F1 bosses to discuss rule changes after Belgian Grand Prix ‘farce’ but fans will not get a refund despite Hamilton plea
FORMULA ONE bosses will meet to discuss the Belgian Grand Prix “farce” – but disgruntled fans are set to be left out of pocket. Lewis Hamilton blasted race bosses for running a three lap procession behind the safety car to satisfy the rule book in classifying it as a race. He called it “a farce” […]
FORMULA ONE bosses will meet to discuss the Belgian Grand Prix “farce” – but disgruntled fans are set to be left out of pocket.
Lewis Hamilton blasted race bosses for running a three lap procession behind the safety car to satisfy the rule book in classifying it as a race.
He called it “a farce” and said that “money talks” with reference to why the ‘race’ went ahead in the first place, amid safety concerns due to the wet track.
The F1 champ also called on sodden fans to be reimbursed for their tickets – however, Sun Sport understands that is unlikely.
However, teams, F1 bosses and the sport’s governing body will meet during this weekend’s Dutch GP to ensure that the wash-out at Spa never happens again.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has made it clear that safety was the priority as the wet track made the visibility too unsafe to race.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown said that it was not “right” that the few laps behind the safety car were declared a race.
He said: “The regulations state that after you do a few laps it can be called a race. I think that needs to be reviewed.
Most read in Motorsport
JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET A FREE £10 BONUS WITH 100s OF GAMES TO PLAY AND NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED (Ts&Cs apply)
“I don’t think there is anyone who would argue the weather was safe to race in, but we need a better solution as a sport when that type of situation happens.
“The outcome should not be a race after three laps behind a safety car.
“That is what the rules say but that now needs to be reviewed by all of us, to learn from and realise that if we are given that type of situation, what would we do differently to make sure the outcome is everyone gets their race in – whether that is the following day or it comes back.
“I don’t think anyone would say it felt right calling that a race, so we will work on this and hope that something like this doesn’t happen again.”
FIA’s underfire Race Director Michael Masi agreed that the rules need changing to ensure there is no repeat of the embarrassment at Spa.
He added: “At our next meeting for next year, we’ll look at a whole lot of things that you know we can all look at, to see what everyone wants.
“The FIA works with all 10 teams and F1 to develop the regulations. And so we’ll go through all of the various scenarios and see what everyone thinks.”
Meanwhile, Domenicali says it was not F1’s fault for starting the race at 3pm, despite the Porsche Super Cup and Formula 3 races being completed well ahead of F1’s proposed start time.
F1 2021 calendar: practice times, dates and racetrack info
He also said it was impossible to roll the race over to the following day for logistical reasons.
He said: “It’s the stewards that control that, if you want to change the time. As far as the information that we had, there was no sign that the rain would have been so bad.
“Otherwise, a decision could have been taken by the stewards but you cannot schedule the race the day after for many things, related to availability of marshals, availability of other stuff.”