Azerbaijan GP Weather Forecast: Will Soaring Heat Meddle With Reliability at High-Speed Baku?

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku is the perfect mix between exciting racing, interesting strategy calls, and mid-race drama. The 2021 race was no different. With Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on pole, Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen’s unusual tire blowout and a red flag were only a few things fans witnessed. And seemingly, the drivers’ championship could have swung in the favor of Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton, only for him to not have brakes into turn 1 and finish outside the points.

With the F1 circus now descending down into the street of Baku once again, fans are eagerly looking forward to the craziness that this circuit can offer. With the weather reported to be warm, will this bring out problems for teams and their engine? Will we see teams struggle with reliability gremlins? Or will the clouds open up and unleash rain onto the racetrack? 

Weather conditions for Baku over Friday and Saturday

It’s expected to be a warm start to the weekend on Friday’s Free Practice, with temperatures reaching as high as 79 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s expected to cool through the day and windy conditions are reported. However, as it stands, there is no indication of rain.  

For Saturday, it’s expected to be sunshine mixed with cloud cover and the temperature reaching as high as 83 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s showing a 3% chance of rain, but that’s as high as it’s going to get.

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Apart from that, it seems like a relatively sunny and warm weekend to be looking forward to. The winds across both Friday and Saturday are expected to be from 11-15 mph.  

Reliability issues on Sunday due to the heat?

So what does the forecast for the most important day of the weekend look like? Well, it’s expected to be sunny with no clouds in sight. Winds are going to be at their highest at 15 mph again, but nothing too dramatic. 

And much like the other days, rain seems to be off the table throughout the entire weekend. It’s going to be a relatively simple and straight weekend in terms of weather.  

Are teams going to be struggling with the heat? After Barcelona, many teams like Mercedes had issues with cooling and even the Ferrari ran into some trouble.  

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But regardless of the weather, Baku itself can throw in some pretty shocking surprises. Are we in for an intense race yet again? We shall find out in a few days.