August 29, (THEWILL) – The rains that marked the race that Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won on Saturday persisted in Belgium so that the Belgian Grand Prix saw racing stopped twice and thereafter abandoned completely.
Sergio Perez slid into the tyre wall in the treacherous conditions before the cars had even lined up on the grid and the Mexican’s race looked to have ended before it had started on Sunday.
During the formation laps, however, there was enough time for Red Bull to repair Perez’s car for him to start from the pit lane. It was soon decided that the three-hour window for the race to be completed started at 15:00 Belgium time, but the clock was stopped after two hours in order to give the FIA a chance to complete some racing.
The FIA decided to have the Safety Car lead 20 cars around the track at 18:17 Belgian time, to complete two laps at a very slow pace so that the FIA had a safety net of awarding half points for a race that has still technically been observed and would pass off as done for the calendar year.
When another red flag went up with the downpour, the drivers returned to the garages to shelter from the rain. There was a clear reason to believe that it was highly unlikely that any more racing would take place.
For the benefit of doubt, Race Control held up a chance to continue and waited for the weather to clear. It did not improve and the race was called off finally.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
