2021 Race 12 - Belgian GP - Spa Francorchamps

[gm99]

The rule used to be that 50% of the race is completed for half-point otherwise it was rescheduled.

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.

[F1nKS]

Russell.jpg

Russell doesn't seem to care.

[Fortitude]

FORMULA 1 ROLEX BELGIAN GRAND PRIX 2021 - RACE RESULT
27 29 Aug 2021 Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa-Francorchamps

https://www.formula1.com/en/results....ce-result.html


Formula 1
‘WORST SINCE INDY ’05’ – OUR VERDICT ON A BIZARRE BELGIAN GP

The shortest race in Formula 1 history featured no racing laps and just three slow laps behind the safety car as Max Verstappen was the victor of a controversial rain-soaked 2021 Belgian Grand Prix.
He along with the rest of the top 10 were awarded half points for completing such a short distance – over three hours after the initial race start time.
From the stewards using unprecedented measures to never-ending weather updates to the awarding of half points for little work, our writers give their verdict on a Belgian GP that’s unlikely to be forgotten anytime soon.

https://the-race.com/formula-1/worst...re-belgian-gp/


“A farce” - Lewis Hamilton leads F1 drivers' criticism of Belgian GP ‘race’
F1 Lewis Larkam
29 Aug 2021

Lewis Hamilton has led criticism at Formula 1’s decision to restart the Belgian Grand Prix for two laps under the Safety Car, calling the situation a “farce”.

Following more than three hours of delays amid heavy rain and poor visibility, the race resumed with the Safety Car leading the field around for two laps before the red flag came out for the second and final time.

Ensuring two laps were completed meant F1 could officially declare a result and award half-points, an outcome several drivers questioned.

https://www.crash.net/f1/feature/986...elgian-gp-race


WET, WET, WET Spa GP red flagged after three laps
AUGUST 29, 2021 in Motorsport

Max Verstappen scored his first Belgian Grand Prix victory after the race at the Spa-Francorchamps was red flagged after just three laps behind the safety car due to heavy rain that had delayed the race start for more than three hours. Williams’ George Russell took the first podium finish of his career with second place, while3 Lewis Hamilton finished third for Mercedes.

https://www.racecar.com/news/94569/m...ter-three-laps


BELGIAN GP: LEWIS HAMILTON CLAIMS 'MONEY TALKS' AFTER TWO LAPS BEFORE FINAL RED FLAG
Hamilton claims only reason two laps were completed after near-three-hour delay was because that fulfils requirement for a 'race' and half points; FIA and F1 defend decisions and say a potential break in the weather was identified before conditions worsened again
By James Galloway
29/08/21 8:30pm

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/24...final-red-flag


F1 races where half points were awarded
Ewan Gale
Sunday 29 August 2021 21:00

With the Belgian Grand Prix completing just two laps to confirm a classification, F1 handed out half-points for just the sixth time in its 71-year history.
Torrential rainfall throughout the day at Spa-Francorchamps ensured the race never fully got underway, even with force majeure cited by the FIA to allow for more time.

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/69...-were-awarded/


‘MONEY TALKS’ – LEWIS HAMILTON SAYS F1 MADE ‘BAD CHOICE’ AT BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
Hamilton’s title rival Max Verstappen was proclaimed as the winner of the shortest race in the sport’s 71-year history.
Philip Duncan

Lewis Hamilton has accused Formula One’s rulers of putting money first following Sunday’s farcical Belgian Grand Prix which lasted only two laps.
Max Verstappen was proclaimed as the winner of the shortest race in the sport’s 71-year history. George Russell took second, with Hamilton third after the 12th round at a rain-soaked Spa-Francorchamps circuit was finally abandoned following three hours and 44 embarrassing minutes.
Hamilton’s championship advantage over Verstappen has been reduced from eight to three points.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...-b1910807.html


FIA EXPLAINS WHY BELGIAN GP COULDN’T BE POSTPONED UNTIL MONDAY
Hamilton Lyndon-Griffiths

Formula 1 race director Michael Masi says there was a “whole range” of reasons why it couldn’t consider moving the rain-soaked Belgian Grand Prix to Monday.
The race start was delayed by 25 minutes due to a period of heavy rain leading up to lights out, before a series of formation laps were completed behind the safety car until it was deemed too unsafe to begin the event.
It resulted in a lengthy red flag stoppage as conditions didn’t improve, with drivers waiting for almost three hours before the rain had eased to get back out on track behind the safety car.
After two laps the race was red-flagged for a second time, which satisfied the regulations that require at least two completed laps for a race classification to be made official.
The FIA ultimately called off the race, meaning the result was taken after just one lap, making it the shortest-ever grand prix in F1 history – beating the 14-lap Australian Grand Prix in 1991.

https://readmotorsport.com/2021/08/2...-until-monday/


‘MONEY TALKS’: LEWIS HAMILTON SAYS F1 MADE ‘BAD CHOICE’ AT BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
Max Verstappen was proclaimed as the winner of the shortest race in the sport’s 71-year history
Sun, 29 Aug, 2021 - 21:33
Philip Duncan

