Well, that was entertaining!  Fernando Alonso played the weather perfectly, treating Q3 as a standard session with two runs and using up that extra set of full wet tyres – with the knowledge that tomorrow holds better weather in store – to claim pole position for tomorrow’s German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

Two enormous showers shaped the day’s running.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get the morning rain early enough to have such a profound effect on the race, because the drivers were able to get just over 50 minutes on a dry track to evaluate Pirelli’s medium and soft tyre compounds.  That said, the rainstorms at the end of final practice and in the middle of qualifying were certainly spectacular enough.

Through the rest of this afternoon and into the evening there is a slight risk of one more shower before they fizzle out, leaving the circuit dry overnight with a minimum temperature down to a chilly eight degrees.

Sunday Forecast

As we have been saying since the start of this weekend, Sunday is the day where it will all come right.  In fact the prognosis is getting better as each new computer model for Hockenheim is released. It will dawn dry and cool, but once the sun rises and gets going things will warm up considerably, as high pressure moves in.

Better weather expected at Hockenheim on race day  (Photo credit: KlausNahr)

All on-track activity should take place in dry conditions.  It will be mainly sunny for much of the day, with a few patches of cloud from time to time.  No rain is expected for the grand prix, although there will be a light north-easterly breeze as the wind changes direction.

Air temperature will climb to around 21 Celsius tomorrow, but with much more sunshine on the circuit, we can expect to see track surface temperature just make it through the 30-degree barrier – a big change from what the teams have had to face so far this weekend.

Conditions are well-set for tomorrow, but tyre durability will remain an issue, so we should still see an interesting race from this perspective.  A scenario similar to Silverstone is likely, whereby it might not be over until the last couple of laps, with one or two drivers not being able to make their tyres last.

Enjoy the race everyone and remember that we’re into a double-header, so I will be back again on Monday, to look at the early weather trend for next weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.