Least rain in a season?

[Ranger]

Can anyone think of a season with less rain during races?

From memory, the first 10 laps or so of the Malaysian Grand Prix were the only laps where it was wet enough for inters or wet tyres during a race during the whole season.

[555-04Q2]

It was a very dry season in 2013. Pity, as usually rain makes for uncertainty and great action on and off the track :)

[journeyman racer]

There was not one wet race, or one with any precipitation, during 86.

[555-04Q2]

Wow that was a long time ago!

[Storm]

So was 86 as boring as '13? Wasn't that the year of Nigel?

[Mark]

So was 86 as boring as '13? Wasn't that the year of Nigel?

No; Prost won in 1986. Mansell was 1992, quite some difference!

[555-04Q2]

So was 86 as boring as '13? Wasn't that the year of Nigel?

No racing in the 80's was actually quite brilliant :)

[Big Ben]

I blame Vettel

[airshifter]

Sometimes I hate the rain due to the fact that even the best of teams can be caught out when it starts, resulting in a shuffling of the driver order based more on luck than skill. But on the other hand sometimes certain drivers show real brilliance in the rain, so that aspect is appealing.

We know Seb is great in the rain (ask Felipe and Lewis about 2008!), and Alonso has always been brilliant in the rain as well. But really it's been so long since we've had a lot of rain in the season that it's hard to tell who the current rain masters are. Many of the younger and/or newer drivers haven't had all that much rain to contend with and I have to assume their skill levels in the wet have increased.

[555-04Q2]

I blame Vettel

I don't think he would care :p: ;)

[JasonPotato]

Global warming :rolleyes:

[555-04Q2]

Global warming :rolleyes:

No, traditionally increased heating patterns increases rainfall not decreases it.

[JasonPotato]

I was being sarcastic but i guess your correct, bring on global warming then :P

[AndyL]

A while ago I did some analysis on who's won the most rain-affected races in recent years. Adding in Vettel's Malaysia win this year gives the list below. This covers the years 2005-2013, i.e. since the end of the period of Ferrari/Schumacher dominance.

Button: 6
Alonso: 4
Vettel: 4
Hamilton: 3
Massa: 3
Raikkonen: 3
Schumacher: 1
Webber: 1

If you look back to 2000-2004, Schumacher was completely dominant in the wet (as he was in the dry as well, of course) with 9 wet wins in those 5 years. Only one other guy got more than a single wet-weather win in that period, and he was also in a Ferrari!

[journeyman racer]

So was 86 as boring as '13? Wasn't that the year of Nigel?

86 would be considered one of the all time classic seasons.


If you look back to 2000-2004, Schumacher was completely dominant in the wet (as he was in the dry as well, of course) with 9 wet wins in those 5 years. Only one other guy got more than a single wet-weather win in that period, and he was also in a Ferrari!

2000 Germany, and what else?

[Storm]

I meant when Mansell lost due to a tyre blowout or some mechanical failure in the last race. 92 was indeed the complete domination year for him and Williams.

and 555, I am aware that 80s were brilliant for F1 ;)
it was more of a rhetoric question (having started watching F1 in earnest since 1996.)

[AndyL]

2000 Germany, and what else?

Looks like 2004 Monza would have been Rubens' other wet win.
I don't remember it, but from Wikipedia's description, that race also seems to be another candidate for a last-to-first win.

[Tazio]

2000 Germany, and what else?

Looks like 2004 Monza would have been Rubens' other wet win.
I don't remember it, but from Wikipedia's description, that race also seems to be another candidate for a last-to-first win.
I remember that race quite well; in fact you can watch it in its entirety here:
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjE3Njc2ODU2.html
Rubens started from pole on inters with a track that was just on the knockings of being dry conditions. Mike probably would have won that race without his spin at turn 2 because he as well as most the other contenders were on slicks and after rocketing into the distance Rubens got reeled in and passed by Alonso by lap 4 after having an 8+ second lead on lap2. After pitting he rejoined in p9 right in front of Mike who had already climbed from 15th to 10th. Rubens had a huge advantage on Mike, having already gotten to refuel and stay on a 2 stop strategy he was in the pound seats in dry conditions in the fastest car (by a lot) on the grid!.

[rjbetty]

I recall 2005 being pretty dry, in the races.

[N. Jones]

2004 was the last time I remember a full dry season.

[N. Jones]

I recall 2005 being pretty dry, in the races.

Uh.... right! I was going to say 2006 but then I remembered "the first ever rain in Hungary" or something like that. :)

[nik]

I don't know why Ben and DC kept saying that they hoped the rain would stay away! No, rain and make at least one race this season interesting. Sorry but 2013 has been utterly dire.

[555-04Q2]

A while ago I did some analysis on who's won the most rain-affected races in recent years. Adding in Vettel's Malaysia win this year gives the list below. This covers the years 2005-2013, i.e. since the end of the period of Ferrari/Schumacher dominance.

