Teams face disruption to their plans for the first practice session of 2016 as rain is forecast to hit Melbourne tomorrow. Saturday’s qualifying session could also be affected by wet weather but dry conditions are expected for race day.
Between 10 and 25 millimetres of rain are forecast to fall tomorrow with a very high probability that it will arrive during the morning. Thunderstorms are possible in the run-up to the first 90-minute practice session of the year which is due to begin at 12:30 local time.
Windy conditions will make taking to the track extra-risky for those who do decide to venture out. The forecast improves as the day goes on and any rain which does fall may dry up in time for the second practice session.
The risk of rain on Saturday is not as high but if it does arrive the timing is likely to coincide with the first qualifying session of the year. Maximum temperatures will fall from 20C on Friday to 18C on Saturday.
By Sunday the conditions should be sunny and much more settled. Temperatures of up to 21C are expected on race day. The wind will continue to drop and the risk of rain is negligible.
For more updates on the track conditions during each session keep an eye on F1 Fanatic Live and the F1 Fanatic Twitter account.
Location of Albert Park
See the location of every race on the 2016 F1 calendar here:
2016 Australian Grand Prix
- Elimination qualifying officially replaced by 2015 format
- Halo would have been “welcome” in crash – Alonso
- Alonso takes new power unit after crash
- Third Driver of the Weekend win for Grosjean
- F1 enjoys best season-opening race since 2009
tony
17th March 2016, 12:41
fantastic
ColdFly F1 (@)
17th March 2016, 14:39
Who needs musical chairs qualification when we have Melbourne weather?
MaddMe
17th March 2016, 12:56
Should make for an interesting quali then… Especially under the new format…
Robbie (@robbie)
17th March 2016, 12:58
Unfortunate…would like to see where everyone stands in relation to each other without the lottery the wet provides, especially for this first weekend, but what a ya gonna do. At least it sounds like it won’t be the whole weekend.
Tristan
17th March 2016, 13:11
Eh? There’s going to be plenty of races ahead to see where everyone stands. A headline grabbing sensational opener with lots of contested racing action can only be good for F1.
Robbie (@robbie)
17th March 2016, 13:26
In your opinion, but for me I never like the wet for racing, and I don’t find it sensational to watch cars going 10 or 15 seconds slower and drivers having to drive like on black ice. Still remains for me that if we need wet conditions to make F1 sensational then there’s a problem…but then, we know that.
Tristan
17th March 2016, 13:34
I don’t really think it’s just my opinion that a good first race rather than a repeat of last years procession would be good for F1. Of course it’s not sensational to watch cars going 10 or 15 seconds slower, but that’s rarely the case.
A bit of rain that the predictions say we’re getting to randomise qually a bit (beyond whatever clusterf* of results this knockout system provides) to produce more interesting battles during the race can only be a good thing.
Robbie (@robbie)
17th March 2016, 17:06
That’s fair enough, but for me it is not interesting when the only reason things were a bit scrambled or unusual was because of the lottery effect. So in other words if there is an asterisk beside the race due to weather, that is not compelling to me. I’d rather be compelled by close racing in the dry. In the wet I’m just sitting there thinking ya but it’s a lottery so nothing to hang your hat on.
SatchelCharge (@satchelcharge)
17th March 2016, 13:30
Australia is really not a good indication of where teams stand compared to other gp though…
Jerejj
17th March 2016, 14:17
Yes, because Albert Park isn’t a permanent circuit.
PeterG
17th March 2016, 13:16
Always hate it when the season opener is wet because I like to see where everyone’s true performance is straight off the bat.
Bustertje
17th March 2016, 14:31
Lucky us there are 20 rematches! lol
Man United_Vettel (@siegfreyco)
17th March 2016, 14:23
It would wreak havoc with the new qualifying format. I hope that would cause them to revert to the older formats
kpcart
17th March 2016, 15:34
the thing I hate about modern f1, I bet there will be no running and periods of long breaks if it is raining. rain means no racing. the tracks have to be starting to dry out for wet weather driving to occur in modern f1, for safety reasons, but that is why no teams bother testing wet tyres. anyway, If it rains, we probably wont get a good impression of the order until next races, which is good and could through up an interesting race and interesting result. new qualifying, radio ban, rain, and great Melbourne trackis all good to my ears.
Scalextric (@scalextric)
17th March 2016, 16:06
Two problems with this: 1) The session is on at a convenient time here tonight and running might be limited. 2) We had to see a picture of that FI nose again. And they say this year’s cars are ugly.
Matn
17th March 2016, 17:49
Let’s pray for a wet race… best change to see the best drivers floating above.
Verstappen alomst got the podium at Austin, with just a tad more horsepower he could be in about every other drivers gearbox
Baron (@baron)
17th March 2016, 18:47
Some people are NEVER satisfied. Personally delighted the season is starting again and glad I’m not that anally retentive that I wold expect everything lined up polished and perfect. Bring it on! Whatever IT turns out to be…
Baron (@baron)
17th March 2016, 18:49
*would* – apologies….
Todfod (@todfod)
18th March 2016, 5:30
Agree. I’m just happy the season is finally starting. I couldn’t be least bothered whether it’s wet, dry, sunny, gloomy, hot, cold or luke warm. Nor am I interested in finding out the pecking order straight away, as Australia isn’t always the best circuit to give that order. If we can get an exciting race this Sunday, that’s more than what I could ask for.
f1azzer (@)
18th March 2016, 10:07
I hope we never find a pecking order, at least not until the final race. Let’s have a real mix-up of results and be on the edge of our seats race after race! At least then my ‘predictions’ will have a better chance of putting ME on the top step of the podium ;-}
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
17th March 2016, 23:54
For those who read the headlines but not the actual article. The rain is scheduled for FRIDAY, Saturday is looking like it should be dry & right now Sunday is going to be dry.
As such the only thing the rain is guaranteed to do is ensure not much running today for those who get up early, stay up late & of course those who have gone to the circuit.