Motor racing-Hamilton and Verstappen question race delay as others back FIA
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (Reuters) -Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen questioned race control's handling of the rain-delayed Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday as rival drivers commended Formula One's governing body for putting safety first.
The race at Spa-Francorchamps was delayed for an hour and 20 minutes as officials waited for rain to stop and conditions to dry out.
The safety car then led the field for four laps before a rolling start.
"I think we could have started way sooner, that's not ideal," Red Bull's four times world champion Verstappen told reporters, adding that in the end there had been very little racing in the wet.
Hamilton, who went from the pit lane to seventh, said he did not think the rolling start was necessary.
"I don't really know why they did that one, because it had dried up quite a lot and the spray wasn't that bad," added the Briton.
The high-speed Spa circuit is the longest lap on the calendar and weather conditions can be treacherous. It also has a tragic past.
French Formula Two driver Anthoine Hubert died in a crash at the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix at the exit of Raidillon, at the top of the famed Eau Rouge, while Dutch teenager Dilano van't Hoff died in a junior series crash in 2023.
The list is much longer when the sport's distant past is considered.
"I think the past few years, particularly here, we've given the FIA feedback that we would much rather be on the safe side than risk anything," said McLaren's race winner and championship leader Oscar Piastri.
"I think that's what we did today. If you were to be picky, maybe we could have done one less formation lap. But in the grand scheme of things, if that's one lap too early, is it worth it? No."
Ferrari's third-placed finisher Charles Leclerc, whose family friend Jules Bianchi suffered fatal injuries in a crash at the rain-hit 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, agreed.
"On a track like this with what happened historically, I think you cannot forget about it. For that reason, I'd rather be safe than too early," he said. "Maybe it was a little bit on the late side, but I wouldn't have changed anything."
Williams' Carlos Sainz, who started near the back and would have suffered in the spray, supported race control.
"In a normal track, yes, I think we could have started maybe 5-10 minutes earlier. In Spa-Francorchamps and the history of this track, it's better safe than sorry," said the Spaniard.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
16 minutes ago
- The Sun
'Lucky' De Minaur saves three match points to lift Washington Open title
ALEX DE MINAUR rallied from a set down and saved three match points to claim the Washington Open title with a 5-7 6-1 7-6(3) win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final of the ATP 500 event on Sunday. The Australian number one, who lost the 2018 final to Alexander Zverev, felt he rode his luck to secure his 10th career title and ensure he will enter the top 10 in the world rankings ahead of next month's U.S. Open. The two 26-year-olds exchanged breaks early in the opening set before Spain's Davidovich Fokina seized control by breaking again and closed out the set with the help of some crisp forehand winners. De Minaur responded emphatically in the second set, converting two of four break-point opportunities while holding serve throughout, wrapping up the set in just over 30 minutes with an ace to level the contest. The Spaniard looked on course for his first career title when he broke to grab the lead in the decider but he failed to serve out the match at 5-3, sending a forehand long to hand the break back to seventh seed De Minaur. Davidovich Fokina's frustration mounted as the 12th seed squandered three match points on De Minaur's serve, and the Australian then capitalised on a series of unforced errors in the tiebreak to edge the contest. 'I came here in 2018 and it gave me so much confidence, so I'm so happy that I was able to come back and end up winning the title,' De Minaur said at the trophy presentation. 'Alejandro, you're way too good not to have one of these, it's coming for sure,' he added, gesturing to the trophy. 'You deserved it today, I just got lucky. You are a hell of a competitor, hell of a player. No one on the tour wants to play you. And this is not the end, this is only going on for you.' Davidovich Fokina recalled that he had required a wild card to play in the U.S. capital last year and was pleased to have at least guaranteed a rise to a career high world number 19 when the rankings are updated on Monday. 'He deserved the win, he was fighting every ... ball, he was always pushing through my limits,' Davidovich Fokina said. 'We had a job to do before we started the year, to be at the middle of the year in the top 20. This week we did it, just not with the trophy. But for sure, we will keep going, pushing our limits, pushing harder.'- REUTERS
The Sun
16 minutes ago
- The Sun
Verstappen and Hamilton criticise Belgian GP delay as overcautious
MULTIPLE world champions Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton both accused race organisers of being overcautious on Sunday when the start of the Belgian Grand Prix was delayed by 80 minutes following heavy rain. Four-time world champion Verstappen said he believed that instead of suspending the race after one formation lap behind the Safety Car, Race Control should have kept the field out on the track to clear standing water. 'It wasn't even raining,' he said, referring to the decision taken at the scheduled race start time of 1500 local time (1300 GMT). 'Of course, between Turns One and Five, there was quite a bit of water. 'But if you do two or three laps behind the Safety Car, then it would have been a lot more clear -- and the rest of the track was ready to go anyway. 'It's a bit of a shame. I knew that they would be a bit more cautious because of Silverstone, but this also didn't make sense. 'Then, it's better to say 'let's wait until it's completely dry' and we'll start on slicks because this is not really wet weather racing for me.' Instead of staying out, however, the field were taken back into the pit lane to wait for more than an hour, waiting until improved weather conditions prevailed. The race then began with a rolling start after four laps behind the Safety Car. Verstappen finished off the podium for the third consecutive race as series leader Oscar Piastri led team-mate Lando Norris home in a convincing McLaren 1-2. 