The FIA have issued a rare ‘level 4’ rain weather warning for Saturday at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
A similar scenario could play out this year, with running on Friday – including the one and only practice session and sprint qualifying – unlikely to be affected by rain.
Yet on Saturday, an ‘orange alert’ weather warning has been issued for the Sao Paulo region – indicating an extratropical cyclone – with rain in the region of 60mm/h, alongside intense winds of 60km/h.
There is extremely heavy rain on the forecast, with the sprint race at 11am local time (2pm GMT) showing a “high chance” of showers, up to level 3/4.
For context, level 4 is the highest level of rain on the weather system of F1’s governing body. The FIA has issued an 80% chance of rain on Saturday morning.
For qualifying at 3pm local time (6pm GMT), the chance of rain decreases to 40%, though the weather is known to change rapidly around the Interlagos circuit.
On Sunday, there is a moderate chance of rain – around 20% – but conditions will remain overcast, with a chance of one light shower during the race at 2pm local time (5pm GMT).