend will get warmer the maximum temperature is likely to be no higher than around 17C. Tomorrow will be a chilly 11C.
There will be regular updates on the track conditions during each session on F1 Fanatic Live and the F1 Fanatic Twitter account.
Location of Spa-Francorchamps
See the location of every race on the 2012 F1 calendar here:
Image © Force India F1 Team
Uncle Ben (@uncleben)
30th August 2012, 10:18
Weather radar available on http://www.buienradar.be/
That said, weather forecasts are always tricky, but I guess it will be even harder to forecast what the podium will be! Lotus are in for a strong result, but they will have to battle Red Bull and Ferrari all the way, with McLaren close behind.
And I hope (wish) Schumacher has a good race too!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
30th August 2012, 10:24
@uncleben Thanks for the link.
necrodethmortem (@necrodethmortem)
30th August 2012, 12:26
Here’s another weather forcast, with some nice graphs: http://meteo1.standaard.be/weer/francorchamps
Friday: 96% chance of heavy rain, 8-9°C (!)
Saturday: mostly dry, but 15% chance of drizzle around qualifying, 13-14°C
Sunday: dry, 16°C
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
30th August 2012, 11:29
Depending on what upgrades they bring then, could rule Lotus out of this one. They’ve been stronger in warm conditions on medium or high downforce tracks (Catalunya, Bahrain and Hungary), and probably suits Alonso and Ferrari (sigh) more…
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
30th August 2012, 13:45
@craig-o Plus, if it’s wet then DRS will be disabled and they won’t get to evaluate their fancy-pants new DDRS.
Though I guess they will have factored this eventuality in. If you can guarantee rain anywhere it’s Malaysia and Spa.
jh1806 (@jh1806)
30th August 2012, 14:46
The Lotus DDRS is totally independent of DRS – I suspect their thinking is to get up the order on Saturday to give them a head-start on Sunday
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
30th August 2012, 22:01
@jh1806 Ah yes, you make a good point. I need to check it all out on Scarbs and such :)
Victor. (@victor)
30th August 2012, 16:52
I hope it rains during the race so DRS is disabled. Having said that I’d like Lotus to have a dry qualifying.
Ritvik Vinodkumar (@ritvik-vinodkumar)
30th August 2012, 12:21
The weather during belgian grand prix since 2004:
2004: dry
2005: wet
2007: dry
2008: wet
2009: dry
2010: wet
2011: dry
So now we know what to expect this weekend :-P
F1forever
30th August 2012, 13:53
yes, wet or dry
ubik
30th August 2012, 14:32
very good :))
BBQ2
30th August 2012, 14:17
LOL, time to break the chain then … or?
Sherlock
30th August 2012, 13:40
If tomorrow during free practice it is in fact 8c wouldn’t it be the coldest free practice? Does FIA or anyone even collects such information about temperatures?
Girts (@girts)
30th August 2012, 14:06
I´m now in Aachen, which is around 60 km away from the circuit. The weather here is nice, around 20 C or even a bit more and there has been quite a lot of sun and no rain at all today. But, as the article says, it´s likely to change tomorrow and after that let´s just wait and see.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
30th August 2012, 14:39
it’s not all about weather the race or the qualifying will be dry or wet , the crucial thing in spa is making the right decision in the changeable conditions i remember Fernando Alonso having bad qualifying in the last couple of years because wrong calls from his box so the drivers & the teams must have psychological preparation to face the stress of the changeable conditions
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
30th August 2012, 14:40
soorryyyyy its whether
Julian (@julian)
30th August 2012, 14:46
Rain and Spa go together like fries and mayonnaise
SatchelCharge (@satchelcharge)
30th August 2012, 19:28
I’m pretty sure it’s a European thing, frites. I agree through, I read the first line as, “Rain is a rare sight at Spa-Francorchamps.” ;)
--- (@brazil2007)
30th August 2012, 19:46
“Frites” is French for fries.
Tete
30th August 2012, 19:48
No like fries and ketchup. Now I’m hungry
necrodethmortem (@necrodethmortem)
30th August 2012, 21:59
Well, we invented and perfected the thing and we eat it with mayonnaise; you’re just barbarians :P
FYI the only reason Yanks call it French fries is because it was introduced to them by francophone Belgians and they were too ignorant to know that not every francophone is French.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
30th August 2012, 22:06
Nope, they’re called frites in Belgium. And delicious they are too.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
31st August 2012, 7:59
“You know what they put on French fries in Belgium instead of ketchup?”
“What?”
“Mayonnaise.”
“Goddamn!”
“I’ve seen ’em do it, man. Practically drown ’em in the stuff.”
Senya ryazanov
30th August 2012, 15:16
Our forecast for Spa-Francorchamps Circuit a very WET Fri with possible thunderstorms but a BRIGHT and SUNNY race weekend: http://www.myweather2.com/Motor-Racing/Belgium/Spa-Francorchamps-Circuit.aspx?sday=0&eday=7
Check out our geeky track temperature charts for SPA circuit here:
http://www.myweather2.com/activity/hourimage.aspx?tagid=20121451073008&id=42081
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
30th August 2012, 18:51
I just hope the weather doesn’t lead to another Ferrari win: a Red Bull/Hamilton/Räikkönen win would keep the championship interesting at the front.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
30th August 2012, 19:44
rainy conditions doesn’t lead automatically to a Ferrari win it’s true that Fernando comes alive in the rain but the Red Bull’s were not so catastrophic in rainy conditions they were 2nd in both qualifying sessions in Germany & in Silverstone as for your Championship concern i can ensure you that a win for Ferrari (current 4th fastest car) will just make the championship more interesting
Michael Brown (@)
31st August 2012, 1:45
Mercedes has the weather and the tires on their side. Hopefully their car will be reliable enough to finish.
Kimi4WDC
31st August 2012, 3:07
More cars between Raikkonen and Alonso, the better!!! :)
Seanus
31st August 2012, 21:32
I know this could be difficult to judge but is this the wettest F1 season ever? Wet weather seems to have featured in the majority of F1 race weekends this year.
A lot of the time, this has effectively made practice session(s) reduntant because the forecast for the rest of the weekend was to be dry or the teams wanted to save their tyres for the remaining wet running required (qualy & race).
I love wet weather running but I’m getting to the stage where I’m disappointed to see wet weather forecast because it basically means reduced running time which impacts teams’ development of their cars.
The unforeseen shower/monsoon (or Bernie’s sprinklers) is what’s needed in my opinion.