Cool weather to turn F1 opener in lottery

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Forecast cool weather conditions for this weekend's Formula One Australian Grand Prix have left teams anxious about the performance of the new Pirelli tires and the risk they could turn the season-opening race into a lottery.

All teams struggled to adjust to the higher-degradation tires during preseason testing, but were assured by Pirelli the performance was due to the cool European conditions and that the new rubber would perform better in the warmer weather in Australia.

That may have been the case when Melbourne was going through a record-breaking hot streak, but that ended Wednesday and the forecast was for cool conditions and rain on Saturday and Sunday.