Austin qualifying set to be dry, but Sunday rain chance split 0% to 20%
Qualifying for the United States Grand Prix starts at 4pm local time on Saturday, with temperatures around 31C and no rain forecast. Sunday's race is less clear: the rain chance is given as 0% by one outlet and about 20% by another, so the weather stays a variable once the grid is set.
Saturday: dry for FP3 and qualifying
GPFans, in a forecast updated on the afternoon of 24 October, said FP3 starts at 12:30 local time in sunshine at about 26C. Qualifying starts at 16:00 local at around 31C, with no rain expected. The article does not mention wind.
PlanetF1's forecast of 21 October is similar for Saturday: a high of 30C and a 0% chance of rain. It put the wind at a mild 10mph or so and said cloud is possible but track temperatures should stay high. Neither outlet expects a wet qualifying session.
Sunday: 0% versus 20%, and wind is a factor
The race starts at 14:00 local (8pm UK). GPFans put the high at about 28C and the chance of rain at 0% for the whole day. PlanetF1 had about 30C at lights out and a rain chance of around 20%, which it described as low. It also said winds of up to roughly 35kph are possible, linked to a storm system over the Central U.S. Plains. The two forecasts were issued almost three days apart, with GPFans the more recent. The sources alone do not show which is right.
Session times
| Session | Local (CDT) | UTC | Korea time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying | Sat 16:00 | Sat 21:00 | Sun 06:00 |
| Race | Sun 14:00 | Sun 19:00 | Mon 04:00 |
The local times are as given by GPFans; UTC and Korea time are converted from the 8pm UK start (19:00 UTC). This is an hour off the Monday 5am Korea time this site gave earlier, so check the official timetable.
The takeaway for the weekend: qualifying looks very likely to be dry, while Sunday's rain and wind remain a split forecast. Sunday morning's updated forecast will matter most for tyre strategy and safety-car chances.