'Over-reacting' Ferrari's Hamilton said race organisers had over-reacted after Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli and Alpine's Isack Hadjar collided at Silverstone in poor visibility. 'We started the race a little bit too late, I would say,' he said. ''I kept shouting that 'it's ready to go it's ready to go', but they kept going round and round. 'I think they're probably over-reacting from the last race, where we asked them not to re-start the race too early because the visibility was bad. 'This weekend, I think they just went too far the other way. We didn't need a rolling start.' After a disappointing Saturday when he was twice eliminated in the first part of qualifying, for the sprint race and the Grand Prix, the seven-time world champion responded with a rousing drive through the field from 18th to finish seventh. 'I always love races like that where you're challenged and have to make your way through the field,' said the 40-year-old Briton. 'But, ultimately, I'm disappointed to have had not such a great weekend -- definitely one to forget, but at least I've still got some points. 'And, we outscored Mercedes, but I've got to go back -- and you can't always get it right. There are lots of factors that contributed to Friday and Saturday, but ultimately me. Obviously I recovered a little bit today, but big thanks to the team. I will try and come stronger next week.' - 'A safe call' - However, Williams driver Carlos Sainz supported the decision as 'a safe call' given the history of the sprawling high-speed circuit. 'My respect to the Race Director because he told us after Silverstone - and the accidents at Silverstone - that he would play it safer here and that is what he did,' said Sainz. He accepted that the race could have started much earlier on a 'normal' circuit, but pointed out that as a result of the decision taken the race was run for a full 44 laps. 'On a normal track, yes,' he said. 'I think maybe we could have started earlier by five or ten minutes. But at Spa-Francorchamps, and with the history of the track, it is better to be safe than sorry. 'You got the whole race. You got to watch the full race. So, I don't think it was a bad call. A safe call, yes.' The Spa-Francorchamps circuit has been the scene of 53 fatalities including two in the last six years due to poor weather conditions. 'That's why it's better to be safe than to have an accident and to be regretful,' added Sainz.
The Sun
16 minutes ago
- The Sun
Piastri beats Norris in rain-delayed Belgian Grand Prix
OSCAR PIASTRI passed McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris with a bold early move to win the rain-delayed Belgian Grand Prix and extend his Formula One lead to 16 points on Sunday. Charles Leclerc was a distant third for Ferrari as reigning champions McLaren celebrated their sixth one-two finish in 13 races and the third in a row. The race at Spa-Francorchamps was red-flagged after an initial formation lap and delayed by an hour and 20 minutes due to the weather, with standing water and heavy spray affecting visibility. Piastri was in no mood for hanging around when the racing got going with a rolling start after four laps behind the safety car to check conditions. The Australian slipstreamed Norris through the daunting Eau Rouge and then scythed past down the Kemmel straight into Les Combes in a move of total commitment in the treacherous conditions. 'I knew lap one would be my best chance of winning the race. I got a good exit out of Turn One, lifted as little as I dared out of Eau Rouge,' he said. 'The rest of the race we managed really well. I struggled at the end. Maybe the mediums were not the best for the last five or six laps. We had it mostly under control.' The win was his sixth of the season, making the 24-year-old the first Australian -- on a list that includes past world champions Jack Brabham and Alan Jones -- to triumph so many times in a single campaign. Norris had a slight battery issue, the Briton asking over the radio why he had 'no pack' before his race engineer assured him it was coming back, but he was not looking for any excuses afterwards. 'Oscar just did a good job. Nothing more to say. Committed a bit more through Eau Rouge, and had the slipstream and got the run,' he said. 'So nothing to complain of. He did a better job in the beginning, and that was it. Nothing more I could do after that point. I would love to be up top, but Oscar deserved it today.' Two-horse race Piastri now has 266 points to Norris' 250. Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen is third but 81 points off the lead and the championship more than ever a two-horse race with Hungary up next weekend before the August break. McLaren lead the constructors' standings with 516 points to Ferrari's 248 while Mercedes fell further behind their Italian rivals on 220. Piastri pitted on lap 12 of 44 to switch from intermediates to medium tyres on a drying track and Norris followed a lap later, but opting for the hards and rejoining nine seconds behind. The Briton might have hoped Piastri would have to pit again but the Australian made the tyres last to the chequered flag on a one-stop strategy. Piastri crossed the line 3.415 seconds clear of Norris, who had been chasing a third win in a row and managed to reduce the gap in the final laps before late mistakes left the ever-calm Australian under no pressure. Saturday sprint winner Verstappen finished fourth in his team's first grand prix since the dismissal of team boss Christian Horner, with George Russell fifth for Mercedes. Williams' Alex Albon held off Ferrari's seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton -- last year's winner with Mercedes -- to secure sixth. Hamilton had been one of four drivers due to start from the pit lane but given a big boost by the switch to a rolling getaway and a fresh engine installed overnight. The Briton was also the first to make the decision to switch to slicks and pit, gaining six places. Liam Lawson was eighth for Racing Bulls with Gabriel Bortoleto ninth for Sauber and Pierre Gasly securing the final point for Alpine - REUTERS
