Sergio Perez, Racing Point, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020

Cooler weather in Barcelona for Spanish GP and chance of rain on race day

2021 Spanish Grand Prix weather

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Last year’s Spanish Grand Prix was held in hotter conditions than usual. Of course, this was because the race was delayed due to the pandemic from its usual May slot to mid-August, when it caught the end of a warm spell.

F1’s visit to the Circuit de Catalunya for the fourth round of the 2021 championship is taking place at its usual time of year. As a result, the race will be held in considerably cooler temperatures than last year, and there is even a chance of rain on Sunday.

Conditions will be fairly consistent across the opening two days of the race weekend, beginning tomorrow with two single-hour sessions. These will see air temperatures reach 23C, a good 8C down on last year’s Friday peak. The track temperatures, which topped out at 50C last year, will also be quite a bit cooler.

Saturday’s qualifying session will be held in slightly warmer conditions, with the mercury reaching the mid-20s. Like Friday, it will be a largely sunny day, so expect track temperatures to continue to rise.

Sunday will bring a change in the weather, the timing of which will be crucial for the grand prix, which starts at 3pm local time.

Following another sunny start to the day, the cloud will build in the afternoon, bringing with it a moderate chance of rain. This may arrive too late to interfere with the race, but is certainly a possibility the teams’ strategists will monitor carefully between now and race day. Even if the rain doesn’t arrive, maximum air temperatures of 23C will again be well shy of the 30C seen on Sunday last year.

F1 cars are particularly sensitive to the wind at this exposed circuit with many high-speed direction changes. It will be a fairly consistent 10-20kph over the race weekend.

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For more updates on the track conditions during each session keep an eye on RaceFans Live and the RaceFans Twitter account.

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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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8 comments on “Cooler weather in Barcelona for Spanish GP and chance of rain on race day”

  1. It’s still warmer then Portugal so we will see if the rain really comes.

  2. Cooler than in August, but the usual for May. Warmer anyway at 23, 25, and 23 for the respective three days of running.
    I don’t have high hope for rain, given the low probability, but things can change.

  3. Wow rain in Barcelona! The last time it happened was 1996!

  4. I don’t believe until I see rain falling down on sunday.

  5. Ah the usual F1 rain. Brace yourselves for the same old radio messages predicting rain arriving in 10 minutes from Turn 5, leaving us all in suspense, which never arrives. I guess anything will make the processional Barcelona race slightly more entertaining though.

    1. Sprinklers then!

    2. Also if the said rain arrives, Bottas will be seen struggling at the back end of the grid.

    3. Don’t forget the obligatory shot of the radar screen with exciting blue blobs entirely missing the track.

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