There isn’t much to say about the Belgian Grand Prix. The race was a two-lap affair behind the Safety Car after a 3-hour rain delay that rewarded Max Verstappen the win with George Russel scoring his first podium finish ahead of Lewis Hamilton in third.
The event paid out half points and narrows the lead Hamilton has over Max to just 3 points. Lewis Hamilton as not happy with the 2-lap event and said he hoped the fans would get their money back for the debacle.
There is very little doubt that all the teams, drivers and fans wanted to race and now the endless debate on technical, sporting and international sporting codes will be licked about for a week ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix next weekend. The accusations and frustration will be tangible and I see Gary Anderson has already thrown teh glove down with Michael Masi’s handling of the race.
What are your thoughts?
Pirelli key moments:
- The Belgian Grand Prix was run over just three laps due to bad weather – making it the shortest race in Formula 1 history – with half-points awarded. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was declared the winner, ahead of Williams driver George Russell and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
- The race was delayed for more than three hours following the initial start procedure, with all the drivers on the Cinturato Blue wet tyre for the re-start from the pitlane. After the cars followed the safety car for a three laps, in heavy rain with ambient temperatures of 14 degrees and track temperatures of 15 degrees, the red flag was shown, with the race subsequently ended.
- The wet weather tyres were used for the bulk of the weekend, with the free practice and qualifying sessions also wet. Throughout Friday and Saturday, the Cinturato Green intermediate showed strong performance with solid resistance to aquaplaning.
Seemed like the only one smiling after the race was George Russell
Indeed…in his case, he’ll take the podium any way he can get it because attrition is what it would take for Williams to be there in the first place.
I actually don’t have an issue with the handling of the race. The conditions were too wet to race. If they’d tried and someone went off and was injured, we’d all be pointing the finger at Massi/FIA, a bit of a no-win situation for them. Plus I’m sure the team involved would start to complain about the repair costs. They went out, did two laps, probably for contractual obligations and also to actually see how the cars would fare on the track. It was too wet and it was canceled. Lewis can complain all he likes, but I feel that… Read more »
Disappointing . . . just very disappointing. Spa is one of the best races on the calendar. I don’t know all the regulations, but awarding point for a few laps behind the safety car. Please . . . that’s ridiculous. Even NASCAR requires half distance to be completed before points awarded. I can’t wait to see Liberty Media and the FIA get roasted over this farce.
Also….. Mazepin got the fastest lap :-)
First I think they handled it well. It was nobodies fault that the wether was so bad and they waited as long as could to get the race going. I live in Germany about 30km north of the track and at around 5 p.m. the rain was at that point only a light drizzle but it did not reach the track in time. And I get that they made sure that at least officially they had a “race”. It would have been a “protest fest” afterwards. There were a lot of grid penalties this weekend, what do you do if… Read more »
I’m not impressed with Michael Masi. He always seems deeply unsure of wtf to do and covers it with this really prickly attitude, which is a typical tactic for people who are afraid they won’t be able to hold their own in an open discussion. Which he can’t, when he does listen the team bosses always con him into whatever they want. To hold qualifying until a crash then say it’s too dangerous to go out, to hold the formation lap until a crash then say it’s too dangerous to race, any idiot can do that – ‘I don’t know… Read more »
I CANNOT WAIT for your podcast – Have Fun! (they deserve it).
My only though is, if this is a 2 star race, I death to think what a 1 star would look like…
That would be where they give Hamilton the trophy before they start the race.