F1 News
Weather update in Portimao: No rain, but tricky wind for the drivers
- GPblog.com
Where in Imola the first drops started to fall an hour before the race, that scenario seems impossible in Portimao. For a long time the F1 paddock looked forward to Sunday, where it was expected to rain, but the latest forecasts suggest that it will remain a dry race, where the wind may still play a role.
According to WeatherOnline it will remain dry this afternoon in Portimao, with the necessary sunshine. All expectations of rain can be officially binned. What the teams and drivers will have to take into account, is the wind. It will increase in intensity during the day.
Handling the wind is important
The Portimao circuit is expected to have winds of three to four and with the hilly nature of the circuit gusts of wind could still play a part. We already saw on Friday and Saturday that a gust of wind can make a driver lose control of the car. The wind will feel like a headwind on the long straight, while it will feel like a tailwind in almost every corner.
This will cause the cars to lose downforce and so it will be an extra element that the drivers will have to take into account, also because they can't afford to go too wide at some points.