Grand Prix 2025 Belgian Grand Prix

[F1Brits_90]

Its ridiculous the pinnacle of motor sport

they need to have a way to speed up red flag in these situations. because so many have said that was more than ready 30 mins beforehand. but too many times they need to give far too much notice for the race to start. & the fact they were ready for slick tyres after 11 laps. is like going back to the bad old days for the sport

 

[Il_leone]

i dont want to be too critical of Norris. as they are "tiny" errors. but they cost him last yr in brazil & they are costing him this season. he seems to push too hard. he was 3-3.5 secs behind on lap 41. he lost 2 secs due to multiple tiny errors in the chase.

piastri is supposedly human. 1.5secs with 3 laps to go. could put pressure on piastri to have lock up & give him a chance. at 3.5 piastri was always going to be comfortable

Seriously these tiny moments are costly

More concerning Spa was supposed to be easy to overtake but we had a procession

 

[Johnny Carwash]

Next season nobody will want to start from pole position.

 

[Il_leone]

A lot of drivers opted for wet weather set up.and we could have had a mixed result. Come on Pirelli we need suitable wets

 

[F1Brits_90]

From what I understand, the main issue wasn’t the tyres, it was visibility again, there was no real aquaplaning, which makes sense since all the drivers were on intermediates. According to Ted’s Notebook, the rumour is that the 1 hour 20 minute delay was due in part to the feeling that the British GP had been started too early, & officials didn’t want a repeat.

If that’s true, then the sport may have a bigger problem than we realise. Because, honestly, I’d struggle to find a single fan, driver, or pundit who thought the start of the British GP was unsafe.

Of course, no one wants recklessness, especially given the incredibly sad circumstances of Bianchi’s accident. But there has to be some middle ground. We need more of what we saw in Brazil last year, rather than going back to the bad old days of a decade ago, when we’d run lap after lap behind the Safety Car waiting for a dry line to appear.

 

[Il_leone]

They should all just drive around helping the clear the standing water but come on 4 laps with cars set up for wet weather on inters

 

[Brogan]

Try driving behind an F1 car with wet weather tyres at 300 kph in a car with no windscreen, wipers, or roof, and them come back here and whine about how it's not dangerous.

An F1 car displaces 85 litres of water per second at 300 kph.

As you don't have access to an F1 car, try driving your road car on the motorway without the wipers or headlights.
See how you get on.

 

[F1Brits_90]

Try driving behind an F1 car with wet weather tyres at 300 kph in a car with no windscreen, wipers, or roof, and them come back here and whine about how it's not dangerous.

An F1 car displaces 85 litres of water per second at 300 kph.

As you don't have access to an F1 car, try driving your road car on the motorway without the wipers or headlights.
See how you get on.

i never said its not difficult or not dangerous. but F1 is dangerous. there are races that went perfectly. F2 this morning went ahead in worse conditions & went straight forward for 18 laps. until montoya spun

Spa 98 & fuji 2007, wouldve been cancelled now. but they are daredevils. sometimes its goes wrong but if would be a shame to never race in the rain again. because we dont judge the greats of F1 in how they are in the dry.

 

[Brogan]

So a few drivers dying is worth it for the entertainment.

Got it.

 

[cider_and_toast]

As you don't have access to an F1 car, try driving your road car on the motorway without the wipers or headlights.
See how you get on.

Convinced the wife to film me having a go.

Why the hell do I ever listen to you? It's been about 17 years and you would have thought I would have learned by now.

 

[F1Brits_90]

So a few drivers dying is worth it for the entertainment.

Got it.

as i repeated

Of course, no one wants recklessness, especially given the incredibly sad circumstances of Bianchi’s accident. But there has to be some middle ground. We need more of what we saw in Brazil last year, rather than going back to the bad old days of a decade ago, when we’d run lap after lap behind the Safety Car waiting for a dry line to appear.

 

[The Artist.....]

as i repeated

From my point of view, there are some circuits where it is dangerous to run when it is very wet, either because of the characteristics of the track, or the run-off, or the overall speed, or something else.

Spa is one of those tracks where, when it is very wet, the risk (particularly through Eau Rouge and Radillon) where a small loss of grip leads to a catastrophic accident. Look at, for instance, Lando Norris' accident in 2021 - frankly, he was lucky not to suffer severe injuries there. The second issue at Spa is that spray does not dissipate. Because of the trees either side of the circuit, the spray just hangs around in the air, reducing visibility, and finally, there are sections that (by necessity) there are concrete walls right next to very high speed sections.

