Austrian Grand Prix: Europe’s heat wave a focus for F1 drivers

Ahead of this weekend’s Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix, a few topics dominated the conversation during Thursday’s media day festivities. The ongoing World Cup was one of those topics, with England supporter George Russell and Mexico supporter Sergio Pérez seemingly making a date to head to Mexico together for a potential Round of 16 match between those two sides.

Another topic? The weather.

Europe is in the middle of an extreme heat wave, with France recording the hottest temperatures in that nation’s history earlier this week, with little relief in sight. A meteorological “heat dome” is to blame for the conditions, which are expected to last into the weekend.

And potentially impact the Austrian Grand Prix.

F1 has already declared a “heat hazard” for this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, which can be triggered if forecasts call for temperatures above 31 degrees Celsius/87 degrees Fahrenheit at any point during the race weekend. Under that declaration, teams are required to fit a “Driver Cooling System” in each car.

But the drivers are not required to use that system.

Thursday’s media day saw something of a split decision among the drivers, with some indicating they would use the system, while others opting to go without.

“I really don’t like it because there’s just too many tubes, too many things happening in the cockpit and not very comfortable,” said Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar during the FIA Press Conference. “It works really well though for like ten minutes and then it’s warm again. So, I’m okay. Honestly, I’ve never been to a point where I really needed that vest. If I need it, that means the car as well can’t handle it and we can’t drive. So, I think the car will give up before I do, in any case.”

Pérez indicated that he would use it to keep himself “a little bit cooler” during the weekend.

“I don’t want to use it, you know, but anyway, you pay the penalty on the weight. I don’t think… I mean, I’m Mexican, so for me this is not too warm,” said Pérez. “It makes me laugh that all the Europeans are concerned about this level of heat, but for me it’s pretty average, you know. But I will wear it just to keep myself a little bit cooler.”

Oscar Piastri, who has used the cooling vest before, outlined that he expects to use it again this weekend.

“I think probably yes. I used it a couple of times last year. I mean, there’s obviously the risk if it goes wrong and if it fails, then yeah, it’s worse than not wearing it,” said Piastri. “But I think if you get the system working well, then it can help a bit. It’s not a complete game changer but when I used it last year, it was okay. There are definitely some things that are not perfect with it, but at the end of the day it’s personal preference. We have to add the weight in the car anyway, so if you can get it to work and it cools you down a little bit, then sure.”

Hadjar, Piastri, and Pierre Gasly also outlined when the heat is the worst for the drivers.

Right before the race.

“Yeah, it’s not nice. I think the moments where you have zero kph in the car, they are definitely the worst. To be fair, when driving, it’s not too bad,” described Hajdar. “We’ve got good [air conditioning] with our open cockpit, so it’s fine. I think it’s more going to be tough on the car, on the tires, than anything else. So yeah.”

“When you’ve got no air coming in, that’s when it’s the worst. I haven’t spent any time in a sauna, no. But I’ve got a few portable heaters and a small bathroom and an exercise bike. So yeah, you can cause yourself a lot of discomfort, a lot of pain by doing that. So, I do that for the benefit of my performance. Not for pleasure, that’s for sure,” added Piastri, describing how he prepares for the conditions.

“Yeah, I mean, I’ve prepped for it, not like last week or this. I think it’s consistent work. So yeah, running in Milan last week in 36 degrees [Celsius] was definitely a good preparation for it and didn’t feel too nice. But overall, I think we know what to expect and we prepared for this year,” said Gasly.

Race weekend begins with the first two practice sessions on Friday at the Red Bull Ring, ahead of Saturday’s critical qualifying hour.