Ahead of today's sole practice session the air temperature is 22 degrees C, while the track temperature is 32 degrees. It is currently overcast, but following heavy overnight rain it is widely speculated that there will be more of the wet stuff later.
Whilst Nico Rosberg topped the timesheets in both sessions yesterday, some feel that Friday will count for nothing, especially on race day, and maybe even qualifying, when the weather gods take control.
Certainly the main talking point overnight, other than the demise of Marussia and the approach taken by Caterham, is tyres, with Pirelli's decision to revise its compound choice - following public criticism from the drivers - now looking to have been a bad move.
There was a difference of more than 20 degrees in average track temperature between the morning and afternoon sessions, partially accounting for the difference in lap times between the two sessions. On average, there is a performance gap of around 0.8 to 1.0 seconds between the two nominated compounds, but this will probably come down as the track evolves further.
"We started the day seeing a very high influence from the new surface and its interaction with the tyre," said Paul Hembery, "but this was changing rapidly as the sessions went on, with strong track evolution. We're also seeing that rear tyre is the limiting factor here, and on some occasions, with close to 60 degrees of track temperature, there was some blistering - which is what we envisaged bringing the softer tyre here, when conditions were hot. We've got about one second of performance difference between the two compounds, but due to red flag interruptions today we still don't have a clear indication of the levels of true degradation we're ultimately going to see."
Of course, that overnight rain won't have helped the situation, having washed away any rubber that might have been laid down yesterday.
Those red flags were brought about by Daniel Juncadella crashing in FP1, Fernando Alonso having a fiery power unit issue in FP2 and Esteban Gutierrez encountering an ERS-related issue moments later.
Indeed, it was a difficult day for the Mexican who completed just 6 laps in the morning. However, that's 6 more than countryman Sergio Perez completed, his team unable to repair his car (following Juncadella's crash) in time for FP2.
Another driver who had very limited running was Jean-Eric Vergne. Having handed his car over to Max Verstappen in the morning, in the second session he was side-lined after just 5 laps in the afternoon with following a complete electric failure which left him stranded on track.
Though we are told that Friday's form was irrelevant - other than Mercedes dominating again - it should be noted that, despite numerous offs, Kimi Raikkonen was the quicker of the Ferraris and both Red Bulls looked good, as did the Williams duo.
However, the common complain yesterday was grip - or lack of it - and we expect that to continue.
The lights go green and the Lotus duo lead the way followed by Bottas, Raikkonen and Massa.
Rosberg and Hamilton are among the early risers, both drivers performing practice starts at the end of the pitlane.
Vergne posts the first time of the day, the Frenchman crossing the line at 1:16.838. Moments later Perez posts 17.010. Next time around they improve to 15.117 and 15.474 respectively.
Gutierrez posts 16.139 to go third... ahead of Hamilton (16.814) and Rosberg. That won't last long.
Hulkenberg complains of "brake judder".
No sooner has Kvyat posted 14.583 than teammate Vergne improves with a 13.993. The pair split moments later when Gutierrez posts 14.226.
Drivers are warned about conditions at T12 where it is still quite damp. Though the track is dry, the kerbs and artificial grass run-offs remain wet.
Vergne improves with a 13.389 as the Mercedes duo continue to circulate, making no attempt at a flying lap just yet.
On the other hand, Magnussen bangs in a 13.016. Teammate Button, facing the prospect of his penultimate F1 race, goes ninth with a 14.294.
Suddenly, as Bottas goes quickest overall (12.892), Hamilton goes quickest in S1, the Briton subsequently easing off after a major lock-up at T8.
Magnussen retakes the top spot with a 12.729 ahead of Kvyat and Bottas.
As Bottas ups the ante with a 12.097 a massive (rear) lock-up and partial spin for Hamilton in T1.
"Are your tyres still in condition?" he is somewhat optimistically asked. "No," comes the reply.
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