Rainy weekend in Brazil puts extra pressure on sprint qualification

The Brazilian Grand Prix has produced some beautiful rain races in the past and that could happen again in 2021. For Friday and Saturday, there is a good chance of rain in Sao Paulo.

Exciting race in Brazil

In 2016 Verstappen shone at the Brazilian Grand Prix in the rain and over the years the Interlagos circuit has provided more great races. Rain generally adds an unpredictable element to a race and that could play an important role this weekend.

In Brazil, the sprint qualifying format will also be used this weekend. This means that there will be a qualifying session on Friday and a sprint race on Saturday that will serve as a qualification for the race. Rain on Friday normally hinders two practice sessions, but now it hinders qualification.

Rain on Friday and Saturday

Weather.com The weather forecast for Sao Paulo indicates that it will rain on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (each day more than thirty percent chance of rain). It won't be warmer than twenty degrees on those days either, so there won't be much grip on the circuit and the rubber that is laid down there might be washed away soon.

There is a big chance that the track will be wet during qualifying on Friday and the shortened sprint race on Saturday. This means that the sprint qualifying might bring some big surprises. There are not many points to be gained, but you can lose a lot of places in the race on Sunday. The weather will change completely on Sunday, when 25 degrees and less than ten percent chance of rain are expected.