Unlike the previous shortest race, the 1991 Australian Grand Prix, there will be no funny anecdotes about this one. There is not much we can draw from Russell's and Williams' podium day. No one survived and ended up ten positions up the grid. There were no moments beyond watching the rain fall and constant television graphics with an update saying to expect an update ten minutes from then.
The 2021 Belgian Grand Prix was a glorified qualifying session that was awarded race points.
We cannot control the weather, but we can control our decisions based on the weather. It was clear no decision was going to be the outright correct decision for this race. Race control had to balance safety concerns for the drivers while also upholding a race fit for the world championship. It also had to decide whether no race would be held at all and do something we had never seen before. Regardless, we saw unprecedented decisions and an unprecedented race that was unsatisfying and has left many quite irate.
But let's be honest, you were always going to be angry with how the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix played out.
Race director Michael Masi could have decided to play the race out, running behind the safety car from the start, drawing the ire of a global audience as laps ticked off behind safety car driver Bernd Mayländer. Eventually, Masi could have decided to go green, whether that was after five laps, ten laps or 20 laps behind the safety car. They could have attempted green flag racing and gone until cars spun off at an alarming rate, which would again draw ire from the global audience.
But at least a substantial race would have gotten in. At least we would have seen green flag racing. It might have been five caution laps to four green flag laps. It could have been 20 caution laps to five green flag laps. Cars would have spun off, hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars worth of damage would have been done, and then everyone would have asked what was the point.
Masi could have let the clock run out and admitted a race was not possible on this day. It could have ended in a cancellation, a first for a Formula One grand prix with a full weekend of activity already completed. Even if it was done in the name of safety, Formula One would have been criticized for not trying. After seven decades of racing in the rain and racing through the worst conditions, from the 14-mile Nurburgring to Fuji to Adelaide and everywhere else in between, this was the breaking point. Formula One had finally reached the point of too much rain for a race to be held. People would have been furious, because compared to some of the historic wet races, including some at Spa-Francorchamps, Sunday in the Ardennes looked no worse than the rest of them.
Of all the possible outcomes, Masi chose the worst of them all. Merely going out to meet the minimum requirement for a race with no real intention of going beyond that is reprehensible. Cancelling the race would have been better than thinking two caution laps would have been adequate for the teams that spent countless hours preparing for this race and been better for those watching around the globe. People will easily accept that the weather would not cooperate. Running two laps and expecting the masses to be happy they saw a race without any attempt to go green is appallingly demeaning, especially after the decision had been made that the final attempt would be a one-hour race after all the delays.
With it already decided the race would be truncated, race control should have continued circling the circuit until enough confidence was there for the race to go green. After watching this mishap, it shows how different current race control handles the elements compared to the preceding decision makers.
The 2007 Japanese Grand Prix from Fuji did not look any different than what we saw from Spa-Francorchamps yesterday. The biggest difference is then-race director Charlie Whiting had the race start on time, even if it was behind the safety car. Through brutal conditions, Whiting ran 19 caution laps before deciding to wave the green flag. Drivers complained about the visibility. Some were certain it was not good enough to go, but after 19 laps of feeling out the conditions at a decreased pace, the race started. There were only two accidents in that race, one of which was Fernando Alonso's solo spin into the barrier. But the drivers managed and incredibly all 67 laps were completed just under the two-hour time limit.
We might not like watching cars circle behind the pace car, but compared to the events of Sunday from Belgium, the safety car leading is the preferable option. Sitting still will not make the circuit conditions any better. The wet weather tires are designed to pump out extraordinary amounts of water of the surface. When cars are not on the circuit, the puddles will only grow larger and larger. The only option to handle the problem is by running laps, even if at a reduced pace, otherwise we are not going to race.
There was no chance we were going to see a full satisfying Belgian Grand Prix and none of the options were pleasing. We were either going to see a safety car heavy race with likely a few accidents, but one where we could have seen some low-quality green flag racing and more than two total laps. We could have seen a cancelled race without an official race lap in the record book. Or we got what we got, a charade to fulfill the standards of a race but not fool anyone.
Pick your poison. Those were our choices.
