2021 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, Aug 27 - 29

[DChemTech]

Sure, it would have been better if the rulebook somewhere indicated that "in case of events that prohibit the race from taking place, half-points will be awarded on the basis of the qualification result". It may not be the most satisfactory option in terms of spectacle, but at least it solves the problem and it puts some extra weight on the quali result (although this will, hopefully, very rarely materialize.)

[maxxer]

What makes me sad is remembering the classic wet races, (Spain 96 and Japan 07 come to mind as very wet races) knowing they are never going to happen again, we won’t know who the best drivers in the wet are anymore. I understand the reasons for not getting underway but to classify that as a race is ludicrous, abandon the race or race under green flag.

Might be rose tinted glass there. When I objectively look at both amount of water and visibility we can sorta see those old monsoon races had OK visibility (good enough daylight) so the drivers could at least see the track and each other.

Much brighter lighting better than Spa 2021:

https://youtu.be/MSkLILrgrpY

https://youtu.be/X6UjDBnYEVs

Problem here is that its not even mist but like being in the cloud itself been through it this summer not even living in the areas which flooded

[AnthonyG]

If there's no race, there should be no points. This was a shame for F1, not because they didn't race, but because they couldn't make up their mind and tried to classify 3-4 laps behind safety car as a race. The rules need to change as in, if there's no green flag on track at any point during a GP, there is no race.

[ispano6]

Back in the day, drivers who felt it was too dangerous to drive opted out of the race. Those who wanted to still race accepted the risk for the reward of points. Times have changed now but there ought to be a virtual safety car mechanism that kicks in when a car is at a corner where an accident just happened, so that you don't have a Jules Bianchi or Hubert type of accident again. Sensors in the track and car should trigger immediatel vsc mode for the field.

That being said, some drivers probably would have raced, though there appeared to be unanimity that the conditions were treacherous. However I find the comments from Hamilton about the race being a farce disagreeble since it was drivers saying the race should not be held in those conditions. F1 seems to automatically assume that rain races are exciting for the fans etc but was there actually unanimity from attendees that the race was a farce and that they demanded refunds? That seemed more like something Lewis said of his own opinion, but were the fans in attendance actually booing? It's clear the appropriate measures were taken and the climax of the weekend was Q3 in which attendees were treated to an exciting result, which for this weekend the drivers did score their points on Saturday. I don't think Lewis needs to decide for the fans when a race is a farce, let the fans in attendance decide that. And if some complain, heck give them a goodie bag of team wear and swag, signed memorabilia etc that you can only acquire at the race etc.

[ispano6]

If there's no race, there should be no points. This was a shame for F1, not because they didn't race, but because they couldn't make up their mind and tried to classify 3-4 laps behind safety car as a race. The rules need to change as in, if there's no green flag on track at any point during a GP, there is no race.

That makes no sense, there is a reason why the two lap, half points rule exists. Forget the entertainment of the fans portion of the side for a moment and think about the logistics of the championship, the work done by the teams to prepare for the race and the drivers having qualified. All of that for nothing? That would be the biggest shame and farce to teams who are competing. Qualifying is the measure that actually previews what a race outcome should be on pure one lap pace. If a race can only be a few laps and under 1/3 distance, well, qualifying pace without the toe and drs sets your order. Same way FP3 serves as qualifying if it cannot be held.

[adrianjordan]

F1 should do 2 things.

Ammend the rules to state that, in the event a race cannot take place, points will be awarded on the results of qualifying - perhaps 25% points to reflect the lack of actual race.

They should also look into the cost of contracting all the required safety staff, marshall etc, for the Monday to allow for contingency planning to be put in place.

They should also offer every fan who attended Spa yesterday a free ticket for the race next year!!

[maxxer]

F1 should do 2 things.

Ammend the rules to state that, in the event a race cannot take place, points will be awarded on the results of qualifying - perhaps 25% points to reflect the lack of actual race.

They should also look into the cost of contracting all the required safety staff, marshall etc, for the Monday to allow for contingency planning to be put in place.

They should also offer every fan who attended Spa yesterday a free ticket for the race next year!!

I should get a free ticket also listening for hours to crofty !

[aran.vtec]

If there's no race, there should be no points. This was a shame for F1, not because they didn't race, but because they couldn't make up their mind and tried to classify 3-4 laps behind safety car as a race. The rules need to change as in, if there's no green flag on track at any point during a GP, there is no race.

That makes no sense, there is a reason why the two lap, half points rule exists. Forget the entertainment of the fans portion of the side for a moment and think about the logistics of the championship, the work done by the teams to prepare for the race and the drivers having qualified. All of that for nothing? That would be the biggest shame and farce to teams who are competing. Qualifying is the measure that actually previews what a race outcome should be on pure one lap pace. If a race can only be a few laps and under 1/3 distance, well, qualifying pace without the toe and drs sets your order. Same way FP3 serves as qualifying if it cannot be held.

This is actually a good point, I remember 1 race qualifying was in doubt and everyone was going full out in fp3 knowing that it would be used as qualifying.

This was defiantly a loose loose situation, there would of been a debate no matter what decision was made. at the end they went for the safer option.

I also think landos crash played a role in the decision on Sunday going on full wets and what looked like slightly better conditions and there was an incident.

They will learn from the mistakes made and improve.