Lewis Hamilton has accused Formula One’s rulers of putting money first following Sunday’s farcical Belgian Grand Prix which lasted only two laps.
Max Verstappen was proclaimed as the winner of the shortest race in the sport’s 71-year history. George Russell took second, with Hamilton third after the 12th round at a rain-soaked Spa-Francorchamps circuit was finally abandoned following three hours and 44 embarrassing minutes.
Hamilton’s championship advantage over Verstappen has been reduced from eight to three points.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/...-40369136.html


WHY THE F1 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX WAS THE MOST ABSURD RACE IN FORMULA 1 HISTORY
Max Verstappen's win at Spa shattered record for shortest race ever in Formula 1
BY PHILLIP HORTON
Aug 29, 2021

Three minutes and 27 seconds. That was all it took for Max Verstappen to register victory at Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday at Spa-Francorchamps.
But in reality it was a absurd afternoon as torrential rain battered the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in the Ardennes Forest, making it the shortest Formula 1 race in history, and the only one to feature no green flag laps.
The classification was taken after two laps, which were completed over three hours after the scheduled start time, as the relentless heavy rain and mist made visibility unsafe for racing in a region that was recently affected by devastating flooding.

https://www.autoweek.com/racing/form...t-absurd-race/


LEWIS HAMILTON CALLS BELGIAN GP 'A FARCE', SAYS FANS DESERVE REFUND
Reuters and ESPN

Lewis Hamilton said Belgian Grand Prix fans should get their money back after they waited hours in the cold and wet without seeing a competitive lap in the shortest race in Formula One history.

The wet race at Spa-Francorchamps was abandoned after the field, circulating behind the safety car, completed the two laps necessary for half-points to be awarded.

"Money talks and the two laps to start the race is all a money scenario," seven times world champion Hamilton, who finished third for Mercedes, told Sky Sports after the podium ceremonies.

https://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id...deserve-refund


Formula 1
F1/FIA INSIST MONEY NOT A FACTOR IN BELGIAN GP RUNNING
Aug 29 2021
By Scott Mitchell & Edd Straw

Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali and FIA race director Michael Masi insist there was no commercial influence on how the controversial Belgian Grand Prix was handled.

Only three laps were completed – all behind the safety car – and half points were awarded on a miserable day at Spa that featured over three hours’ worth of red flags in total and a significant amount of waiting around.

At one stage the race was “temporarily” stopped by the stewards in an unprecedented move “on the grounds of force majeure”, extending the limit to get the race done beyond 6pm local time – but it did not result in any green-flag racing.

All that materialised was a brief ‘race restart’ in which the field completed the required number of laps behind the safety car to allow points to be awarded, which some – including championship leader Lewis Hamilton – suggested was motivated by the desire to produce an official race result to satisfy contracts with both the promoter and the television broadcasters.

https://the-race.com/formula-1/f1-fi...an-gp-running/

[Fortitude]

Hamilton ramps up Belgian GP criticism by describing non-event a "farce"
Sam Hall
Sunday 29 August 2021 20:35

Lewis Hamilton has stepped up his criticism of the Belgian Grand Prix washout by labelling the non-event a "farce".
Hamilton, who was classified third, has not held back in sharing his thoughts as to what unfolded at the Spa Francorchamps circuit as only two laps were completed, with both behind the safety car.

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/69...event-a-farce/


Formula 1
WHY ONE-LAP BELGIAN GP RESULT DIDN’T STOP POINTS BEING AWARDED
By Scott Mitchell

The FIA believes it is correct that half points were awarded at the Belgian Grand Prix despite the official classification being taken from the end of the first lap.

The controversial Belgian GP had been red-flagged for almost three hours, with no laps completed, when the field was sent out behind the safety car.

After they started their third lap behind the safety car the race was red-flagged again and race leader Max Verstappen led the field into the pitlane and crossed the control line, which counted as a third lap completed.

By this definition, Article 6.5 of the sporting regulations had been satisfied, as that requires “more than two laps” to be completed in order to have 50% points awarded.

https://the-race.com/formula-1/why-o...being-awarded/

[Firstgear]

[QUOTE=gm99;
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.[/QUOTE]
...and it needs to be X laps racing, not just a parade behind the safety car.

[truefan72]

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.

yeah, i think so too. in retrospect

[zako85]

What a race. Kept me on the edge the whole time.

[The Black Knight]

What annoys me most about yesterday is the way they all hide behind the safety card when the simple truth is that, excepting Max who wanted to race, they are all just a bunch of overpaid cowards that don't deserve their seat in F1. I hope Max wins the championship now. Lewis didn't want to step foot in his car yesterday the coward, then had the temerity to virtue signal about fans getting their money back afterwards. He has gone too comfortable and insufferably woke over the last couple of years. He doesn't deserve to be champion.

[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.

[Zico]

What annoys me most about yesterday is the way they all hide behind the safety card when the simple truth is that, excepting Max who wanted to race, they are all just a bunch of overpaid cowards that don't deserve their seat in F1. I hope Max wins the championship now. Lewis didn't want to step foot in his car yesterday the coward, then had the temerity to virtue signal about fans getting their money back afterwards. He has gone too comfortable and insufferably woke over the last couple of years. He doesn't deserve to be champion.

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.