Formula One's past is littered with unfulfilling races, whether those were races forced through inclement weather or marred by controversy. Another safety car heavy race would not have been an insult to the drivers, teams, and spectators. Yesterday was.
Masi has been ridiculed immensely since taking over after Whiting's sudden passing days before the 2019 season opener at Melbourne. While some of the criticism has been unfair, yesterday was his worst day in charge of race control and his actions are dismissible. Like it or not, he has put the integrity of the series in question. It was not an easy spot to be in, but he could not have handled it more pathetically.
Lessons will be learned and, if Masi was smart, every race under his watch from here onward would start behind the safety car regardless of the conditions outside of the track being in the middle of a hurricane, tornado, blizzard, or earthquake. Masi should have looked at his predecessor's decisions and made sure when it was time to go green, the race started even if it was behind the safety car for an extended period of time.
After a certain number of laps, it would then be time to rip off the bandage and try to get some green flag laps in, even if only a handful were completed.
In recent years, the red flag has been abused in Formula One. It has been a quick trigger to cover every incident to try and maximize laps run under green flag conditions. It has made what are just normal accidents appear to be more severe than they actually are. It is time for that to stop. In 2021 alone there have been five red-flagged races. There were three red-flagged races last year, bringing Masi's total up to eight. There were only eight red-flagged races between 2012 and Whiting's final race at the end of the 2018 season.
The Belgian Grand Prix was red-flagged before any car had spun or clattered into a barrier. Nothing had gone wrong and yet the race was stopped. It was done out of precaution but let's admit precaution does not make us happy. Until an incident warrants a red flag, a race should continue onward through the worst conditions. If Masi believed the conditions were not good enough after a four-hour delay, he should have never put the cars on track. A change in leadership is the only way to assure we will see a change in philosophy to allow a race to play out.
Changes need to be made, but admit it, none of the possible outcomes for this race would have made you happy. Any attempt at green flag racing would have eventually led to an accident and more caution laps. You would have been angry. The race could have been cancelled and after over four hours of waiting and getting nothing, you would have been angry. Then there is what happened, a pity race that ran to the letter of the law but following procedures do not quite fill you with joy, now does it?
Formula One will bounce back. You will be back. This black eye will hang around for a long time. It will haunt every rainy race morning for an indefinite period. Procedures will need to improve. Even if improvements are made, remember that does not mean you will be satisfied.
We cannot control the weather, but we can control our decisions based on the weather. It was clear no decision was going to be the outright correct decision for this race. Race control had to balance safety concerns for the drivers while also upholding a race fit for the world championship. It also had to decide whether no race would be held at all and do something we had never seen before. Regardless, we saw unprecedented decisions and an unprecedented race that was unsatisfying and has left many quite irate.
But let's be honest, you were always going to be angry with how the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix played out.
Race director Michael Masi could have decided to play the race out, running behind the safety car from the start, drawing the ire of a global audience as laps ticked off behind safety car driver Bernd Mayländer. Eventually, Masi could have decided to go green, whether that was after five laps, ten laps or 20 laps behind the safety car. They could have attempted green flag racing and gone until cars spun off at an alarming rate, which would again draw ire from the global audience.
But at least a substantial race would have gotten in. At least we would have seen green flag racing. It might have been five caution laps to four green flag laps. It could have been 20 caution laps to five green flag laps. Cars would have spun off, hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars worth of damage would have been done, and then everyone would have asked what was the point.
Masi could have let the clock run out and admitted a race was not possible on this day. It could have ended in a cancellation, a first for a Formula One grand prix with a full weekend of activity already completed. Even if it was done in the name of safety, Formula One would have been criticized for not trying. After seven decades of racing in the rain and racing through the worst conditions, from the 14-mile Nurburgring to Fuji to Adelaide and everywhere else in between, this was the breaking point. Formula One had finally reached the point of too much rain for a race to be held. People would have been furious, because compared to some of the historic wet races, including some at Spa-Francorchamps, Sunday in the Ardennes looked no worse than the rest of them.
