Up Next
The Belgian Grand Prix has been “temporarily” stopped by the Formula 1 stewards in an unprecedented move “on the grounds of force majeure”.
Formula 1’s Spa race has already spent an hour and a half under red flag conditions due to the weather conditions, after constant rain left track conditions and visibility poor.
It was due to begin at 3pm local but the start was delayed several times before the formation lap finally began at 3.25pm behind the safety car.
The start procedure was suspended during the second lap behind the safety car and then red-flagged before the race had officially begun.
However, as the formation lap began behind the safety car, the three-hour window for the race to be completed in had officially started – at 3pm local time, the scheduled start, rather than when the formation lap began.
🚩 RED FLAG 🚩
All the drivers have returned to the pits #BelgianGP 🇧🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/E4mZWX3lf6
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 29, 2021
That put a 6pm limit on when the race had to end but the stewards have now taken extraordinary action that extends that period.
“In accordance with the powers vested in them under the FIA International Sporting Code, the stewards have decided to stop temporarily the 2021 Belgium Grand Prix at 17:00 hours”, they said in a statement.
“This decision is taken on the grounds of force majeure.”
It means the race clock will resume with one hour remaining whenever the stewards decide to end the temporary stoppage.
Article 11.9.3.o of the FIA International Code gives the stewards authority to either temporarily or permanently stop a grand prix.
No racing has yet taken place. It is likely that if conditions do not improve, FIA race director Michael Masi will choose to begin the race under the safety car so the drivers can complete “more than two laps” under caution.
“More than two laps” is the required race duration to award 50% points and log a race result.
In that case, assuming the field stayed in their positions – following Sergio Perez’s crash on the way to the grid that removed him from the seventh he was due to start in – they would start in those positions and the following points would be awarded:
Max Verstappen: 12.5
George Russell: 9
Lewis Hamilton: 7.5
Daniel Ricciardo: 6
Sebastian Vettel: 5
Pierre Gasly: 4
Esteban Ocon: 3
Charles Leclerc: 2
Nicholas Latifi: 1
Carlos Sainz: 0.5
If so, then Hamilton would lead Verstappen by three points in the championship, subject to how the fastest lap point is awarded as there is no part of the rules that says a lap under the safety car is ineligible.
Williams would also double its season’s tally to 20 – surely clinching eighth in the standings ahead of Alfa Romeo.
If the race is resumed, Perez would be able to start the race from the pitlane after his Red Bull team used the delay to repair Perez’s car.