Button: 6
Alonso: 4
Vettel: 4
Hamilton: 3
Massa: 3
Raikkonen: 3
Schumacher: 1
Webber: 1

If you look back to 2000-2004, Schumacher was completely dominant in the wet (as he was in the dry as well, of course) with 9 wet wins in those 5 years. Only one other guy got more than a single wet-weather win in that period, and he was also in a Ferrari!

So Button is the real rain master then :shock: :confused: :p:

[555-04Q2]

I was being sarcastic but i guess your correct, bring on global warming then :P

Cool mon ;) :)

[Bruce D]

I think it's a good thing that no races were run in the rain this year, because these babies can't seem to drive in the rain. Take qualifying, I'm sorry but there was never too much standing water to run that final session yet they waited 40min to run it and then do 1 lap and straight onto inters. Pathetic. If a race was wet we'd probably still be waiting for it to start now.

[AndyL]

So Button is the real rain master then :shock: :confused: :p:

That's not really a surprise is it?

I was more surprised to see Massa on that list... his main wet weather performance that sticks in my mind is when he spun about 5 times at Silverstone in his "nearly year," 2008. But there were 3 other rain-affected races that year that he won, including of course that famous Brazilian Grand Prix where Glock's Torvill-and-Dean impression on the last lap allowed Hamilton to snatch the title.

[Robinho]

Whilst the stats are interesting, there are vast differences in the types of wet races. Most of Button's wins in rain affected races occurred in changeable conditions, where he was able to exploit the drying track or the slightly dampening track and run quicker on dry tyres earlier than his rivals. I'm thinking Australia, Canada to name 2, possibly his 1st in Hungary as well. In full wet conditions for the duration of a race I'd say vettel and Hamilton (monza and silverstone) are likely the cream of the current crop. It's kind of unfair to lump all rain affected races into 1 category.

[AndyL]

Whilst the stats are interesting, there are vast differences in the types of wet races. Most of Button's wins in rain affected races occurred in changeable conditions, where he was able to exploit the drying track or the slightly dampening track and run quicker on dry tyres earlier than his rivals. I'm thinking Australia, Canada to name 2, possibly his 1st in Hungary as well. In full wet conditions for the duration of a race I'd say vettel and Hamilton (monza and silverstone) are likely the cream of the current crop. It's kind of unfair to lump all rain affected races into 1 category.

I think that's true of all 6 of Button's wet wins. Even in Malaysia in '09, which ended up so wet it had to be abandoned, I recall Button gained most of his advantage in the cross-over conditions. In fact I think he gained something like half of his eventual winning margin on a single lap when it started to rain.

Similarly Massa's 3 in 2008 were in races that were lightly affected by rain. Showery conditions seem to be much more common than full-wet conditions for a whole race.

[555-04Q2]

Still, the stats don't lie regardless of how and when it rained at the races. I am.....baffled by the stats :shock:

[AndyL]

One thing I think you can take from those stats, is that wet conditions are not really a lottery as they are sometimes described. Unless there's a lottery that gets won by the same handful of people every time!

[AndyL]

It just occurred to me that the same stats can get somewhere close to answering Ranger's original question. Here are the total numbers of rain-affected races per season:

2000: 6
2001: 2
2002: 1
2003: 3
2004: 3
2005: 2
2006: 2
2007: 3
2008: 6
2009: 2
2010: 3
2011: 3
2012: 3
2013: 1

Though as previously discussed these numbers say nothing about how wet any of those races were. I don't have the original info that I derived the numbers from unfortunately, but I think the definition of a wet race was one where any driver used wet or intermediate tyres.

[Tazio]

I'd say Alonso, vettel and Hamilton (Hockenheim (quali) Malaysia, monza and Silverstone ) are likely the cream of the current crop.
There, I fixed that for you. ;)

[Robinho]

Didn't Alonso take himself out at Spa in the rain, also in Fuji in 2008 ;) he's probably up there with the other 2 in wet pace tho

[Tazio]

Fred has definitely had a few problems in the rain but I think he ranks with the top guys.

I saw something about Zo that really cracked me up. I was watching a replay (UK Broadcast) of the 2004 Italian GP, and Fred made what has become quite common place for him, which is using whatever track he has to pass cars off the start. One of the two announcers said that Alonso is going to have to learn to not be so aggressive at the starts if he wants to hang around F1 for a while. :confused: :laugh: ;)

[airshifter]

Fred has definitely had a few problems in the rain but I think he ranks with the top guys.

I saw something about Zo that really cracked me up. I was watching a replay (UK Broadcast) of the 2004 Italian GP, and Fred made what has become quite common place for him, which is using whatever track he has to pass cars off the start. One of the two announcers said that Alonso is going to have to learn to not be so aggressive at the starts if he wants to hang around F1 for a while. :confused: :laugh: ;)

:laugh:

I think Alonso is one of the wet race greats as well, but he did without doubt use whatever piece of track he could find with traction. I remember in his Renault days him making completely off line moves in the wet, and sometimes the lines were so strange I wondered how he pulled it off.