However, the city’s geographical location between the sea and hills to the hinterland can cause several changes of weather throughout the day and the outlook for this weekend’s race is showing a mix of sunshine and clouds.
The current forecast is for mild peak temperatures of only around 63 degrees F (17 degrees C) on race day, as well as a slight chance of rain.
There isn’t much wind and humidity levels are low, but skies are predicted to remain overcast throughout the weekend.
The Albert Park Raceway itself is used as a public access road throughout the year, meaning the surface usually has lower grip than a dedicated track. The surface is also highly abrasive, which causes high tire wear during races, and it doesn’t help that Pirelli has brought its P Zero White Medium and P Zero Red Supersoft tires for the race.
The weather in Melbourne was good during practice today, with the two Red Bull Racing drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber dominating the session. Vettel was quickest, with a time of 1.25.908, while Webber wasn’t far behind with his own best time of 1.26.172.
After the two Red Bulls, it was the Mercedes AMG of Nico Rosberg and the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen that were quickest. After a promising start, Ferrari lost some pace later in the session, while McLaren hasn’t being doing as well as it had hoped. Jenson Button was back at 11th and Sergio Perez at 13th.
Lewis Hamilton, in his first race for Mercedes AMG, ended his practice early after some gearbox trouble.
Stay tuned for the results of qualifying tomorrow and full race coverage on Monday.
