F1 News: Drivers Urge For Belgian Grand Prix Cancellation If Weather Worsens

Two racing drivers have lost their lives at Spa in the last 4 years and Formula 1 drivers are not letting this one pass through easily unless deemed completely safe.

The concern of low visibility at Spa Francorchamps is back in the news and this time, drivers are willing to go to great lengths to ensure their safety. Just earlier this month, a fatal accident at Spa-Francorchamps claimed the life of Dutch teenager Dilano van 't Hoff while racing in heavy rain at a Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA).

The death shocked many within the sports fraternity as it was the second fatal accident in four years at Spa following Formula 2 racing driver Anthoine Hubert's death during a race in 2019.

Director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association and Mercedes Racing driver George Russell called for a look at safety ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix that will run the Sprint Race format for the first time and is forecast to be a wet race throughout. Russell said:

"The two questions are whether Spa is safe enough and then it's the question of the conditions. The fact is motorsport will always be dangerous when you're traveling at these speeds.

"If you were to put a ranking of risk of all of the circuits, for sure Spa is one of the riskier circuits, along with Jeddah, along with Monaco, for example. Suzuka to a degree.

"Then when you've got a combination of the weather, it's very challenging. It's the visibility, we just have no visibility whatsoever. The way I describe it to try and give some perspective is driving down the motorway in pouring rain and turning your windscreen wipers off.

"That's genuinely how it feels in the cockpit. There's not really any short-term solutions, I personally think Spa is safe enough. We just need to find a solution for visibility."

The 2021 Belgian Grand Prix received a lot of criticism from many as the race lasted just two laps behind a safety car, courtesy of bad weather conditions. The same race became the reason for the FIA to test with 'rain guards' that were recently tested at Silverstone to improve visibility by minimizing or completely eliminating spray. 

Despite the test being a failure, the data obtained has given the governing body a sense of direction to head into with the development of the parts. George Russell sides with the FIA on putting safety at the top of the priorities list. He said:

"I think two years ago, that was the correct decision to call the race off. 

"For one single Formula One car to drive around, the conditions are safe enough and suitable enough to drive. But it's when you've got 20 cars on track at once, and anybody from third position backwards literally cannot see from here to this wall, so you're talking 20, 30, 40 metres.

"I felt like the incident that happened in FRECA, it was only really a matter of time before something like that happened. Drivers aren't going flat out in the straight because they can't see, then somebody gets rear-ended and then there's a car in the middle of the track.

"Obviously, to have a race cancelled is not perfect for anybody. But we don't want to see a huge incident as we've just seen."

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc speaks on similar lines as he stresses that the FIA should not allow the Sprint Race sessions under wet conditions. He said

"This is another topic for the FIA to look closely, especially on a weekend like this where it seems we will have quite a lot of rain throughout the weekend, to not feel the pressure of starting a race just because we didn't have any running.

"We could be in that situation this weekend. It's obvious to say, but safety should come first and this needs to be the priority. People, and first of all us drivers, shouldn't complain if we don't have any laps because it is not safe to do so, with everything that has happened."

Suggesting further changes to the track apart from the ones that were made in 2019, Leclerc added:

"I think there are some changes that could make a difference. First of all, the walls on the straight after Eau Rouge, we should have a bit more space on the left and right.

"If you lose control of the car, the way it is done at the moment you are bouncing on the walls and you have a very high chance of finding yourself in the way. Again, and I think this is probably a change we should consider in the future."

Among the other drivers who raised an alarm was Fernando Alonso who suggested that these new wider cars with improved downforce have worsened the spray problem, thereby adding to poor visibility. He said: 

"Obviously, we will keep an eye on visibility, that's the biggest factor for us. Grip is normally fine, aquaplaning should be under control as we don't expect huge level of rain or standing water, it's just visibility, the biggest question mark.

"In Budapest FP1 visibility was borderline, it's not a track-specific thing, not that Spa visibility is lower, just the nature of the cars now with the ground effect and big tyres, the spray is bigger than the past. So yeah, we need to check obviously.

"It is a sprint weekend so there is not a risk only of delayed or cancel one qualifying or race, now we have two qualifying and two races, so the risk is a little bit higher than a normal weekend."

Meanwhile, drivers' championship leader Max Verstappen believes that Spa isn't the most dangerous track. Instead, it's just bad luck.

"There's always things that can be done better, but we're also racing in Monaco which I think is way more dangerous than here. But we race there because it's deemed safe enough.

"Accidents happen unfortunately, and when you look back at the accident that happened it was just extremely unfortunate the way that it happened.

"I don't think there's a lot you can do or change for it to be a lot safer because there are also other tracks out there where if you have a crash then you are back onto the track and there is very low visibility then it can happen again.

"It's a bit unlucky as well in a way that it happens at Spa two times quite closely to each other."