Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Red Bull Ring, 2021

Dry sprint race, damp grand prix likely in Austria

2022 Austrian Grand Prix weather

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Formula 1 held two races on consecutive weekends at the Red Bull Ring last year in quite different, albeit consistently dry, conditions.

There’s two races on the bill again this weekend – but this time they’re on consecutive days, as part of F1’s sprint event format. And the conditions in the two races could differ sharply.

A dry Friday is expected for first practice and qualifying, after light showers on Thursday. Ambient temperatures are expected to fall shy of 20C, however, and with cloud covering the sky for much of the day, track temperatures are likely to be in the low 30s.

A slightly warmer day is expected on Saturday and the sun may peek through the clouds when the drivers line up for the first of the weekend’s races at 4:30pm local time.

But rain is expected to arrive that night and showery conditions are forecast until around the start of the grand prix at 3pm on Sunday. These are not expected to be anything like as heavy as the downpour which hit the track in 2020, and the threat of rain will decrease as the day goes on.

At this early stage a race on a damp but drying track looks a distinct possibility. This would be similar to what F1 experienced at Imola, where the sprint race was dry but the grand prix was wet.

The Red Bull Ring is situated in the Styrian hills at an altitude of 660 metres. This is considerably higher than most F1 circuits – though well shy of Mexico City, at 2,200m – and the thinner air presents a set-up challenge for teams as it reduces the efficiency of their cooling systems. They will, therefore, welcome the cooler temperatures on grand prix day, peaking at 19C, some 10 degrees below what we saw last year.

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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11 comments on “Dry sprint race, damp grand prix likely in Austria”

  1. Shame it’s not the other way round.

  2. Jonathan Parkin
    7th July 2022, 11:30

    Pity we can’t have it the other way round. Dry Sprint Session and wet race

    1. Billy The Buggler
      7th July 2022, 12:58

      Thats exactly what it says, dry sprint, damp race? can you not read?!

      “Dry sprint race, damp grand prix likely in Austria”

    2. Joe Pineapples
      7th July 2022, 14:51

      “Dry sprint race, damp grand prix likely in Austria”

  3. Verstappen to win from Hamilton, both Ferrari drivers will crash out.

    1. Jonathan Parkin
      7th July 2022, 13:01

      Or alternatively Sainz wins again and gives Ferrari a headache

      1. Ferrari does not need Sainz to give themselves headaches

        1. thats also true

  4. Let’s hope this proves to be true. The worst part about this “sprint” thing is that it spoils the main race. It’s boring seeing things simply repeat, even if one race is more “real” than another. At least like this teams wouldn’t be able to perfect strategies and have all the data. Bad thing is that this will be used to “prove” how sprint is an exciting concept. I’m not sure what to hope for, good racing for short term benefits, or terrible events for long term benefits (so we be rid of sprints).

  5. IfImnotverymuchmistaken
    7th July 2022, 15:53

    We’ll se if some of the frontrunners opt for new parts, this is the optimal chance of minimising penalty effect.

  6. @keithcollantine have you got the tv times for this race?

Comments are closed.