Very slight risk of rain at Zandvoort, though the crowd may make its own clouds

Max Verstappen’s enthusiastic fans may turn the skies burnt orange at the Dutch Grand Prix this weekend. But there is a chance qualifying will take place with another kind of cloud sitting over the track.

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Weather forecasts indicate Formula 1 and the spectators at Zandvoort will enjoy a bright and warm day when practice begins on Friday. Air temperatures of 17C anticipated when the first track action begins with FIA Formula 3 in the morning and a rise to 20C by the time first practice for F1 begins at 12:30 local time.

Temperatures will continue to increase after that, with no chance of rain. Unsurprisingly, for a coastal track right next to the North Sea, there could be some strong gusts with an average wind speed of 12kph predicted through the day.

On Saturday the weather looks like it could get more interesting. Warmer air temperatures of 20C are expected by the time the day’s schedule begins, pushing track temperatures well into the thirties.

Smoke from flares enveloped the track at times last year

Qualifying for the grand prix will take place at the hottest time of the day, and the session’s start at 3pm local time should be dry. However there is an increasing risk of rain, currently rising to 51% in the final moments of Q3. This may prove brief, however: the risk of rain and thunder drops off ahead of Formula 2’s sprint race, which may nonetheless take place on a wet track.

Sunday will be the hottest day of the weekend and has a more similar look to Friday with dry conditions expected throughout. Winds will be far weaker on Sunday afternoon though, meaning if flares – which are usually prohibited from event spaces across Europe for safety reasons – are let off during any of the track sessions then there may not be enough wind to blow the resultant smoke away quickly.

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For more updates on the track conditions during each session keep an eye on RaceFans Live and the RaceFans Twitter account.

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7 comments on “Very slight risk of rain at Zandvoort, though the crowd may make its own clouds”

olpeculier (@olpeculier)
1st September 2022, 14:21
Even if I was a VER fan, I would not pay to go to a race where my view could be impaired by lunatics lighting flares. If they did it at Silverstone they would be booted out, arrested and fined.
It’s a shame that it will take an accident, on or off the track, to make these things prohibited to be taken into the circuit.
1. Velocityboy (@velocityboy)
  1st September 2022, 14:48
  Agreed
2. Red Andy (@red-andy)
  1st September 2022, 16:00
  Whoever provides security for Silverstone couldn’t even stop a track invasion despite repeated warnings that it was going to happen, @olpeculier, so I wouldn’t bank on them being able to identify and remove a flare user from a crowd of 100,000 or more.
  Anyway, the flares at Silverstone would be red, white and blue, which probably wouldn’t be so much of a problem for some reason.
  1. Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
    1st September 2022, 16:28
    @red-andy Silverstone checks every single bag for prohibited items, and includes flares of any colour among those prohibited items (due to its helicopter facilities and the rules surronding these). While it’s likely a few flares get missed when 140,000 people are in attendance, the vast majority would expect to have any flares confiscated if they were brought to the track. The reason you don’t get flare clouds blocking the track at Silverstone is due to those preventative measures – no need to remove anyone from the track when one can simply remove the flare before that person steps over the threshold.
    Contrast the Hungaroring, which also checks every bag, but last I checked permitted flares. Hence, flare clouds.
    Zandvoort bans flares (ironically) due to being so close to the coast, but I’ve never been there and so can’t comment on the bag check regime or how strictly the prohibition is enforced at that point. (Obviously, trying to stop that sort of thing post-bag-check is nearly impossible).
Simon
1st September 2022, 16:36
“…flares – which are usually prohibited from event spaces across Europe for safety reasons”
Except a) F1, b) flares emitting a particular colour smoke 🤔
1. Qeki (@qeki)
  1st September 2022, 17:06
  and so are “fanbombs/flares prohibited from football matches and they still bring them there
Qeki (@qeki)
1st September 2022, 17:09
I like them but couldn’t they light them after every car has finished or if Max doesn’t win or even finish that could also help ;)