The Belgian Grand Prix has been the scene of every type of race and every type of racemotion – wet thrillers, tense dry varieties, boring processions, dramatic failures, controversial punishments and tragic incidents.
When the rain started to fall on Saturday evening – went up for large spells of the next 18 hours – it felt as if the classic location could again offer one of the above.
The circumstances were so bad that the Formula 3 race did not take place, but as the rain was relaxed and the circumstances improved, the F2 function could start on time and he ran neatly to a spider and a stall in Raidillon – where there had been a number of moments, but a number of excellent car overview – for Sebastian Montoya ended.
Shortly before the Pitlane opened, the sun was out and the track had dried considerably. Then some steady rain hit and the initial formation round behind the Safety Car was limited when the starting procedure was hung.
Drivers reported poor visibility, but by stopping the procedure this meant that another heavy tire of rain soaked the track, and the end result was a 90 -minute delay between the initial start time and Lando Norris actually set his foot down on a rolling start to get the race on a fast drying job.
That restart came after four other laps behind the Safety Car, and the first two showed that there can be a good amount of spray, even when the sun has been out and the track seems to be relatively dry for the naked eye. It is simply the nature of current F1 cars that use land effect for most of their performance and have a rear wing that is designed to send dirty air upwards.
A number of fans who looked at home – and undoubtedly many in the stands – were frustrated by waiting for action, and they were not alone.
‘Three hours, immediately [is when the race should have started]”Said Max Verstappen.” It didn’t even rained. And of course there was quite a bit of water between turns 1 and 5, but if you do two or three laps behind the safety car, it would have been a lot clearer. The rest of the track was … ready to go.
“It is a bit of a shame. Of course I knew that they would be a bit more careful after Silverstone, but this was not right. It is better to say: ‘You know what, let’s wait until it is completely dry and then we just start on slicks,” because this is not really wet weather.
“It was between turns 1 and 5 [poor visibility]But only for a few laps. The more you run, it will be much better, and if you can’t see it, you can always lift. You will see at some point. “
The problem racing control has – there are always established interests involved. Lando Norris suggested that visibility was not good on the first round of the formation and later referred to the water on the well to try to guarantee a rolling start in the best possible conditions for himself as a leader.
Understandable, just like Verstappen’s recognition that he wanted to race earlier because he had a wet weather.
Of course, drivers can race, regardless of the rain and choose to drive within the borders, but that does not change the only thing that no one has control at the moment – spray. Mark Thompson/Getty images
“I just think it’s a bit of a shame for everyone,” said Verstappen. “You will never see this classic kind of wet races again, which I think can still happen. I think the rain that fell afterwards was still manageable, if we would continue to ignore.
“You make all the decisions based on wet racing, so then it also just ruins your entire race a little. But, I mean, P3 would have been the highest possible. We were very close to that, but at the same time it also emphasized our weaknesses with the car. That is something that is not so easy to repair at the moment.”
Those established interests monitor or the right decisions are made at the right time. On a song where F2 driver Anthoine Hubert was killed in a T-bone collision at the top of Raidillon partly because drivers are not lying about the top and dilano van ‘t Hoff died in similar circumstances in a wet freca race two years ago, recently enough events have demonstrated the potential downside. In essence, it is what every driver regards too much risk at some point, and although the comments from Verstappen were not directly submitted to him, George Russell had a different view of racing in lower visibility when there was a clear chance of getting a full race with a longer delay.
“I mean, as a racer you always want to get started,” said Russell. “You like driving in the rain. But the fact is that if you do more than 200 miles per hour from Eau Rouge, you can literally see nothing, you might as well have a blindfold.
‘[That] Is not racing; It’s just stupidity. I think it, since it would clearly get dry from 4 p.m., I think they made the right call. “
Charles Leclerc was a little more over the fence, but made the powerful argument that it is better to worry that you started a little too late than a bit too early.
“I think it is always refined,” said Leclerc. “On a song like this with what happened historically, I think you can’t forget it. For that reason I would rather be safe than too early. It is a constant discussion, and we will probably feed the people who have taken this decision back that it might have been a bit on the late side, but I would have changed nothing.”
Oscar Piastri also at the point that the drivers asked the FIA to play it safer at Spa-Francorchamps in such circumstances. Whether you agree with Verstappen and felt that more risk was worth taking, or those who think it is best to be mistaken on the more careful side, the cause is what should be tackled.
Everyone wants to race in the rain. It is what separates the very best drivers and offers the possibility for special results. Take a look at the result of Nico Hulkenberg a race ago in Silverstone.
It was not grip levels that led to a part of the delay at Spa, it was visibility. It was the amount of spray created by F1 cars and the direction of that spray. If it could be reduced, racing could take place in a broader range of circumstances.
2026 should see a reduction in the downforce levels of the new generation of cars, but as they are developed, we will probably end up in a similar situation. The FIA has done research into reducing the spray and must continue to do so, because one of the greatest art in Racing is missed when visibility prevents drivers from showing their skills.
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