2021 Belgian Grand Prix - Verstappen wins as heavy rain halts the race
Heavy rain and bad weather surrounding the Spa Francorchamps circuit throughout the Belgian Grand Prix race weekend have made the FIA race direction holding their nerves to make decision for canceling the race, or keep the race going with half points being awarded to top-ten finishers. The race initially went on to start at 15:00 local time, but the start was delayed in too many occassions after heavy rain started showering the track.
It took more than two hours for the drivers to wait for the decision from race direction neither to cancel the race, nor the race to be resumed with half points scoring classification. And by 18:05, FIA race dircetion decided to continue the race after the countdown clock for race restart being stopped at 17:15. The drivers must at least to complete two laps to get classified for half points scoring as the race stopped by lap 3. As a result, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) secured victory from George Russell (Williams) in 2nd and championship leader Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) in 3rd.
- Did Masi find guilty for stopping the race?
Following the race, FIA race director Michael Masi explained why he and the FIA race direction had to decide whether they could cancel or shorten the Belgian GP race due to inclement weather. He said: “It has been a long old day. Actually, we’ve seen the worst of the weather today, the conditions have not been great all weekend, we’ve had patches [where] we could get activity done – but today I think the weather got a bit of the better of us.”
“It was to see what the conditions were like,” Masi said. “We’re in constant contact with our official weather provider and there was a window where it looked like it was provided there, we have the requirement to give a 10-minute warning to everyone, so it was like ‘OK let’s try and see if we can find that window’ and a number of teams have said the same thing.
“They saw that window, and could see exactly what we were trying to do to find that weather window and then the weather came in and got the better of us again."
Masi added, “We gave every available opportunity within the rulebook, within the provisions of the international sporting code... to give us the best opportunity to be able to complete a race. And so, you know, unfortunately on this occasion we could not go the full distance that was available but with the provisions and the ISC [international sporting code] to stop the clock was what we tried to do to see if we could get ourselves in that weather window of some activity."
A statement from Formula 1 released after the red flag echoed Masi's thoughts, reiterating that safety is always the priority.
It stated as follows:
"Following the significant weather disruption to the 2021 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, the FIA and Formula 1 are disappointed for all the fans at the track and at home that today’s race could not go to full distance, but the safety of the drivers, marshals and spectators must always be the priority.
"The Decision of the Stewards to extend the window in which the race could take place gave every possible opportunity to maximise the day's running, but the weather conditions unfortunately did not improve sufficiently to complete more laps."
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