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Austrian Grand Prix weather forecast

Austrian Grand Prix weather: Will thunderstorms hit the Red Bull Ring?

30 June at 11:30
Last update 30 June at 11:15
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  • Ben Stevens

Last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix managed to stay dry, despite there being early chances of rain. This weekend, Austria was meant to be a much wetter weekend like the Canadian Grand Prix, but the very high chance of rain that was meant to fall on Sunday has disappeared. 

Weather forecast for the Austrian Grand Prix 

Teams came into Spielberg for the third sprint race of the season and expected rain to fall throughout the weekend. However, on Friday and Saturday, there was no rain in sight, with high temperatures gracing the Red Bull Ring and giving drivers dry running throughout, although tyre management on the hot tarmac has been an issue.

They will be going through the same process today for Sunday's race. Weather.com say temperatures will be at 29 degrees Celcius for 15:00 local time when the lights go out, with only a 5% chance of rain being forecast in Spielberg, much different from what was expected before the sprint weekend when there was a 28% chance of rainfall. However, the higher temperatures will increase tyre degradation, meaning strategy will play a big part throughout the race.

There are also moderate thunderstorm warnings from Weather.com that may hit Spielberg and the Red Bull Ring, with those warnings starting at 09:00 local time and stopping at 21:00 local time. The forecast says the storms will steer clear during the race, but there is a chance they may occur. The weather is just another element that will increase the tension this coming weekend. After Spain, it's clear that McLaren and Red Bull are very closely matched, with Mercedes and Ferrari not far behind.