Miami (AFP) – The start time of the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday could be moved up because of the risk of severe thunderstorms, top drivers said at a news conference on Thursday. Mexican driver Sergio Perez of the new American Cadillac team said he understood that the forecast was “looking really bad” and that emergency changes were being considered.
Some local forecasters predicted there was an 85% chance of heavy thunderstorms hitting the Miami International Autodrome on Sunday afternoon when the race is scheduled to start at 1600 local time (2000 GMT). “There is a meeting later on with the FIA to double-check the scenario for Sunday because apparently it’s looking really bad,” said Perez. “We’ll see if there are any changes on the schedule for the weekend.”
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There’s precedent for such a schedule change. The 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix was rescheduled for an earlier start to avoid heavy storms forecast for later in the day. Last year’s Miami sprint race was delayed by heavy rain and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crashed his car during a pre-race installation lap in worsening conditions.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri warned that few of the drivers had any experience driving this year’s new era hybrid cars in wet conditions. “I don’t think many of us have driven these cars in the rain before,” he said. “Maybe a couple of people did in Barcelona at the shakedown, but I think they’re going to be challenging cars to drive in the rain just because of some of the quirks that they have.
And, obviously, normally if it rains in Miami — it does it properly! So we’ll have to wait and see. It’ll be interesting one way or another.”
© 2024 AFP
