More hard rain at Hockenheim before final practice

Early on Saturday morning, it was once again raining hard at Hockenheim.

Friday’s practice sessions were affected by the inclement German weather, and more of the same is possible throughout Saturday, on which another hour of practice will take place before qualifying.

GP3 qualifying on Saturday morning took place on a fully wet Hockenheim circuit, while F1 personnel in the paddock ducked and dived to avoid deep puddles.

Showers, often bringing very heavy rain, are forecast throughout the morning and into the afternoon.

Currently, the forecast for Sunday is for variable cloud cover and a lower chance of afternoon rain than on Friday and Saturday.

The weather might have contributed to surprisingly low crowd figures on Friday, but F1’s correspondent for the Telegraph was surprised to learn that little more than half of his forecast 120,000 spectators are due to attend on race-day.

Michael Schumacher’s struggles could be one explanation.

“Schumacher merchandise is out, my friend, a long way out,” said a merchandise stall operator.  “These days it’s Vettel all the way.”

© RIF | GMM