After a 4-week-long break from racing drivers will return to the track for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for Round 5 of the 2023 championship season this weekend. But what weather is in store for the teams this weekend?
In the first two races of the season – Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, drivers were met with hot and humid temperatures. While in Australia, the drivers experienced low temperatures with the possibility of rain. Although heading into the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the drivers will once again face warm temperatures.
Weather Forecast for the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
According to Autosport, the upcoming weekend, Friday will feature FP1 and the qualifying session which will set the grid for the race day on Sunday. On Sunday, the temperatures are predicted to be warm with about 8 to 9 hours of sunshine.
The possibility of rain is low so the teams would set their strategies accordingly. The practice session is set to be held during the afternoon while the qualifying will take place during the afternoon.
Temperatures are set to fluctuate between 22 to 23 degrees Celsius with the afternoon set to be the hottest time of the day. Furthermore, similar temperatures are predicted for Saturday.
Saturday will feature the entirety of the new Sprint format. This means that on Saturday morning a separate short qualifying (Sprint shootout) for the Sprint race will be held. The latter is expected to take place later in the day. The drivers will also experience a moderate breeze in the South to South-East direction with partly Sunny and partly cloudy weather.
Weather Forecast on the race day
The race day – Sunday – is expected to be the hottest day of the upcoming weekend. Temperatures are forecasted to increase to 26 degrees Celsius. Moreover, some reports have also predicted rain to pour locally.
However, the chances of rain on the track are highly unlikely. With the temperatures predicted to reach up to 26 degrees Celsius, the track would also be warmer than the rest of the week. Therefore, the teams will set their tire strategy accordingly.
The weekend is also set to feature a new format for the Sprint race. This means that the usual FP2 session has now been removed and replaced with a Sprint shootout. The removal of this FP2 session might affect quite a lot of teams since many teams depend on the two practice sessions to improve the setup of their car for the race weekend.
