2021 Race 12 - Belgian GP - Spa Francorchamps

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Originally Posted by Zico

Thats probably a bit harsh, I suspect Lewis would have been up for racing if he was on pole.
Massive difference in visibility being out in front in these conditions.

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He should have been up for racing regardless of his position. If he's too scared go slower. The best drivers in the world should be able to judge the speed the car can go to stay on track. The idea that it was too wet to race is nonsense. They can slow down and not go as fast. In fact, that's one of the great skills of wet weather racing, striking that balance. These cars are a million times safer than 20 years ago, there is no excuse for them not to race yesterday. Absolutely none.

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Originally Posted by F1nKS

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Russell doesn't seem to care.

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Why should he. He was gifted 2nd place and a heap of points. I would be jumping with joy in his position.

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Originally Posted by gm99

When would that have been? Because of the previous five races where half points were awarded, three ran for less than 50 % (Spain 1975: 29/75 laps; Monaco 1984: 31/77 laps; Australia 1991: 14/81 laps).

I agree though that the threshold for awarding points needs to be higher than just two laps, at least 25 or 30 % of the race distance.

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Well l agree, 25% to 30% would be a respectable threshold to earn any sort of points. The championship has been distorted by this result and the fans have been robbed of a race. It was very shoddy prudence from the F1 management.

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Originally Posted by denkimi

On a positive note, this precedent could help them a lot in saving money. No more wet tyres, no more wet setups, no more wet testing.

I wonder how f1 will look in 10 years time. Probably all driving a simulator, not going faster than 130km/h as to not set a bad example.

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Exactly, they would be awarding points for the slightest oddity that happens at a race in the future now. No need to race, just dish out the points and let's go home.

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Originally Posted by The Black Knight

He should have been up for racing regardless of his position. If he's too scared go slower. The best drivers in the world should be able to judge the speed the car can go to stay on track. The idea that it was too wet to race is nonsense. They can slow down and not go as fast. In fact, that's one of the great skills of wet weather racing, striking that balance. These cars are a million times safer than 20 years ago, there is no excuse for them not to race yesterday. Absolutely none.

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I didn't think it was safe to race. After all, we do not want someone to get killed. But it is fair to note that Verstappen was pumped ready to race regardless of the conditions. Especially after surviving the brutal crash at Silverstone. That is Dutch bravery for you.

The older wiser drivers were very clear about how they felt about the situation. Vettel was livid after Norris crashed.

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Originally Posted by Nitrodaze

I didn't think it was safe to race. After all, we do not want someone to get killed.

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These were not monsoon conditions like we have seen in japan in the past, this was just continuous medium rain.
If this wasn't safe no wet race will ever be safe anymore.

We're on a slippery slope here and going downhill fast, taking a dangerous sport and trying to ban everything that could create any risk.

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Originally Posted by The Black Knight

He should have been up for racing regardless of his position. If he's too scared go slower. The best drivers in the world should be able to judge the speed the car can go to stay on track. The idea that it was too wet to race is nonsense. They can slow down and not go as fast. In fact, that's one of the great skills of wet weather racing, striking that balance. These cars are a million times safer than 20 years ago, there is no excuse for them not to race yesterday. Absolutely none.

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Max seemed to have changed his mind afterwards, so Lewis wasn't alone in his feelings.

Verstappen said: "It just didn't feel right. The fans probably won't agree with what happened today but you just have to think about safety at the end.

"When you can't see where you're going and you can't see where the car ahead of you is, you can't race like that."

Blame the engineers for creating so much wake that drivers couldn't see anything .
Don't blame the drivers for not wanting to race completely blind .

Perhaps the next generation of rules , giving more emphasis on ground effects , will produce less foggy wake and allow a driver to actually see his opponent .

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Originally Posted by denkimi

These were not monsoon conditions like we have seen in japan in the past, this was just continuous medium rain.
If this wasn't safe no wet race will ever be safe anymore.

We're on a slippery slope here and going downhill fast, taking a dangerous sport and trying to ban everything that could create any risk.

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If it was any other track, l would agree with you. If you have ever driven around Spa, you would have a completely different perspective. The steep downhill elevations with corners on them or at the end of them are the danger. Hard racing under those conditions and in continuous rain is a recipe for disaster.

And we would be the ones heavily criticizing F1 for racing in those conditions if someone gets killed in the race.

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Originally Posted by Nitrodaze

Why should he. He was gifted 2nd place and a heap of points. I would be jumping with joy in his position.

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Williams were the big winners - huge haul of points that pretty much cements them into 8th place.