-- Friday will dawn dry and cloudy, but the first area of concern will soon make an appearance in the form of a large rain band moving down from the North Sea. The latest prediction is for rain to reach the circuit during mid-morning, with showers and moderate rain continuing through the afternoon. The maximum temperature tomorrow will only reach 15 degrees Celsius with a cool north-westerly breeze.
The band of rain will clear late on Friday evening, and the circuit is expected to dry out overnight, leading into a mainly dry Saturday. As the ridge of high pressure tries to move in, the wind direction will swing round a little to a straight westerly, and with that the temperature will climb a few degrees to 17 Celsius. Overhead it will be mainly cloudy with a few brief sunny spells. The final practice session looks likely to be dry and there is just a low risk of a light afternoon shower affecting qualifying.
On race day, the situation is again predicted to worsen as attention switches to the second low pressure system out to the west. On Saturday evening, a heavy band of rain will sweep into the UK and then envelope northern France, the low countries and move into Germany by Sunday lunchtime.
This band will become less intense as it hits land, but the Nurburgring remains in the line of fire for the grand prix. Rain is expected by mid-afternoon and could throw the race into chaos, but the precise timing of this rain will only become clear as the forecast models update with the latest data during the weekend.
When the rain arrives, the wind direction will move round a little more and come from the south-west, with temperatures peaking at 19 degrees Celsius.
The forecast will make poor reading for championship leaders Jenson Button and his Brawn team, and with three days under 20 degrees looking very likely, generating heat into the Bridgestone compounds is set to be a major factor in the outcome of the event.
