Formula 1 drivers have expressed confidence in FIA officials as Typhoon Hagibis threatens the Japanese Grand Prix.
The weather is expected to play a major role at Suzuka with showers predicted for Friday ahead of the major storm’s arrival overnight and through Saturday.
Already, two Rugby World Cup games have been cancelled in anticipation, while the current word from F1 is they are “closely monitoring” the situation.
“It’s pretty clear if the typhoon is going to come here, there is no way we can drive,” Charles Leclerc said during Thursday’s press conference.
“In my previous experience, they have always been quite safe with the conditions. They always asked what we thought about the track once we were in the car. So I’m happy. We will see.”
Max Verstappen joked he had a “speedboat on standby” with flooding possible, while he and Carlos Sainz even talked up playing FIFA 20 if the day’s track activities are postponed.
“At the moment, it doesn’t really look very likely on Saturday,” he said. “Sunday looks fine, but let’s see.”
Nico Hulkenberg also noted how rainfall much less than the forecast amount has led to session cancellations.
“I think we’ve seen in recent years in terms of rain we don’t need too much for it to be unsafe. Especially when you throw wind in there as well, it gets pretty tricky,” said the German.
“We can obviously debate a lot and discuss, but I think we have to wait and see what actually hits us and how bad it is or not, and then make the right call at the time.
“There are a lot of fans here. We want to race, they want to see us drive, so I think we need to try and make this weekend happen. We need to see what happens. We’re at the mercy of the weather.”
One man feeling cursed by the Japanese weather is Pierre Gasly, who missed the 2017 United States GP to participate in the Super Formula finale at Suzuka, only to have it cancelled due to a storm.
“I’m still having nightmares about the typhoon I had in Super Formula!” the Frenchman smiled.
“All the people in Honda and Red Bull are taking the piss that I always bring the typhoon here with me as well. This one seems pretty big as well. Let’s just see what happens.”