Formula One: Max Verstappen of Red Bull wins shortest race in history at Belgian Grand Prix

The
original
start
never
happened
as
teams
were
ordered
back
into
the
pits
after
two
formation
laps
showed
driving
was
too
dangerous
in
the
pouring
rain.

The
Spa-Franchorchamps
race
finally
got
underway
more
than
three
hours
later
in
a
planned
one-hour
format
but
was
red-flagged
again
after
two
laps
(the
minimum
distance
required
to
have
a
classification),
with
half
points
awarded
for
only
the
sixth
time
in
F1
history.

Verstappen
won
by
virtue
of
his
top
spot
in
qualifying
ahead
of
Williams
driver
George
Russell
and
world
champion
Lewis
Hamilton
of
Mercedes,
who
issued
scathing
criticism
of
the
organizers.

“Today
wasn’t
a
race,
I
think
the
sport
made
a
bad
choice
today,”
he
told
Sky
Sports.

“I’m
really
disappointed
for
the
fans,
obviously
we
can’t
control
the
weather
and
I
love
racing
in
the
rain,
but
today
was
something
else.
The
fans
stayed
out
there,
they
still
had
energy
but
they
were
robbed
of
a
race
today
and
they
deserve
their
money
back.”

After
racing
for
just
14
kilometers,
there
was
even
a
podium
ceremony
for
the
top
three,
with
Verstappen
moving
within
three
points
of
leader
Hamilton
in
the
championship.

“It’s
a
win
but
not
how
you
want
to
win,”
Verstappen
said.
“Today
a
big
credit
goes
to
all
the
fans
around
the
track
for
staying
here
the
whole
day
in
the
rain,
the
cold,
windy
conditions.

“Of
course
now
in
hindsight
it
was
very
important
to
get
that
pole
position.
It’s
a
big
shame
to
not
do
proper
laps,
but
the
conditions
were
very
tricky
out
there.”

The
conditions
had
affected
the
entire
race
weekend
in
the
Ardennes,
which
has
seen
adverse
weather
many
times
before
at
F1
weekends.
It
was
most
difficult
in
Saturday
qualifying
where
McLaren’s
Lando
Norris
topped
the
first
two
sessions
but
his
ambitions
for
a
first
pole
ended
when
he
crashed
heavily
in
the
famous
Eau
Rouge
section.

“You
couldn’t
really
see
five
metres
in
front
of
you,”
said
Hamilton.
“It
was
hard
to
even
see
down
the
straight.
You
couldn’t
go
flat
out.
It’s
a
shame.”

The
next
race
is
the
Dutch
Grand
Prix
on
September
5.

(DW
News)

Source:

DW

Get breaking news alerts.

Allow Notifications

You have already subscribed