36 replies to this topic

[Prostfan]

A lot is talked about the hottest GP ever (I'm thinking of Argentina 55 and Dallas 84).

My question is the opposite: When was the coldest GP ever? Nürburgring 1968 or Donington 1993 come to my mind. But were these races famous for rain rather than for coldness?

Was there ever snow in a championship race?

Are there any temperature tables?

Any ideas?

[Zawed]

Was'nt there snow at a Belgium GP when it was held out of season in the mid eighties? Maybe 1985? Only 1 or 2 practice sessions were held and it was called off...or am I thinking of a circuit that had only freshly laid its track?

[byrkus]

I've heard there was some snow at 1979 Watkins Glen, at least in the morning, later changed to rain (when GV was 11 seconds faster than the second).

[VDP]

Daily Express Trophy 1973

Robert

[anjakub]

Norges Grand Prix (1934, 1935, 1936) and Sveriges Vinter Grand Prix (1936) were held on the frozen lakes, on the ice.

[FEV]

The Grand Prix of Pau saw some snow one year in the 30s (1938 ?). It happened several times for the Eifel races on the Ring : once in the 60s (1965 ?) the race was run but in the early 80s it was postponed two times after qualifying, the last being in 1985, the first year of F3000.

[AdrianM]

I was at the Australian GP in 1991 and I have never been colder and wetter in my life.

[man]

The 1985 Belgian GP was called off because of the heat not the cold and because the new surface was falling to peices.

[flyboy]

I remember being snowed on at Watkins Glen. '79 sounds about right, as a previous post noted. It was a light snow in the evening, after practice had ended.

[Stefan Ornerdal]

Not a championship race, but the temperature at the Swedish Winter GP was -29 Celsius. Some big names was there, Louis Chiron, Henri Louveau etc, but their cars was on a ship, stuck in the ice outside Gothenburg. 50 000 spectators turned up! We use to drink "kaffe-kask" in Sweden when it's as cold as that - half a cup of coffe, the other half vodka!

Stefan

[Rob G]

The snowy Pau GP was 1933.

[Gary C]

The Daily Express Internationbal Trophy of 1973 was famously snowy!! About 18 months ago 'Motor Sport' magazine printed a photo from that meeting in their'Parting Shot' piece. It showed Ronnie Peterson in the JPS Lotus 72, EVERYTHING crossed up, and you could hardly see anything because of the snow coming down. Now THAT'S style!!!

[FrankB]

I seem to remember reading that the first time Emerson Fittipaldi saw snow, let alone drove in it was at sunny Silverstone. Would this have been at the D. Express International Trophy meeting mentioned above?

[Witt]

Originally posted by Gary C
The Daily Express Internationbal Trophy of 1973 was famously snowy!! About 18 months ago 'Motor Sport' magazine printed a photo from that meeting in their'Parting Shot' piece. It showed Ronnie Peterson in the JPS Lotus 72, EVERYTHING crossed up, and you could hardly see anything because of the snow coming down. Now THAT'S style!!!

I have that picture proudly displayed on my wall! Of course there's a big tear in the middle from where i ripped it out of the mag, but it's still one of the best racing photo's i've ever seen.

[Zawed]

Originally posted by man
The 1985 Belgian GP was called off because of the heat not the cold and because the new surface was falling to peices.

I stand corrected then.

[Option1]

Originally posted by Gary C
The Daily Express Internationbal Trophy of 1973 was famously snowy!! About 18 months ago 'Motor Sport' magazine printed a photo from that meeting in their'Parting Shot' piece. It showed Ronnie Peterson in the JPS Lotus 72, EVERYTHING crossed up, and you could hardly see anything because of the snow coming down. Now THAT'S style!!!

Would any of you have a scan of that pic posted anywhere? I'd love to see it.

thanks

Neil

[Jerome]

Originally posted by Option1

Would any of you have a scan of that pic posted anywhere? I'd love to see it.

thanks

Neil

http://www.teamjuicy...=1&d=1204053201

Here you go.

[P. Dron]

Originally posted by Jerome


http://www.teamjuicy...=1&d=1204053201

Here you go.

Much as I admired Ronald Peterson, and knowing how important it is to use the full width of the track, that looks more like "Oh eff, I've lost it" than "EVERYTHING crossed up".

[Gary Davies]

Originally posted by AdrianM
I was at the Australian GP in 1991 and I have never been colder and wetter in my life.

Hah! You remind me. I was part of a film crew (to capture footage for the TV ad for the following year's GP) for the 1989 Australian Grand Prix and the filming was cancelled just before the start. The rest of the crew decided to bugger off and start some serious drinking - - and I decided to use my go anywhere pass to do a lap of the circuit on foot between the concrete barriers and the spectator areas. Within minutes, I was totally, totally sopping wet. Socks, undies, the lot. The quantity of water flung at one as a car passed at full speed along Dequetteville Terrace/Brabham Straight was just indescribable.

Did I have a smile on the face for the whole time? Oh yes!

[Gary Davies]

Ooh. Just remembered. I was pretty damn cold this day... my first ever appearance at a motor race, my 14th birthday present from a dear dad for whom cars were nothing more than a means of travelling from A to B.

[jonnyspa27]

Originally posted by AdrianM
I was at the Australian GP in 1991 and I have never been colder and wetter in my life.

I was 12 years old watching that in Iowa, what a deluge! Those conditions looked so rediculous to sit in let alone drive

[Doug Nye]

The 1960 German Grand Prix was run on the delightful South Circuit of the Nurburgring as a Formula 2 Championship round. It was run in perishing cold weather, with clammy fog alternating with rain. At one point the Dunlop Tower was hidden in the fog from the end of the pits, barely 100 yards away. And if I recall correctly there was talk of snow falling around Hohe Acht on the North circuit that day. I think the 1968 German GP on the Nordschleife was even more foggy - but the air temperature was warmer.

