Cold shower on the paddock. The rain that has fallen on Sochi since last night turned into an intense thunderstorm on the morning of Saturday, making it impossible for vehicles to exit on this particularly flat circuit, where water is difficult to evacuate. On the F2 and F3 paddock, the mechanics have water up to their ankles, according to videos posted by French driver Victor Martins.
Keeping the socks dry https://t.co/XKYz4SBVC4
– Victor MARTINS (@VictorMartinsFR) September 25, 2021
“According to the forecast, the rain should continue at this level until 1:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. local time before decreasing in the afternoon”, had specified the race director Michael Masi in the morning. “Our goal is to be operationally ready to start all sessions and to judge based on current conditions”, he continued, adding that “priority will be given to F1 qualifying this afternoon “.
After considering postponing qualifying until Sunday morning, the organizers finally kept them until Saturday afternoon. Nightfall, around 6.15 p.m., will also be a constraint, especially since “in such weather conditions, the brightness decreases much earlier“, Masi recalled. “It will be our limit“. A scenario that has already occurred during the Japanese GPs in 2004, 2010 and 2019 due to the passage of typhoons.
This is the second time this season that the rain has disrupted an F1 GP. Under the flood at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, at the end of August, the race lasted four laps before devoting the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), ahead of the British George Russell (Williams) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes). In accordance with the regulations, half of the points had been awarded at the end of this non-GP in dire conditions, behind the safety car, while overtaking was impossible, causing a deluge of criticism against the organizers of the championship.
Hamilton himself had mentioned “a scenario for the money”, what F1 president Stefano Domenicali has refuted. On a track on which it has been unbeaten since 2014, Mercedes dominated free practice on Friday, with Finland’s Valtteri Bottas ahead of his British teammate.