While this morning's F2 race took place in bright sunshine and the sort of temperatures one associates with the south of France, it is expected that things will be a little different this afternoon.
Currently it is predicted that there will be a thunderstorm around an hour before the race with further storms of varying intensity until this evening.
Aware how quickly conditions changed yesterday, and how only certain parts of the track were affected - reminiscent of Spa - who are we to argue.
If the forecasters get it wrong we are in for a Mercedes 1-2 as Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas make the most of that engine upgrade.
Sebastian Vettel will fight Max Verstappen for third, the Ferrari likely to have the advantage, while Daniel Ricciardo - who is hoping for either heavy rain or intense heat - will no doubt claim fifth.
Kimi Raikkonen, who had a dreadful Q3 yesterday, is likely to spend the afternoon swearing into his team radio or exchanging angry gestures with the Haas duo, particularly Kevin Magnussen.
Other than both its drivers running different set-ups - Ricciardo on high downforce (hence the desire for rain) and Verstappen on low - the Red Bulls, along with the Mercedes pair, are also on a different tyre strategy to Ferrari, as they will be starting on the supersofts while the red cars are on ultras.
While we all celebrated the return of F1 to France, and indeed Paul Ricard, there really is an element of 'same old, same old' about it, even down to the likelihood of it being a one-stopper.
Perhaps Fernando Alonso summed it up best yesterday, when he said: "The same as in the last few races," he predicted... "a train of cars all Sunday.
"Those on pole will be fastest, they will start first and run away. The second ones will start second and run away. The third ones will start third and will run away... the weather could play the most important part. If it rains like this morning or if there's changing conditions it will probably be a more chaotic race. If it doesn't rain, it will be more complicated to overtake."
And there you have it, the best chance of getting a decent race this afternoon is if the forecasters have got it right and the heavens open up.
Should that be the case, all bets are off, and almost any one of the 20 drivers on duty could spring a surprise... imagine the reaction were Charles Leclerc to do a Sebastian Vettel, emulating the time the German claimed his first win, in the Toro Rosso at Monza.
While not much can be expected of the Sauber, certainly in dry conditions, let's not forget that in his most recent outings young Mr Leclerc has given a very good account of himself in battles with the likes of Alonso, so is not likely to give up that eighth place without a fight.
An early clue as to the sort of mayhem we might witness this afternoon should the weather gods opt to have fun, is given when Sebastian Vettel arrives later for the drivers' parade and has to take a life in the Mercedes safety car in order to catch up with it.
According to Pirelli, the quickest strategy is a one-stopper. One stint on ultrasofts for 20-25 laps, followed by a stint on supersofts to the flag - though this strategy can also be reversed, so supersoft then ultrasoft. Second-quickest strategy is also a one-stopper. One stint on ultrasofts for 21 laps, followed by a stint on softs to the flag. Finally, there's also a chance of a two-stopper but it's not as quick. This would comprise two stints on ultrasofts of 19 laps each, then one stint on supersofts to the flag. These strategies are all weather dependent of course!
As the pitlane opens it appears that the race will start in sunshine however, the storms are still predicted to arrive within the first twenty minutes of the race.
Air temperature is currently 25 degrees C, while the track temperature is 47 degrees.
The national anthem - one of the better ones - out of the way, the drivers disappear ensuring that the extended media access is a waste of time.
Niki Lauda, asked if rain will play a part in today's race, looks up at the sky and shrugs his shoulders. "Being a pilot, no," he replies.
Of course, being that we are starting in the dry, the Ferrari duo must make the very most of those ultrasofts at the start and on the run to T1.
All are on ultras bar Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Bottas, Gasly, Ericsson, Alonso and Vandoorne who are on supersofts, while Hulkenberg and Perez are on softs.
Verstappen is told that he will be kept informed in terms of wind direction, but is also advised to keep an eye on the flags around the track.
All get away on the parade lap without any issues.
They're away, and as they head towards T1, the Mercedes duo head off Vettel, while Ricciardo moves across to cover Raikkonen.
Into T1 and Vettel hits Bottas after locking-up, catching the left rear of the Mercedes. In the confusion Verstappen cuts the first corner in a bid to avoid the mayhem happening all around him.
"Nose damage," reports Vettel.
Further around, Gasly loses his car and takes out an innocent Ocon... a wheel from the stricken Force India bouncing across the run-off.
The safety car is deployed as the debris from the various incidents is cleared.
Hamilton leads Verstappen, Sainz, Ricciardo, Magnussen, Leclerc, Raikkonen, Perez, Grosjean and Hulkenberg.
Ocon and Gasly are both out while Bottas slowly heads back to the pits with a puncture. Stroll also pits, as do Sirotkin, Vettel, who has sparks flying his from his front wing which is askew and rubbing against the track, and Alonso.
Vettel rejoins in 17th behind Alonso, and ahead of Bottas, both the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers are now on softs.
The Vettel/Bottas incident is under investigation, the Gasly/Ocon incident also.
Gasly blames Ocon, claiming "I was on the inside and he didn't see me". Ocon, indeed, appearing to have had an earlier 'clash' with Grosjean. The Haas driver than had an encounter with Raikkonen.
Bottas is advised that Vettel is under investigation.
Replay shows Sainz doing brilliants to avoid the melee in T1 and take third in the process.
The Gasly incident will be investigated after the race.
At the end of lap 5, the safety car is withdrawn.
This time the field is nicely strung out and there are no incidents.
Leclerc is all over Magnussen, while further back Alonso spins at T4.
Raikkonen makes short work of Leclerc and sets off after Magnussen, three Ferrari-powered cars running together.
Next time around Leclerc and Grosjean are side by side into T1 with Perez and Hulkenberg right behind.
Out front Hamilton leads Verstappen by 1.3s with Sainz a further 3s behind.
Vettel is up to 13th while Bottas is still 16th.
Hamilton sets a blistering pace out front, the Briton posting a string of fastest laps.
As Raikkonen hangs on the rear of Magnussen, Vettel is all over Ericsson. The German nails the Swede at the Chicane and now sets his sights on Vandoorne.
Vettel passes Vandoorne with ease and now targets Hulkenberg, who should put up a bit more resistance.
Ricciardo passes Sainz in T8 and now seeks to close the 5sd gap to his Red Bull teammate.
Vettel is handed a 5s time penalty for causing a collision.
Told he needs to "clear Ericsson as quickly as possible", Hartley duly obliges. His next target won't be quite such a pushover, it's Bottas.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Paul Ricard, here.
sign in