{"id":495956,"date":"2026-06-26T03:59:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T03:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/495956\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T03:59:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T03:59:15","slug":"heat-hazard-declared-for-f1s-austrian-gp-as-europe-sizzles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/495956\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Heat hazard’ declared for F1’s Austrian GP as Europe sizzles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Formula 1 drivers will carry extra cooling gear for this week\u2019s Austrian Grand Prix after “heat hazard” rules were activated as hot weather<\/a> causes disruption across Europe.<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s the first time F1’s heat rules, introduced last year, have been used for a race in Europe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A heat hazard applies when temperatures above 31C are forecast for race day. It can get much hotter inside the cramped cockpits where drivers sit wearing layers of flameproof clothing. A forecast on the F1 website dated Thursday said the maximum temperature expected for Sunday’s race was 32C.<\/p>\n

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri predicted the start would be the toughest to handle, without air flowing over the car and cooling the drivers at least a little.<\/p>\n

\"McLaren<\/p>\n

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia walks through the paddock as he arrives for the Austrian F1 Grand Prix, in Spielberg, Austria. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019ve got no air coming in, that\u2019s when it\u2019s the worst,” he said.<\/p>\n

While Alpine’s Pierre Gasly has been running in the heat in his home city of Milan, Piastri has built his own hot-weather training setup in his bathroom.<\/p>\n

“I’ve got a few portable heaters and a small bathroom and an exercise bike,” the Australian said. “You can cause yourself a lot of discomfort, a lot of pain by doing that. I do that for the benefit of my performance. Not for pleasure, that\u2019s for sure.”<\/p>\n

The FIA declaring the heat hazard means drivers either need to use cooling equipment or carry extra weight to ensure there’s no competitive advantage from not using the equipment.<\/p>\n

\"Racing<\/p>\n

Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson of New Zealand walks through the paddock as he arrives for the Austrian F1 Grand Prix, in Spielberg, Austria. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Drivers wear vests which pump cooling liquid through a network of tubes, linked to pumping equipment inside the car. Some drivers dislike wearing the equipment because they say it’s uncomfortable or distracting.<\/p>\n

The FIA started work on cooling technology for drivers after the Qatar Grand Prix in 2023 saw drivers require medical attention after feeling unwell in the heat.<\/p>\n

Heat hazard rules were first used at the hot and humid Singapore Grand Prix last year and also for the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.<\/p>\n

\"Cadillac<\/p>\n

Cadillac driver Sergio Perez of Mexico walks through the paddock as he arrives for the Austrian F1 Grand Prix, in Spielberg, Austria. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

One driver who isn’t sweating the heat is Cadillac’s Sergio Perez.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Mexican, so for me this is not too warm,” he said. “It makes me laugh that all the Europeans are concerned about this level of heat. But for me it\u2019s pretty average.\u201d Perez said he’ll still wear the cooling vest, though.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Formula 1 drivers will carry extra cooling gear for this week\u2019s Austrian Grand Prix after “heat hazard” rules…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213,1745],"class_list":["post-495956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports","tag-uk-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}