FIA Issue Rare Warning Before Brazilian GP After Emergency Update
The Brazilian Grand Prix takes place in Sao Paulo this weekend.
Ryan Smart
The FIA have issued a warning to both drivers and teams ahead of this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix.
The race, which is set to be held at the Autodromo Carlos Pace in Interlagos, Sao Paulo on Sunday, will be preceded by a sprint weekend.
Qualifying for the sprint will take place on Friday evening, with the sprint race, as usual, hosted on the Saturday before qualifying for the main Grand Prix.
Rain is expected towards the end of Saturday and throughout Sunday, meaning teams may need to put in extra preparation for intermediate or, despite becoming increasingly rare in F1, wet tyre running.
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The Sao Paulo government issued a severe storm warning for the state on Friday, as per Brazilian outlet Click Petroleo e Gas, with an extratropical cyclone off the southeast coast expected to cause winds of up to 115km/h, as well as heavy rain and lightning.
The government have set up a crisis office for Saturday, while the state's Civil Defense System will be on standby.
The storm is not expected to hit anywhere close to the circuit, but the heavy rain risk for Interlagos has prompted the FIA to issue a rare warning.
As per RacingNews365, the FIA have reported that there is a high chance of rain up to level 4, which is the highest level of rain on their weather forecasting system.
It is forecast to hit the circuit two hours before Saturday's sprint race, it is added, with level 2/3 rain expected throughout much of Saturday.
Last season's Brazilian Grand Prix was memorably rain-affected, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen carving through the field to win the race after qualifying down in P17.
The start had to be aborted after Lance Stroll spun off during the formation lap and stalled his Aston Martin, while a red flag had to be displayed mid-race due to poor visibility and two safety cars were deployed.
It was a nightmare race for McLaren, with Lando Norris qualifying on pole but dropping to second at the start, before McLaren's decision to pit him and leader George Russell for new tyres while others stayed out dropped them to fourth and fifth.
Norris dropped a further place on the final safety car restart after sliding off at turn one to come home in sixth, while team-mate Oscar Piastri was given a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Liam Lawson and finished eighth.