Formula 1 will race at a new venue this weekend, though the Miami Grand Prix is not the first time the world championship has visited the state of Florida.
Back in 1959 the season ended with a December race in Sebring. Holding the race that late in the year reduced the risk of experiencing the peaks of heat and precipitation that occur in the American state which lies closest to the equator.Miami’s race takes place in early May for much the same reason. From this point on, the summer heat will begin to build, exacerbated by high humidity and punctuated by increasingly frequent thunderstorms.
However, early forecasts indicate F1 may not escape those this weekend. Above-average temperatures are expected as well as a slight risk of rain.
The heat will continue to build on Saturday, potentially reaching 32C. However cloudier conditions are also expected and slightly stronger wind.
By Sunday, the risk of rain is estimated at 25-45%. Those forecasts will firm up over the coming days. However they are in agreement that the heat will remain – race day is likely to be as warm as the rest.
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Kerry Maxwell (@kerrymaxwell)
5th May 2022, 16:14
Welcome to Miami! Enjoy the plastic water and weather like the inside of a jock strap!
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
6th May 2022, 8:46
Looking forward to the rain filling out that fake marina properly
mr_score (@mr_score)
6th May 2022, 18:55
Not only that, we’ll see the walls bust and cause street flooding, just like around Miami down town, ripping loose the boat ties and cause a new first, race car crashing into a yacht! 8O
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
5th May 2022, 16:15
I’ve seen the rain in Miami.
I tell you what, they wont be doing a few laps behind a safety car like at Spa if it comes down like when I was there!
Hiland (@flyingferrarim)
5th May 2022, 16:39
@nullapax
Yes, when it rains it comes down hard. With that said, the nice thing is that the rain passes through quickly and doesn’t sit around. On the other token, the storms can pop-up quickly.
Velocityboy (@velocityboy)
5th May 2022, 22:55
As you said the rain generally moves through quickly, but if it’s a thunderstorm the events are cancelled/postponed at minimum when you can hear thunder, so the storms often impact events well before the rain arrives and for some time after the rain has ended.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
6th May 2022, 8:47
In that case, should Pirelli have left the wets at home and saved on logistic costs if we don’t think they will run in the wet?
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
5th May 2022, 17:53
Same here @nullapax the only place I’ve ever actually been frightened by weather. To be fair, when god decides to turn the weather dial up to 11 in Florida there’s advanced warning and they’d probably just pull the event on safety grounds if its going to be that bad.
There are systems in place and it’s not like people aren’t aware of what can happen, I don’t know if F1 cockpits are completely sealed, but if they are drivers will be sitting in bathtubs.
some racing fan
5th May 2022, 20:14
But most times, when it rains in Florida, it comes down hard for about 10 minutes, and then after an hour or so the clouds go away and it’s like it never happened. If they had had this race earlier in the year (say 6 March) then it would have been held under cooler temps and a less chance of rain.
grat
6th May 2022, 8:37
Yeah, but all that rain coming down in the heat isn’t really enough to cool things down– so the rain stops, the sun comes back out, and the track turns into an instant sauna.
Rain in summer in Florida rarely cools things off– just drives the humidity up to 100%.
Jere (@jerejj)
5th May 2022, 17:23
Typical weather for Miami & Florida generally.
The First May quarter is decent, although April or March would work equally well.
some racing fan
5th May 2022, 20:12
They should have had this race on the 6 March as the first race of the year. 92 degrees with all that humidity is pretty punishing. But I guess either someone else had the facility for that time or, they wanted to save themselves the humiliation of such an important event failing, particularly as the first race of the season.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
6th May 2022, 8:49
I presume its because they had to wait until the end of the NFL season before they could start on any of the major work, so an earlier date wouldn’t have been physically possible.
It will be interesting to see if its possible to move the date earlier next year, since then it will only be a refurb rather than a new build.
kevin talbot
5th May 2022, 21:50
Minor correction: Hawaii at 20 degrees N latitide is “the American state which lies closest to the equator“. However, Florida is the closest of the contiguous 48 states at 25 degree N. Having visited Florida once, I’m sure the heat and humidity will be really miserable for the drivers. Looking forward to what seems will be a great race at an exciting new venue here in the US.
Nell (@imabouttogoham)
5th May 2022, 22:28
Been a while since we’ve had a proper tropical race. Good to see cars in different climates.
David Cardinal (@digital-david)
6th May 2022, 3:45
Should be fun to watch. In a bit of US trivia, I think Hawaii had become the “Southernmost” US State by December, 1959. In any case, it’d be an amazing place for a race, but probably not financially practical. — David C.