28/07/2025 13:35
Charles Leclerc defended the FIA over the 80-minute delay at the
Belgian Grand Prix, insisting the sport "cannot forget" how
"historically" dangerous Spa-Francorchamps has proven to be in the
wet. During the wet formation lap, the race was red-flagged and not
restarted for 80 minutes due to poor visibility, by at which point
some dry patches had started to appear on the circuit. Whilst all
drivers started on the intermediates, everyone had switched to
slicks within the opening stages of the grand prix. It resulted in
minimal overtakes, with not one change having occurred in the top
eight for the final 32 laps. Post-race, some criticised the length
of the delay waiting for all the showers to pass, whilst Leclerc
defended the decision to wait until it was absolutely safe to
continue. Discussing if the race was delayed for too long, Leclerc
told media: "I think it's always fine-tuning. On a track like this
with what happened historically, I think you cannot forget about
it. "For that reason, I'd rather be safe than too early. It's a
constant discussion, and we'll probably feed the people that made
this decision back that maybe it was a little bit on the late side,
but I wouldn't have changed anything." Piastri joins Leclerc in FIA
defence Race winner Oscar Piastri echoed Leclerc's defence of the
FIA's decision to delay the race, although did question if four
laps were required behind the safety car. The safety car led the
pack for four laps following the delay, before green flag running
resumed. By which point, much of the circuit had dry patches and
the spray was minimal. However, the situation was very different
during the initial formation lap, with Piastri having revealed that
he could not see McLaren team-mate Lando Norris ahead. "I think the
past few years, particularly here, we've given the FIA feedback
that we would much rather be on the safe side than risk anything,"
said Piastri. "I think that's what we did. If you were to be picky,
maybe we could have done one less formation lap. But in the grand
scheme of things, if that's one lap too early, is it worth it? No.
"Also, us three are the worst people to ask because we have the
least amount of cars in front of us. For someone at the back, the
first time we tried to start the race, even for myself with just
Lando ahead, I couldn't see a thing. "You can only imagine what
it's like for the guys at the back. That's always a tough thing to
balance because the guys at the front have an easier time than the
guys at the back."