[_cerber1]

That makes no sense, there is a reason why the two lap, half points rule exists. Forget the entertainment of the fans portion of the side for a moment and think about the logistics of the championship, the work done by the teams to prepare for the race and the drivers having qualified. All of that for nothing? That would be the biggest shame and farce to teams who are competing. Qualifying is the measure that actually previews what a race outcome should be on pure one lap pace. If a race can only be a few laps and under 1/3 distance, well, qualifying pace without the toe and drs sets your order. Same way FP3 serves as qualifying if it cannot be held.

Have you seen the pilots fight on the track? Maybe you saw the start of the race from a traffic light? Those few laps of driving behind a safety car do not fall under any definition of the meaning of the word - racing. It is beneficial for you to save the FIA and the organizers now, because Max was the first, and I understand that, but please stop calling yesterday's races a race. Giving points for this is absurd!

[Tvetovnato]

Back in the day, drivers who felt it was too dangerous to drive opted out of the race. Those who wanted to still race accepted the risk for the reward of points. Times have changed now but there ought to be a virtual safety car mechanism that kicks in when a car is at a corner where an accident just happened, so that you don't have a Jules Bianchi or Hubert type of accident again. Sensors in the track and car should trigger immediatel vsc mode for the field.

That being said, some drivers probably would have raced, though there appeared to be unanimity that the conditions were treacherous. However I find the comments from Hamilton about the race being a farce disagreeble since it was drivers saying the race should not be held in those conditions. F1 seems to automatically assume that rain races are exciting for the fans etc but was there actually unanimity from attendees that the race was a farce and that they demanded refunds? That seemed more like something Lewis said of his own opinion, but were the fans in attendance actually booing? It's clear the appropriate measures were taken and the climax of the weekend was Q3 in which attendees were treated to an exciting result, which for this weekend the drivers did score their points on Saturday. I don't think Lewis needs to decide for the fans when a race is a farce, let the fans in attendance decide that. And if some complain, heck give them a goodie bag of team wear and swag, signed memorabilia etc that you can only acquire at the race etc.

Hamilton was not alone in discribing this as a farce. Far from it. There are very few who do NOT consider it a farce. I don’t see how you can disagree with it, even though you have a clear preference for the driver who won. There are some very simple facts here. Points are awarded for the driver who wins the race, and no matter what technicalities the rulebook contains, this was NOT a race. Hence, no points should be awarded. Period.

[basti313]

..... Mercedes gambled on a dry race and made the wrong call, but also benefitted from not having to run their dry race set up in a wet race. ....

I am still surprised by this assumption. Nothing in the data supports this:
- All top speeds are well sorted by the engines. Except for the usually low drag AT, you can see Merc engine cars on the top. Everyone bolted on all downforce they had and we see the naturally more grunge of the Merc engine as expected. This was discussed in the week before the race already, that Spa is a track where you see an engine advantage also in the wet.
- Ham had always one of the best S2 in Q. Clearly speaks against a dry setup...
- One of the major differences was the bus stop. Ham neither came out well to start the lap, nor did he get through it on the lap. This was the only place where the Bull was clearly better.
- Rus was clearly better in La Source and Pouhon, ~0.3sec each. If you look at the lap comparisons you can see the Merc and the Bull being better everywhere else on the track but the drivers bottled it in La Source and Pouhon. Ham and Rus bottled a bit the Bus Stop, this is where all the loss in the end came to Verstappen. With the natural speed of the cars extracted more similar, we would have had Ver and Ham very close and Rus being about 0.6sec behind them.

Furthermore there is no real "wet setup" anymore. Tire pressures are on the low limit, ride height is only changed by the tire diameter, wings are clearly visible and according to the top speeds they were fairly similar.

[bauc]

What a fiasco ..... pointless wait for 3hours, and 3 laps behind the SC bring home trophy? FIA and Liberty .... you scammers!!! You got your money from entry tickets and TV rights, but the fans who stood on the rain from the morning ..... well --- them! This is wrose than the 2005 Indianapolis fiasco....

[Sieper]

If there's no race, there should be no points. This was a shame for F1, not because they didn't race, but because they couldn't make up their mind and tried to classify 3-4 laps behind safety car as a race. The rules need to change as in, if there's no green flag on track at any point during a GP, there is no race.

That makes no sense, there is a reason why the two lap, half points rule exists. Forget the entertainment of the fans portion of the side for a moment and think about the logistics of the championship, the work done by the teams to prepare for the race and the drivers having qualified. All of that for nothing? That would be the biggest shame and farce to teams who are competing. Qualifying is the measure that actually previews what a race outcome should be on pure one lap pace. If a race can only be a few laps and under 1/3 distance, well, qualifying pace without the toe and drs sets your order. Same way FP3 serves as qualifying if it cannot be held.

There are a few more aspects to it, there was a driver with a grid penalty for taking 5 cars out of the previous race. Should that (lenient) penalty also be just brushed under the carpet. At least now he has served it.

If any of the drivers (like Perez and stroll’s team with the wing) made a mistake in these slow laps they lost the points even.

[Laserguru]

No debate on the fastest lap? Max was merely out of contention due to ruling, which seems unfair?

Once behind the safety car, the race leader must keep within ten car lengths of it and all remaining cars must keep the formation as tight as possible.

So… backmarkers can vary their distance and put in a fast lap while the race leader cannot? Must be fixed in the ruling book in case this rare event strikes twice.

[Unc1eM0nty]

Seems like mostly Mercedes fans complaining about a farcical race, go figure.

What race, there was no race, not a single competitive lap, how can anyone be happy with it ?