Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton make complaint amid Oscar Piastri's victory

Yahoo

2 days ago

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have both criticised the decision of F1 officials to delay the start of the Belgian Grand Prix, eventually won by Aussie championship leader Oscar Piastri. There was a delay of nearly an hour and a half due to rain and poor visibility at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit on Sunday, with a red flag ordered after an initial formation lap behind the safety car.
The cars were brought back into the pit lane and the starting procedure halted, and the race didn't get underway until some 90 minutes later. After the long wait, the FIA eventually cleared the race to start once standing water had been removed from the track.
Pole-sitter Lando Norris had said: "I can't see a lot behind the safety car, so I can't imagine what it's like for everyone else." But Verstappen and Hamilton both accused officials of being overcautious.
A four-time world champion, Verstappen said Race Control should have kept the field out on the track to clear the standing water, rather than red-flag it. "It wasn't even raining," he said. "Of course, between Turns One and Five, there was quite a bit of water.
"But if you do two or three laps behind the Safety Car, then it would have been a lot more clear - and the rest of the track was ready to go anyway. It's a bit of a shame. I knew that they would be a bit more cautious because of Silverstone, but this also didn't make sense. Then, it's better to say 'let's wait until it's completely dry' and we'll start on slicks because this is not really wet weather racing for me."
Lewis Hamilton agrees with Max Verstappen
Ferrari veteran Hamilton said organisers had overreacted after Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli and Alpine's Isack Hadjar collided at Silverstone in poor visibility. "We started the race a little bit too late, I would say," Hamilton said. "I kept shouting that 'it's ready to go it's ready to go', but they kept going round and round.
"I think they're probably overreacting from the last race, where we asked them not to re-start the race too early because the visibility was bad. This weekend, I think they just went too far the other way. We didn't need a rolling start."
The race eventually began with a rolling start after four laps behind the Safety Car. Hamilton finished seventh with a stunning drive after starting 18th on the grid. He said the conditions made things interesting, and would have loved a traditional 'rain race'.
Carlos Sainz believes right call was made
But Williams driver Carlos Sainz supported the decision to delay the race as "a safe call", given the history of the high-speed circuit. "My respect to the Race Director because he told us after Silverstone – and the accidents at Silverstone – that he would play it safer here and that is what he did," said Sainz.
"On a normal track, yes. I think maybe we could have started earlier by five or 10 minutes. But at Spa-Francorchamps, and with the history of the track, it is better to be safe than sorry. You got the whole race. You got to watch the full race. So, I don't think it was a bad call. A safe call, yes."
There have been 53 fatalities - including two in the last six years - due to poor weather conditions at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. "That's why it's better to be safe than to have an accident and to be regretful," added Sainz.
DRIVER STANDINGS (after 13/24 rounds)Piastri opens up a 16-point gap over Norris#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/VJfSFySLWh
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 27, 2025
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Piastri's victory put him 16 points clear of Norris in the championship. "Oscar just did a good job. Nothing more to say," conceded Norris. "Committed a bit more through Eau Rouge, and had the slipstream and got the run.
"So nothing to complain of. He did a better job in the beginning, and that was it. Nothing more I could do after that point. I would love to be up top, but Oscar deserved it today."
with agencies