To digress even further from F1, the near-flooded 1956 Mille Miglia saw Fangio sense the onset of hypothermia in his Ferrari 290MM - exacerbated by solid water being sprayed onto his back from a badly-sealed rear wheel arch. Ultimately he stopped at a cafe in the mountains where he was known from recce stops, and the proprietor loaned him a heavy leather jacket, in which he resumed. What with stopping to offer Moss and Jenks a lift after their Maserati fell off a mountain, it was a miracle The Old Boy could still finish fourth.

As a grumpy old git I guess this is yet another example of how few challenges current drivers face - rain at Silverstone, call that rain? I've seen more water shaken off a Springer Spaniel...etc. Bah, humbug!

DCN

[philippe charuest]

Montreal 1978 the canadian GP was in october then ,bad idea, if you could find pictures of the podium everybody was wearing winter coat and hats, it was sunny alright but definitly under zero (32°F)

[Rob Semmeling]

The Eifelrennen meetings of the 1960s were often cold because of their early date in the year. Temperatures were not seldomly barely above freezing. The 1967 edition also saw snow, which lined the road on both sides during the motorcycle and Formula 2 races.

[Keir]

Watkins Glen 76 - snow and rain.
Canada 82 - COLD and WINDY

[Slurp1955]

Hasn't there been a Grand Prix in Chile?

[2Bob]

I was at the Australian GP in 1991 and I have never been colder and wetter in my life.

Me too. A group of us had tickets to the flat roof of an 8(?) story nurses home over looking the track. All my friends vacated the place and retired to my house 2 blocks away to watch the race on TV! But I stayed on to watch it live as well as on TV which were provided on the roof. I think I had a choice of 10 TVs because no one else was stupid enough to stay!

It was VERY wet and pretty cold!

[WDH74]

Originally posted by Gary C
The Daily Express Internationbal Trophy of 1973 was famously snowy!! About 18 months ago 'Motor Sport' magazine printed a photo from that meeting in their'Parting Shot' piece. It showed Ronnie Peterson in the JPS Lotus 72, EVERYTHING crossed up, and you could hardly see anything because of the snow coming down. Now THAT'S style!!!

I believe a similar photo was in a book about the 72-or just about GP racing in general-and I showed it to a (then)coworker who just shook his head and said "Now, THAT'S racing!"

[john aston]

I was in the Stowe grandstand at the Daily Express meeting - on those crappy canvas seats they had then,when if one person stood up your seat slipped 6" down.It was bloody cold and I remember the M1 was actually under proper snow en route home.But compared to some of the RAC Rallies and club ralllies in winter here in Yorkshire 'it were nowt '......

[Formula Once]

OK, no F1, but the F3000 race at the Nürburgring was cancelled in 1985 due to snow. And I have pictures of F3 races at Zeltweg (1978 and 1983 I think) when there was A LOT of snow along the track.

[D-Type]

Did they ever have a F1 race at the Boxing Day Brands Hatch meeting? I remember a Motor Sport cover that showed an Elva sports car on a track that was white with salt.

[sterling49]

Originally posted by D-Type
Did they ever have a F1 race at the Boxing Day Brands Hatch meeting? I remember a Motor Sport cover that showed an Elva sports car on a track that was white with salt.

I used to attend these meetings regularly, I don't believe there was ever an F1 race that I can remember. There was however, often light snow and morning frost, before the onslaught of global warming, probably caused by us using too much 101 Octane

Boxing Day Brands, they were great meetings to attend

[HDonaldCapps]

I can personally vouch for the misery of the 1960 German GP. It was wet, foggy, and cold. It was bitterly cold, one of those wet, piercing types of cold you find in hilly terrain. Not sure if it snowed, but it would not surprise me if it did. Interestingly, there were lots of spectators such as ourselves in the area where we were watching the proceedings. I have miserable and cold at races before -- a night race in the Carolinas in March does not warm weather guarantee, but this might have the blue ribbon in my book. We were scarcely meters from the track and there would be times when it could scarcely be seen. I remember several in our group comparing the experience to Spring on the Eastern Front....

[stevewf1]

Originally posted by Jerome


http://www.teamjuicy...=1&d=1204053201

Here you go.

That picture says it all.

Snow, cold (obviously), no tire-warmers back then and none other than Ronnie Peterson sitting there...

[cheapracer]

Snow doesn't always mean cold, it's the wind chill factor that gets you.

Although never a F1 GP there (Aussie GP yes), Australians who have been there will know that it doesn't get much colder than Calder Park Raceway.

[MWiklund]

Through the fog of time I seem to remember it snowing some for Saturday practice at the Glen in 1966. It can get quite cool in the Finger Lakes area in October. I also recall that in spite of that a cold beer was still the drink of choice. The Breakfast of Champions (for an 18 year old at his 1st GP).

[Catalina Park]

Originally posted by cheapracer
Snow doesn't always mean cold, it's the wind chill factor that gets you.

Although never a F1 GP there (Aussie GP yes), Australians who have been there will know that it doesn't get much colder than Calder Park Raceway.

I went to two Australian GPs at Calder and got sunburn and wet both times. Luckily the rain came after the race as I was supposed to be changing tyres for the winning car in one race.

I can think of colder tracks in Australia than Calder, Catalina was much worse with the wind, rain, fog, hail, leeches, mudslides, etc!