Orange weather warning for Sao Paulo ahead of Friday’s qualifying

An orange weather warning for dangerous or disruptive conditions has been issued for Sao Paulo, and could cause havoc in Friday’s qualifying.

Brazil’s Interlagos circuit is hosting a Sprint weekend which means instead of two practice sessions on Friday, there will be just one followed by qualifying.

That’s scheduled to take place at 3pm local time with an orange alert weather warning in place from 10pm on Thursday night until 9pm on Friday.

Orange weather alert issued for Sao Paulo

An orange warning in a weather forecast that typically means that there is a medium to high risk of weather conditions that could be dangerous or disruptive.

According to the INMET alert, starting at 10pm last night, there could be “rain between 30 and 60 mm/h or 50 and 100 mm/day, intense winds (60-100 km/h), and hail. Risk of electricity cuts, damage to crops, falling trees and flooding.

“In case of gusts of wind: (do not take shelter under trees, as there is a risk of falling and electrical discharges and do not park vehicles near transmission towers and advertising signs). If possible, turn off electrical appliances and the general power supply.”

Formula 1 is no stranger to a wet Brazilian Grand Prix, and last year it opened the door to a shock pole position for Haas’ Kevin Magnussen who pipped Max Verstappen in the downpour. As for the last wet Grand Prix victory, that went to Lewis Hamilton in 2016.

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