Monaco Grand Prix: What is the F1 weather forecast this weekend?

After a canceled race last week in Imola, F1 is back in the Principality for this year's Monaco GP, which will be the sixth event of the season.

Red Bull come into the race weekend with a 100% record this season and could continue trending in that direction, given their current dominance over the rest of the field. Sergio Perez won the race last season, while Max Verstappen took P1 in the event in 2021.

Aston Martin is in second place with a six-point lead over Mercedes in P3, and Fernando Alonso will be keen to return to the podium in the Principality for the fifth time in his long F1 career.

Mercedes appeared to take a step back in Baku and Miami after their impressive showing in Melbourne, and it will come as no surprise if they find themselves struggling in the narrow streets of Monaco this weekend.

Ferrari has a good qualifying record in the Principality, with hometown hero Charles Leclerc pulling most of the weight in recent years. However, the Scuderia has failed to capitalize on their good work on Saturday come race day more than once and will need to get their affairs in order if they want to contend for their first win of the season.

McLaren will be running a special livery in honor of the team's triple crown triumph this weekend, but that could be where the celebrations begin and end for the Woking-based outfit at a venue where overtakes are far and few between.

For the rest of the grid, it will be another chance to move up on the table, but it will all come down to how they perform during qualifying.

Last year, the race was heavily affected by the rain, which had a major impact on the outcome. So, what sort of weather can we expect for the 2023 F1 Monaco GP?

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Weather forecast for 2023 F1 Monaco Grand Prix weekend (May 26 - May 28)

The FIA Safety Car crosses the Loews Hairpin during the 2022 F1 Monaco GP. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

Here is some information regarding the weather forecasts in Monte Carlo, Monaco for the upcoming Grand Prix weekend, according to accuweather.com.

Friday, May 26 – FP1 and FP2 weather

Conditions: More clouds than sun with a thunderstorm in the afternoon; a very high UV index of 8 with SE winds blowing at 11 km/h, wind gusts at 26 km/h, and a 33% probability of a thunderstorm.

Maximum temperature expected: 24°C | 75.2°F

Minimum temperature expected: 17°C | 62.6°F

Chance of rain: 55%

Saturday, May 27 – FP3 and Qualifying weather

Conditions: Partly sunny with a couple of showers and a thunderstorm; a very high UV index of 9 with S winds blowing at 9 km/h, wind gusts at 26 km/h, and a 35% probability of a thunderstorm.

Maximum temperature expected: 24°C | 75.2°F

Minimum temperature expected: 17°C | 62.6°F

Chance of rain: 88%

Sunday, May 28 - Main Race weather

Conditions: Variable cloudiness with a couple of showers and a thunderstorm; a very high UV index of 8 with SSE winds blowing at 11 km/h, wind gusts at 24 km/h, and a 33% probability of a thunderstorm.

Maximum temperature expected: 23°C | 73.4°F

Minimum temperature expected: 16°C | 60.8°F

Chance of rain: 88%

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Pirelli motorsport boss predicts 2023 debut of wet weather tire during this week's Monaco GP

Red Bull's Sergio Perez drives the RB18 on the blue-walled wet tires from Pirelli during the 2022 F1 Monaco GP. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Pirelli has confirmed the tire compounds that will be provided to all teams for this weekend's 2023 F1 Monaco GP.

For the sixth race of the season, Pirelli has nominated the C3 compound as the white-walled hard tire, the C4 as the yellow-walled medium tire, and the C5 compound as the red-walled soft tire for the slowest race of the season.

Pirelli Motorsport boss Mario Isola touched on the difficulty of getting overtakes done on the streets of the Principality in his pre-race debrief.

He said:

"Monaco has written its own chapter in the history of Formula 1. The characteristics of this unique circuit, largely unaltered for more than 60 years, make it a true one-off that has often sprung surprises. No other track can allow a driver to compensate for any technical shortcomings of their car in the same way, and just one incident can shake things up entirely."

He continued:

"The difficulty of overtaking can sometimes detract from the spectacle in the race, but that only makes Saturday’s qualifying all the more exciting, as grid position assumes a particular importance to the final result on Sunday."

Despite having nominated the softest compounds in the Pirelli range, Isola is expecting most teams to be using the blue-walled wet weather tire given the expected weather forecast this weekend.

He went on to add:

"As is often the case on street circuits, Pirelli has nominated the softest tyres in the range. One of the peculiarities of Monaco is the fact that the track is opened to normal traffic every evening, which means that it's very hard for rubber to build up on the racing line, making the surface even more slippery."

He concluded:

"With Imola having been scrubbed, Monaco could now become the debut for the new Cinturato Blue full wet without tyre blankets, obviously depending on weather conditions: another potential random factor this weekend.”

Viewers in the US can tune in to ESPN and ESPN Deportes to watch all the action live from the race weekend, while UK viewers can catch the proceedings on Sky Sports.

Indian viewers will need a subscription to F1 TV Access or F1 TV Pro now that StarSports and Disney+ Hotstar no longer have the rights to broadcast F1 content in the country.