Max Verstappen has condemned the FIA's decision to delay the start of the Belgian Grand Prix by an hour and 20 minutes due to rain, calling it unnecessary. However, George Russell, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, countered that any other choice would have been 'stupidity' given the dangerous conditions at Spa-Francorchamps.
The delay occurred after rain swept in just before the race, with the FIA aborting the first formation lap due to poor visibility from spray. The circuit, which has seen two fatalities in recent years (Anthoine Hubert in 2019 and Dilano van 't Hoff in 2023), was deemed too risky to start immediately.
Verstappen, whose Red Bull was set up for wet conditions, argued the race could have begun at 3pm. 'It was not even raining,' he said. 'If you do two or three laps behind the safety car, then it would have been a lot more clear.' He finished fourth in the race won by Oscar Piastri.
Russell disagreed, stating that drivers cannot see at high speeds in such spray. 'When you're doing over 200 miles an hour out of Eau Rouge, you literally cannot see anything... it's just stupidity,' he said. Drivers including Piastri and Charles Leclerc supported the decision.
Lewis Hamilton, who started 18th and finished seventh after a perfect tyre call, echoed Verstappen. 'My car was set up for that, and they waited for it to dry,' he said. 'At the end, it was a dry line with hardly any spray.'
