Drivers will have a dry weekend at Circuit of the Americas for the United States Grand Prix, but may have to contend with high winds through its many fast corners.
This weekend sees the ten teams head to the Texan capital for the first of three consecutive rounds in the USA, Mexico and Brazil.Thankfully for the drivers, it looks set to be a relatively simple introduction to the first of two triple-headers to end the season. No rain is expected to fall across the three days of the sprint race weekend.
Friday will start off warm with temperatures just above 20C for the sole practice session of the weekend just after mid day. Then, the qualifying session for the sprint race will take place at the hottest point of the day, with the mercury rising to almost 30C.
Saturday will be slightly milder, with cloudy skies for the sprint race in the early afternoon a few degrees cooler than Friday. But the temperature for grand prix qualifying should be near identical to sprint qualifying.
The grand prix itself on Sunday should take place under an early autumn Texan sun with clear skies expected and temperatures again around the 30 degree mark with zero risk of rain affecting proceedings.
But the biggest weather related challenge that drivers will face in Austin is the gusty winds around the circuit. Friday’s sprint qualifying in particular will be windy, with north-westerly gusts of 40kph blowing right across the track. That could upset the cars as they navigate the fast esses over the first half of the lap – something drivers have regularly struggled with so far this season.
Thankfully as the weekend progresses, the winds will become less severe. However, there is still up to 30kph winds expected to blow in a cross wind through the fast sweepers on Sunday. Aside from the wind, conditions for grand prix Sunday should be very similar to last year’s race.
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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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David BR (@david-br)
17th October 2024, 18:47
Why thankfully? Unless the winds are dangerously high, for me it adds some extra drama to the weekend with more car control demanded and maybe an element of luck.
Dom (@3dom)
17th October 2024, 18:55
Me and my wife have travelled to Austin from the UK for the race this year! Our first race abroad! Can’t wait. Were used to windy Silverstone, looking forward to seeing how the drivers cope with the conditions this weekend, including the wind and the dramatic change in temperatures between practice and main sessions. Also going to be interesting to see how the large number of teams bringing updates affects things too
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
17th October 2024, 19:22
@3dom Have fun! Hope it’s a great one for you.
Dom (@3dom)
17th October 2024, 19:51
Thanks @bernasaurus.
We’ve just found a great taproom called pinthouse brewing, so that’s a good start so far 🍻😄. Looking to find some Texan barbecue soon 😁.
Really like COTAs layout so hopefully we get good racing like we have done in the past