Snow, Circuit de Catalunya, 2018

Start of testing postponed until noon as snow falls at track

2018 F1 season

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The start of day three of testing for the 2018 F1 season was postponed after snow fell at the circuit overnight.

The session eventually began three hours behind schedule at 12 noon local time (11am GMT). The start was delayed as the conditions prevented the medical helicopter from being able to fly.

The circuit operators confirmed the session will run without a lunch break and finish at 6pm local time.

Teams had previously discussed the possibility of extending the test due to the poor weather conditions at the track this week, however no plans to run on an extra day were agreed.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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29 comments on “Start of testing postponed until noon as snow falls at track”

  1. Is that a photoshoped image of the circuit? If not, it’s awesome!
    Guessing testing is off for today though.

  2. Daniil Kvyat isn’t the only Beast from the East ;o)

  3. Like I said yesterday, 9 different tyres simply aren’t enough. It’s time to introduce the Pirelli Sub Zero.

    1. Ha ha, nice one.

      And shuffle up the colours again, giving this one the white sidewall.

      1. I’m leaning towards neon yellow/green or bright orange for visibility.

  4. If this cold weather continues, the first race of the season will be a performance lottery, exciting.

  5. OK – help a poor chap from a warm country understand the challenge here. :-)

    The video above shows the track is nice and clear of snow, just wet. Props to the track management people for clearing it out.

    Now, what prevents the teams running wet tyres and getting wet handling performance information? Is it tyre temperatures? And would that be far different from temps found at… say… a wet Silverstone? The engines should be happier since they get better cooling, and denser air.

    Or is the problem just that these temperatures are not representative of running expected anywhere else, so while the data gathered might be of academic interest, it has no race relevance? As in, you can’t test any aero bits at the reduced speeds, engines all perform better than normal, etc.

    1. Ah, its the medical helicopter’s ability to fly that’s the constraint here. Assuming it were able to fly, would we have seen any teams on track?

      1. Maaaaaybe. But the extremely cold and wet conditions mean that the teams can hardly learn anything, while the slippery conditions, combined with the inability to get the tyres anywhere near their operating window, greatly increase the risk of accidents. With the exception of a handful of reconnaissance laps, there probably wouldn’t be any on-track action.

    2. @phylyp I though it were the cars cleaning the track, at least with those snowplough style front-wings

      1. @johnmilk – Now I don’t know if you’re serious, pulling my leg, or just making fun of the front wings. :-)

        But yes, the front wings have grown to snow-plough sizes, especially since they run the width of the car.

        1. @phylyp apart from being serious, all of the above

  6. I couldn’t see any marshals in their posts on that lap. They’re not out there, are they?

  7. That recon lap looked absolutely awesome. I hope we see some of the F1 teams put their cars out for a few laps. Visually it would be a treat to watch those F1 cars on track with beautiful and white ‘no margin for error’ run off areas.

    1. Very postcard-like, wasn’t it? :-) @todfod

      1. Verstappen has some experience ;)
        https://youtu.be/LgFyFGeL604

        1. Heh, gotta admire Red Bull for their various publicity stunts in various locales.

          That seems to be a 60-second teaser, also came across this longer one on YouTube after seeing that clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYOrlcW2LBw

      2. @phylyp

        Would look pretty surreal

  8. Honestly, how is this possible? How is it possible that snow can stay on the ground on approximately sea level on a southerly located venue?

    1. Global warming. OK more precisely, change in solar sunspot activity.

    2. Global “warming”. People really believes in that ****? Actually Barcelona had a heavy snowfall in 2010, the biggest since 1985.

    3. @jerejj
      Honest answer to an honest question:
      The current weather situation was caused by a weakening of the polar vortex in the lower stratosphere, where temperatures have been almost 50° C higher than they should be. This unusual warming has split the normally contiguous polar vortex into two smaller vortices, one of which has been wreaking havoc in the Pacific Northwest (and an early spring on the East Coast), while the other one has drifted south over Europe and North Africa, pulling cold air from Siberia all the way to southwestern Europe and North Africa with its counterclockwise rotation.
      This extremely cold air has affected different parts of Europe differently: While central and northeastern Europe were hit by severe frost (-10° and lower), but next to no precipitations, coastal areas such as Italy and Spain didn’t experience as sharp a drop in temperatures, but heavy snowfall, both of which is a consequence of the stored heat and humidity of the Mediterranean.
      Paradoxically, while it’s been cold enough to freeze … certain exposed body parts off a brass monkey, at least in Europe, this situation is due to a net warming of the atmosphere, because the extreme “heat” in the polar region more than makes up for the unusual cold in Europe.

      1. Does that answer your question?

        1. @nase Yes.

          1. @jerejj
            Picture me delighted.

  9. How strange. In Northeastern US we’re experiencing record high temps whereas usually it would regularly be below freezing. This world is changing so fast.

  10. Climate change is real! (only in the sense that it has always been in a constant state of change)
    The chicken little climate nuts crack me up. They say we will all die if the temp changes 2 degrees. Based on the pictures in Spain, I think we could use a little global warming about now.
    How about we ditch the idea that F1 has to go green with the cars. The amount of fuel used to move the F1 circus around the planet is a thousand times greater than anything the cars on track use or emit. But I think the whole climate argument is used just like everything else. It is a political tool to control and distribute wealth. Ok, getting off my soap box. Bring on the Pirelli Sub Zeroes and lets get this season back on track. Hopefully we get at least a 3 or 4 way fight up front. This time of year is always so exciting leading up to Australia….

  11. Let Kimi and Bottas test; they are finns.

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