F1 2021 Round 12: Belgian Grand Prix

Of course there's the concept that it's an open air event, inclement weather can always be a factor - just the same way they do not run oval races in Indy/Nascar.

There are a couple of huge failures brewing up however and the proof of it is in the abundant use of the "unprecedented" word everyone is making.

The whole "the race has started / the race has not started" argument is beyond ridiculous - considering the "unprecedented situation" and the wheather conditions, there should be some level of flexibility allowed. If the conditions are such as that the race can't be ran, then it has NOT started.

The second issue is the stupidest, silliest and the one that will send the attendance at the venue into a "I'll never bother with F1 again" mood - the 3 hours "window", which is a very short time in the best conditions, and becomes absolutely ridiculously rigid in a situation such as today. At 17.00 Irish time, the race will be declared cancelled; If you checked the weather radar, it's about the time the rain will start letting up. With another good couple hours of light available, there's no reason why, conditions permitting, they shouldn't try to get the event started. There's literally the chance that people will be sent home under a sky that's opening up, and they'll all think "what the fcuk, waited 3 hours and they call it off when this happens?".

Masi has stopped the clock apparently

UPDATE: The race clock has stopped at 17:00. Citing Force Majeure under the International Sporting Code, the FIA has managed to give the race extra breathing space in these dreadful conditions. Excellent move.

If the safety car is struggling and nearly spinning then you know its bad

If they can stop the watch, can they also turn it back? Else race time is an hour

Mother nature I may feel pissed for half a second until I realised it was for safety reason

He's not wrong though, whats the point in having races run behind a safety car until it's dry enough for inters? The track has never been safer, the cars have never been safer, the drainage as Spa has never been better, and on and on. If the cars had been running for 20 minutes, it would clear most of the standing water, give us and the spectators at the track something to look at, rather than sitting with their fingers up their arse waiting for rain to clear that has been forecast to be down for the day all week. Some of the most memorable races have started in conditions like this.

But yea, let the drivers make all the decisions.

I think it's looking like Masi made a mistake by officially starting the race earlier and they went through the rule book to find a way out of it. Anyway, 'Force Majeur' it is and hopefully we'll see some racing later on.

How much for a ticket to see the race? But again peeved at who. Just race damn safety so your money is not raced.

I agree with this post and with @[Deleted User] that it’s a mess and there seems to be an overly complicated rule book written in a legalistic way which works fine when things go well, but at least the rules around this issue isn’t worth the paper it’s written on because it’s a farce.