By Red Bull Racing
June 30 2006

Everyone here is being very careful and skirting around the subject of last year’s infamous Not The United States Grand Prix, one of the lowest moments in the history of the sport. With that in mind, this weekend’s weather forecast could throw up a very strange scenario...

Some say it will rain on Sunday afternoon and of course, when the Indy 500 takes place, the slightest drop of rain sees the race cancelled as they don’t run on a wet track. So imagine the irony - last year on a perfectly dry track, all but six of the competitors pulled into the pits on the formation lap, deeming the conditions too difficult, but if it rains on Sunday all twenty two cars will happily charge around in clouds of spray, with minimal grip and zero visibility.

Storms have hit the circuit every day for a week now. While we were in Montreal, the Indy control tower was hit by lightning, illuminating all the neon lights that run up the tower and a one hundred and fifty year old tree in the middle of the circuit was reduced to firewood. A hundred and fifty years old might not seem too special to all the Europeans in the paddock, but to the US citizens it is almost a case of pre-history. Yesterday, Wednesday, as the teams were busy preparing the cars and the garages, hailstones the size of golf balls hit the track. Luckily, most of these storms arrive in the late afternoon, so the race cars should be okay, but those parked in the grassy infield might find getting back to the city a bit difficult.