Rain can completely upend expecations at any grand prix and that was the hope for two drivers who didn’t have the qualifying times they had wanted on Saturday.
There were downpours at Spa-Francorchamps in advance of the Belgian Grand Prix, and the two most prolific drivers in Formula One certainly could have benefitted from some less than ideal conditions. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen started fourth on the grid while Ferrari’s Louis Hamilton was 18th. The latter made a savvy move to pit early and switch to slick tires, which helped him move up to seventh, but Verstappen languished in fourth for the entire race.
The four-time world champion showed some frustration during the 90-minute delay to the Belgian Grand Prix and further voiced it afterwards.
“A bit of a shame,” Verstappen told Sky Sports. “Of course, they took a very cautious approach. Of course, we spoke about it after Silverstone to be a little bit more cautious because there was quite a lot of water there. But then this, for me, was on the other extreme of waiting.”
Weeks ago, in the last race, at Silverstone in the British Grand Prix, weherat also upended things, which hurt Verstappen, who had started in pole before finishing fifth. But it did create a great moment as Kick Sauber veteran Nico Hülkenberg finished third — his first ever podium after cementing the longest streak of a driver never ending in the top three.
Verstappen insists that the FIA overcompensated after a messy race in the U.K. by delaying the Belgian GP for so long. He was heard on the radio clamoring to start, yet, despite the rain having moved on, with a wet track, the governing body kept pushing the start time back. That drew the Belgium-born Dutch driver’s ire following his turn at Spa.
“It just ruins a nice, classic, wet race, as well,” Verstappen said. “So, we either still push to go for a proper wet race or we say, ‘You know what? We stop racing in the wet and we just wait for it to be dry.’ But that’s not what you want, right?
“I think we can have some really cool wet racing, like it showed also at Silverstone.”
Considering the ability of drivers is put to the test on wet tracks (after all, Verstappen, Hamilton, or even past greats like Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, thrived in adverse conditions), it makes sense that Verstappen would want to get going when the weather isn’t particularly favorable. We’ll see in the future if the FIA is more likely to let the drivers drive next time there are showers or if they continue to exercise caution — especially when F1’s biggest star is speaking out about their decision.
