Just two laps behind the Safety Car at Spa as heavy rain wreaks havoc; race was due to start at 2pm, before the last red flag just before 6pm | Max Verstappen cuts Lewis Hamilton’s title lead to five points, with half points awarded to top-10
By Matt Morlidge
Last Updated: 29/08/21 6:02pm
The Belgian GP had to be red-flagged after just two laps behind the Safety Car due to continuous rainfall and poor conditions at Spa-Francorchamps, with Max Verstappen finishing as the official winner in the classification and cutting Lewis Hamilton’s title lead.
Any hopes of a race, heavily delayed through the afternoon, officially ended almost four hours after the scheduled start time of 2pm BST, but critically – as enough laps were completed – half points were awarded for the top-10 finishers, who essentially sealed their results through qualifying.
That means pole-sitter Verstappen takes 12.5 points, while George Russell – the star of Saturday for Williams – has his first F1 podium in rather bizarre circumstances, and scores nine.
Lewis Hamilton’s third place gives him 7.5 points, though his championship advantage is down to just three points ahead of Verstappen.
With torrential rain delaying the start of the race, there’s been plenty of time to chat, ponder and contemplate for the grid!
F1 stewards tried twice to get the race started – once at 2.25pm, when drivers voiced concerns about the poor visibility during a formation lap behind the Safety Car, with most insisting the race shouldn’t start.
Three hours later, there was finally a green light and the Safety Car then led the 20 drivers out of the pit-lane for two laps – crucial for the classification – but the conditions were considered even worse than before and the race was soon red-flagged again.
More to follow…