The Italian Grand Prix could see a wet start when practice begins tomorrow and more rain later in the race weekend.
The final European round of the world championship will begin tomorrow at the circuit north of Milan. However there’s a strong chance the drivers will have tricky conditions to contend with.The weather is expected to take a turn this evening as temperatures fall and rain clouds arrive. The circuit should be well doused long before the start of the first practice session at 11am local time, and the rain is currently expected to linger well beyond that. Second practice, which begins at 3pm, is therefore likely to be wet too.
Saturday will bring a complete change. The skies are expected to clear up and Monza should be bathed in golden September sunlight, bringing the ambient temperatures up to 23-25C for the crucial hour of qualifying.
A bit of both is expected on Sunday: The day will begin wet, then the sun will return in the afternoon. Whether conditions are likely to dry out in time for the race is not clear at the moment and could change between now and then, but if nothing else the return of the rain will reset the track conditions.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
For more updates on the track conditions during each session keep an eye on RaceFans Live and the RaceFans Twitter account.
2019 Italian Grand Prix
- Top ten pictures from the 2019 Italian Grand Prix
- 2019 Italian Grand Prix Star Performers
- Why Binotto told Leclerc “today you are forgiven” after Monza win
- Ferrari’s new hero Leclerc single-handedly beats Mercedes at Monza
- Stewards did not consider disqualifying Vettel for “dangerous” rejoin
DAllein (@)
5th September 2019, 8:29
Wet race? Meh…
Hope it is nice and sunny. Hate lotteries, like in Hockenheim this year.
ColdFly (@)
5th September 2019, 10:26
Nothing lottery; driver skills become more important. @dallein
And less dependent just on who has the best car (Meh)!
A wet race every 4-5 races would be great for F1.
RB13
5th September 2019, 12:49
Genuinely the first person i’ve encountered on the internet who didn’t enjoy Hockenheim this year. I strongly disagree with your assessment btw.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
6th September 2019, 2:30
I also disagree, hockenheim 2019 best race of the last decade!
Srdjan Mandic (@srga91)
5th September 2019, 9:10
Most weather reports even forecast light rain to middle-intensity showers for Sunday afternoon.
I wonder how this will affect quali. Will teams be forced to go for a compromised setup to cover both possibilities (dry and wet) or will they gamble on either a full dry or wet setup (like Bottas did in Canada 2013, where he put his slow Williams in P3 in quali, but dropped back lap by lap in the race).
This might also affect the Friday sessions. Given the weather situation, teams might want to focus on running a lot in the wet, to gather lots of data for Sunday.
Robert
5th September 2019, 11:14
Too bad they don’t have that many wet / intermediate tires. They probably want to test, like you say, but also have to save wet tires for the race…
Srdjan Mandic (@srga91)
5th September 2019, 12:58
I know, but maybe Pirelli can bring some additional sets this weekend, given the weather situation.
joshua
8th September 2019, 13:54
i absoloutely agree with you about what is going to happen
Witan
5th September 2019, 9:21
The engineers are going to earn their money making a set up to meet that weather pattern.
I, too, hope it is not the German lottery. Rain is one thing and welcome, but tracks with ice rinks attached to slimy corners is quite another. Luckily I don’t think Monza has such a snare. But it does have some gravel. Not enough, but some.
Mouse_Nightshirt (@mouse_nightshirt)
5th September 2019, 10:17
It’s been said Monza will become a foregone conclusion and the Ferraris will disappear off into the distance. Rain may very well bring the Mercs back into play. Will be interesting to see how this pans out.