Of all the possible outcomes, Masi chose the worst of them all. Merely going out to meet the minimum requirement for a race with no real intention of going beyond that is reprehensible. Cancelling the race would have been better than thinking two caution laps would have been adequate for the teams that spent countless hours preparing for this race and been better for those watching around the globe. People will easily accept that the weather would not cooperate. Running two laps and expecting the masses to be happy they saw a race without any attempt to go green is appallingly demeaning, especially after the decision had been made that the final attempt would be a one-hour race after all the delays.
With it already decided the race would be truncated, race control should have continued circling the circuit until enough confidence was there for the race to go green. After watching this mishap, it shows how different current race control handles the elements compared to the preceding decision makers.
The 2007 Japanese Grand Prix from Fuji did not look any different than what we saw from Spa-Francorchamps yesterday. The biggest difference is then-race director Charlie Whiting had the race start on time, even if it was behind the safety car. Through brutal conditions, Whiting ran 19 caution laps before deciding to wave the green flag. Drivers complained about the visibility. Some were certain it was not good enough to go, but after 19 laps of feeling out the conditions at a decreased pace, the race started. There were only two accidents in that race, one of which was Fernando Alonso's solo spin into the barrier. But the drivers managed and incredibly all 67 laps were completed just under the two-hour time limit.
We might not like watching cars circle behind the pace car, but compared to the events of Sunday from Belgium, the safety car leading is the preferable option. Sitting still will not make the circuit conditions any better. The wet weather tires are designed to pump out extraordinary amounts of water of the surface. When cars are not on the circuit, the puddles will only grow larger and larger. The only option to handle the problem is by running laps, even if at a reduced pace, otherwise we are not going to race.
There was no chance we were going to see a full satisfying Belgian Grand Prix and none of the options were pleasing. We were either going to see a safety car heavy race with likely a few accidents, but one where we could have seen some low-quality green flag racing and more than two total laps. We could have seen a cancelled race without an official race lap in the record book. Or we got what we got, a charade to fulfill the standards of a race but not fool anyone.
Pick your poison. Those were our choices.
Formula One's past is littered with unfulfilling races, whether those were races forced through inclement weather or marred by controversy. Another safety car heavy race would not have been an insult to the drivers, teams, and spectators. Yesterday was.
Masi has been ridiculed immensely since taking over after Whiting's sudden passing days before the 2019 season opener at Melbourne. While some of the criticism has been unfair, yesterday was his worst day in charge of race control and his actions are dismissible. Like it or not, he has put the integrity of the series in question. It was not an easy spot to be in, but he could not have handled it more pathetically.
Lessons will be learned and, if Masi was smart, every race under his watch from here onward would start behind the safety car regardless of the conditions outside of the track being in the middle of a hurricane, tornado, blizzard, or earthquake. Masi should have looked at his predecessor's decisions and made sure when it was time to go green, the race started even if it was behind the safety car for an extended period of time.
After a certain number of laps, it would then be time to rip off the bandage and try to get some green flag laps in, even if only a handful were completed.
In recent years, the red flag has been abused in Formula One. It has been a quick trigger to cover every incident to try and maximize laps run under green flag conditions. It has made what are just normal accidents appear to be more severe than they actually are. It is time for that to stop. In 2021 alone there have been five red-flagged races. There were three red-flagged races last year, bringing Masi's total up to eight. There were only eight red-flagged races between 2012 and Whiting's final race at the end of the 2018 season.
The Belgian Grand Prix was red-flagged before any car had spun or clattered into a barrier. Nothing had gone wrong and yet the race was stopped. It was done out of precaution but let's admit precaution does not make us happy. Until an incident warrants a red flag, a race should continue onward through the worst conditions. If Masi believed the conditions were not good enough after a four-hour delay, he should have never put the cars on track. A change in leadership is the only way to assure we will see a change in philosophy to allow a race to play out.
Changes need to be made, but admit it, none of the possible outcomes for this race would have made you happy. Any attempt at green flag racing would have eventually led to an accident and more caution laps. You would have been angry. The race could have been cancelled and after over four hours of waiting and getting nothing, you would have been angry. Then there is what happened, a pity race that ran to the letter of the law but following procedures do not quite fill you with joy, now does it?
Formula One will bounce back. You will be back. This black eye will hang around for a long time. It will haunt every rainy race morning for an indefinite period. Procedures will need to improve. Even if improvements are made, remember that does not mean you will be satisfied.
