This week, the Formula 1 race cars are going to hit the asphalt at the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary. Built in 1986, the Hungaroring is one of the most popular and most challenging Formula 1 circuits. How will the weather be for this challenging race? The meteorologists from UBIMET have the answer.

Vienna, July 24, 2015 – In 2014, a powerful storm moved in 45 minutes before the race was scheduled to begin, which is why the drivers started with wet tires. Daniel Ricciardo did the best under the conditions, and emerged victorious. “The Sunday of the race this year will be a bit cooler than in recent years, with temperatures reaching around 29° Celsius. As it looks today, it will remain dry, although we can’t say this with 100% certainty,” says Steffen Dietz, meteorologist from UBIMET, and added:  “In general, the racing weekend will start off sunny with temperatures of up to 36°Celsius. Storms and rain showers will form more to the west and north of Budapest, and shouldn’t affect the race,” he says, adding: “It looks like thunderstorms will move through from the west on Saturday night. A refreshing northwest wind will then cool everything off.”

At the last Formula 1 race in Hungary, things got really hot

Statistically speaking, the summer months are the driest in Hungary, with an average rainfall of only 60 mm per square meter, which usually falls during severe summer thunderstorms: “Heat waves are quite common Hungary. If we see precipitation in July, it is usually convective – meaning short but severe rain that is limited to a relatively small area. Forecasting this type of precipitation is an exciting challenge,” explains Steffen Dietz. Hungary sometimes sees extreme temperatures. And things really got hot during the Grand Prix events here in recent years – up to 33° Celsius in 2012, over 36° Celsius in 2013, and around 30° Celsius last year.