Fernando Alonso, McLaren, Monaco, 2018

Risk of rain reduces for Monaco Grand Prix weekend

2019 Monaco Grand Prix weather

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A week ago, at the end of the post-race test at the Circuit de Catalunya, Kimi Raikkonen was asked what he thought about the forecast of rain for the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix.

Sensibly, Raikkonen pointed out the race was still a week and a half away at the time, so there wasn’t much point in worrying about the weather forecast yet.

While advances in weather forecasting have improved its accuracy, relying on long-range weather predictions can always be tricky. Sure enough, a week later the original predictions of rain during F1’s weekend on the Cote d’Azur have been revised, though a slight chance of precipitation remains.

As ever, the track action will begin a day earlier than at every other race, on Thursday, when the drivers can expect to be greeted by the best conditions of the event. Thursday should be sunny throughout, though it will be somewhat of a cool day, with air temperatures peaking shy of 20C.

The track temperature should be around 10C higher, but given how little grip the track usually has on the first day of the race weekend, tyre graining may prove a problem for teams, especially on the harder compounds. No wonder some of them have selected the maximum available number of soft tyres.

On Friday, when the F1 cars are in the garages but the F2 drivers hit the track for their first race in the morning, the skies will cloud over. The following day, including final practice and qualifying for the F1 teams, looks the most unpromising, with around a one-in-five chance of showers at some point during the day, which could add extra drama to qualifying.

With the race still four days away, forecasts differ somewhat for Sunday. While some indicate a repeat of Saturday, with a lower chance of rain, others predict the skies will turn sunny again and air temperatures will hit weekend highs of 22C. But for now the threat of rain during the 77th running of the Monaco Grand Prix appears to have receded.

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Author information

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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11 comments on “Risk of rain reduces for Monaco Grand Prix weekend”

  1. In other words, the Monaco GP is being run on Saturday.

    1. Hotter temps will certainly play into hands of Silver Arrows.

  2. Jesper (@jesperfey13)
    22nd May 2019, 8:55

    Please let it rain! But we’ll probably see what always happens in F1 when rain is forecasted. The session is over and then the rain comes pooring down..

  3. I fear Mercedes has the best car for rain too.

    1. It as been proven on quite a few occasions in last few years that the low rake cars have a benefit in wets.

  4. Lenny (@leonardodicappucino)
    22nd May 2019, 9:10

    Not going to lie, that title is a little misleading. I got really excited at first because i read “risk of rain falls” as ‘risk of rain showers’.

    1. @leonardodicappucino – it appears Keith heard you, it now reads “reduces” instead of “falls” 😊

  5. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    22nd May 2019, 9:41

    Shame. Rain was about the only thing that was going to make this race interesting.

    1. Agreed. Unfortunately it’s gonna be another Monaco where the yachts are more interesting than the race. Rain would have helped.

    2. No rain=boring procession , overtaking is impossible with the wide cars. Hoping for a good quali but I expect another Merc 1-2 unless Lewis is still crying on Saturday .

  6. Did a journalist really ask Kimi that question? What a waste of time… Kudos to Kimi for answering that, must’ve been quite awkward in the press room.

    You get to ask a formula 1 driver a question and the best thing you can come up with is the weather at Monaco in two weeks time?

Comments are closed.