In the disgusting weather of Spa, Max Verstappen splashed his winning champagne rather listlessly. After an XXL waiting time in the rain chaos, the Pole man from Red Bull won the shortest and at the same time one of the most bizarre Grand Prix in Formula 1 history. But he was only pained about his success at slow pace behind the safety car.
“Of course it’s a shame that we couldn’t do any real laps because the conditions were so tricky,” said Verstappen, wrapped in his rain jacket. “It’s a victory that you don’t want, but a big compliment to the fans.”
More than three and a half hours after the originally scheduled start of the race, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was classified in third place and defended the championship lead in fog and rain. “I hope the fans get their money back,” he suggested.
In the Ardennes shower, George Russell gave the Williams team an almost forgotten sense of achievement after his sensational second place in the qualification. Since only a minimum number of laps could be completed behind the safety car, only half the number of points was awarded. Thus, Hamilton (202.5 points) leads the world championship ranking by a wafer ahead of Verstappen (199.5).
Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel rounded the finish line in fifth place in the spray of Belgium, Mick Schumacher was 16th in the Haas. “During the driver parade, you felt sorry for the fans,” said Vettel. There was a comparable mini version of a Grand Prix in Adelaide in 1991, when it was over after 14 laps, also due to rain.
Cheers broke out among the 75,000 stubborn fans when the race was finally scheduled to start at 6:17 p.m. Only nine minutes later, however, red flags were waved again. Verstappen & Co. no longer drove on the asphalt. The Dutchman celebrated his 16th Grand Prix success.
The rain fell incessantly and it got darker and darker
The weather caused huge confusion. Not just on race day. In qualifying, McLaren driver Lando Norris crashed into the barriers after the legendary Eau Rouge corner. The British car was badly damaged, the 21-year-old only suffered a bruise on his elbow.
In the pouring rain, Verstappen raced to his ninth pole position to the cheers of thousands of Dutch fans. Hamilton even had to line up behind the sensational runner-up Russell in the Williams, who should become his new teammate in 2022 and thus replace the Finn Valtteri Bottas. Vettel secured his best starting position of the season with fifth place.
The rain fell incessantly and it got darker and darker. Canada is rated as the longest race in Formula 1 history. 4: 04: 39.537 hours is in the official result lists of the motorsport premier class. Happened on June 12, 2011 in Montreal, Canada, when the race was interrupted for more than two hours due to rain.
Even before the planned start of the race in Spa at 3 p.m., it hit Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez. The Mexican demolished the front suspension of his Red Bull in an impact.
“I really can’t see anything,” said Hamilton after the 25-minute wait when the drivers behind the safety car went on the formation lap. At 3:31 p.m., however, red flags were shown and the cars returned to the pits because of dangerous track conditions. Now it was time to wait again.
Postponing it to Monday – as has already happened in the history of Formula 1 – was out of the question, as the next Grand Prix is scheduled for next Sunday in Zandvoort, the Netherlands, and the entourage has to move on.
The question now was: Can the Grand Prix meet its three-hour deadline, within which the event has to take place in order to be at least partially rated? The clock was ticking. “At the moment it looks really bad, simply because it rains so much,” said Haas driver Schumacher, whose father Michael made his Formula 1 debut in Belgium 30 years ago.
The race stewards finally suspended the three-hour period due to force majeure in order to gain room for maneuver and allow at least 60 minutes to drive.
A full score for the drivers was no longer an option. Half points are awarded if the leader completes more than two laps but less than 75 percent of the race distance. In Spa there are 44 regular laps of 7.004 kilometers each. Then even sweepers came on the asphalt to remove the standing water. Verstappen finished the race behind the safety car. (dpa)
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