Interlagos is a very different circuit - albeit with fast sections bounded by concrete walls. However, in wet weather, the circuit doesn't seem to generate the same level of crashes as Spa, probably because the cars have higher downforce, and the spray doesn't seem to hang around in the air to the same extent!

 

[FB]

I understand not running the race in conditions which are dangerous for the drivers. I don't understand waiting 20 minutes after the weather has improved to decide to start the race, and then giving the teams the 10 minutes warning. The race director did a really shit job at getting the the race underway when the best way to shift the water off the track is to drive F1 cars around it.

 

[cider_and_toast]

Unfortunately (or was it fortunately?) I missed the race.

 

[F1Brits_90]

Belgian GP: Martin Brundle on Oscar Piastri beating Lando Norris, rain debate at Spa-Francorchamps and Christian Horner's Red Bull exit

Sky Sports F1s Martin Brundle delivers his verdict on Oscar Piastri hitting back in the title race with victory at the Belgian Grand Prix, the decision to delay the race by 80 minutes and Christian Horners sacking at Red Bull

www.skysports.com

Will we have a classic wet race again?
Like many drivers, and commentators, and especially fans, Max was very unhappy that once again race control delayed and slowed proceedings until the point where the track was significantly drying. Those who had chosen a wet wing level because of the forecast of guaranteed rain on Sunday felt unfairly disadvantaged.

And pretty much everyone on the planet who watches F1 was very reasonably asking why we bother to have full wet tyres anymore, because extreme caution over visibility means they will hardly ever be used. Furthermore, will we ever have a classic rainy F1 race again?

We must get to the bottom of this and understand if there are any recent internal FIA mandates on this subject, or whether race control is simply being too cautious of its own volition. There are inherent risks in being a racing driver and we can't simply edit those out by only effectively racing in the dry. It's up to the driver to manage the cars and risks in all reasonable conditions, but the reference point of what's reasonable has moved to extremely risk-averse.

 

[F1Brits_90]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/fernando-alonsos-wild-solution-to-f1s-visibility-problem-in-the-rain/10747034/

Fernando Alonso has no doubt made and lost many friends since making his Formula 1 debut in 2001. But his idea to solve the problem of poor visibility in wet conditions will likely move F1’s race promoters to strike him off their Christmas card lists.

Alonso believes the problem dates back to the adoption of wider cars and tyres in 2017. But he also – and this is what will trigger race promoters – believes the tracks could be resurfaced with a different type of asphalt to reduce spray.

“I think the tyres, the wide tyres definitely made visibility worse,” he told reporters ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian GP. “And probably some of the asphalt in the circuits, they are a little bit different than what they've been in the past. Because we raced with a lot of water in Sepang [Malaysia] and it was always okay. And now this new generation of asphalt, which is very black and very grippy in dry conditions, is like a mirror in wet conditions. And yeah, visibility is not nice. But I don't know what we can do there or what the tyres can do in a very rough tarmac.

“even some of the highways, I have said many times that the highways, there are some that they have zero spray. So if we implement that tarmac in all the circuits as a normal rule, we will have zero spray. Then it will be a huge degradation, probably, in dry conditions – I don't know. But then we can work from that theme and have a starting point. But I'm just a driver.”

It would be an expensive undertaking indeed to resurface all the grand prix circuits likely to be affected by poor weather. And, as Alonso alludes, such a process could have unforeseen consequences.

Carlos Sainz

“I always thought F1 should, if possible, innovate and try something different, I think there are certain kind of Tarmacs that if you would put them on a straight line there would be no spray, and they exist but circuits don't have them. Most circuits don't have it. In the end the biggest problem for us is visibility. It's what keeps us from racing.

“I think Spa is a very particular case where there's been a very dark past at this track. The FIA consciously took a very conservative approach, and they warned us on Thursday [of the Belgian GP] that they would take a very conservative approach. Maybe we should have done a better job in communicating that or they should have communicated to the fans, to the world… just for everyone maybe to have a bit more awareness.

“I do think we could have raced a bit earlier than what we did, gone a bit earlier after the red flag, and the safety car could have lasted a bit less long. But you also need to put yourself in the shoes of the people that press the button to say go – and then there's a massive accident because of a lack of visibility, and something fatal could happen, and they are in the end responsible for that situation to occur if you press the button.

“I understand also the conservative approach they took, even though as a racing driver I wish we could have raced a bit earlier.”