Rain, rain go away ...
It's crazy wet here at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, where we're waiting... and waiting... and waiting some more for the rain to let up so qualifying can go on. And now we're waiting some more1. Race Control just announced that Race Director Charlie Whiting is calling it a day. Due the the poor weather (and poor condition of the track), qualifying has been postponed until 9AM local Sunday morning.
The downpour—there's really no other way to describe it—started Friday afternoon, when thunderstorms prompted Whiting to put the kibosh on practice because of lightning near the track. In the past 24 hours, the storm has dumped an astounding 6.25 inches of rain on the Lower Colorado River Authority rain gauge 4 miles from the track. The storm dumped six-tenths of an inch per hour on the track over the past three hours, and the Circuit of the Americas looks more than a bit like a river.
Teams are doing the best they can with the down time, dancing for the fans, hamming it up in makeshift boats they're paddling around the paddock, and generally doing anything they can to keep the die-hard fans in the stands entertained. Looking at the radar map above, however, we may need an ark before all is said and done...
1Updated Saturday, 4PM Central to note that qualifying has officially been postponed.
