Belgian Grand Prix: Championship order to set grid if rain washes out qualifying

1 year ago 16

Logan Sargeant climbs from his Williams aft crashing successful archetypal practice

The grid for the Belgian Grand Prix volition beryllium acceptable successful title bid if bedewed upwind makes it intolerable to tally qualifying connected Friday.

Only 15 drivers acceptable a thigh clip successful a bedewed archetypal practice. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was fastest up of McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

Governing assemblage the FIA agreed with teams earlier the league not to acceptable the grid from the signifier results.

This is the default statement successful the rules for a 'sprint' contention weekend.

But it was considered a information hazard to person teams efficaciously turning archetypal signifier into a de facto qualifying league erstwhile teams had not antecedently tally their cars connected the track.

Safety astatine the historical Spa-Francorchamps track, particularly successful bedewed conditions, has been a absorption successful F1 successful the tally up to this weekend's contention successful the aftermath of the decease of 18-year-old Dutch operator Dilano Van 't Hoff successful a inferior class contention earlier this month.

Drivers person emphasised the dangers of racing successful the rainfall astatine Spa due to the fact that of the topography of the circuit, particularly the tally done the high-speed Eau Rouge swerves connected to the Kemmel straight.

Van t' Hoff was killed successful a bedewed race, erstwhile helium mislaid power connected the straight, deed the barriers and bounced backmost connected to the track, wherever helium was deed by different car.

The mishap was a fewer 100 meters further connected from the tract of the decease of Frenchman Anthoine Hubert successful a Formula 2 contention astatine the Belgian Grand Prix gathering successful 2019.

Hubert's mishap happened successful adust conditions but besides progressive him coming to remainder successful the mediate of the way conscionable aft the crest of the elevation astatine Raidillon, the last left-hander astatine Eau Rouge.

He was progressive successful a multi-car pile-up and was T-boned by different car.

Two years ago, the Belgian GP was called disconnected without immoderate racing laps taking spot due to the fact that conditions were considered excessively unsafe for racing.

There was contention erstwhile drivers were awarded fractional points for their grid bid for a contention that efficaciously didn't happen. Since then, the rules person been changed to dictate that a contention has to person progressive astatine slightest 2 laps not nether a information car oregon virtual information car to beryllium declared official.

The forecast is for rainfall to proceed passim Friday astatine varying levels of intensity.

The main interest regarding racing successful the bedewed is that visibility has worsened successful caller years due to the fact that of F1 adopting wider tyres and cars with ground-effect aerodynamics, some of which suck up much h2o from the way and make much spray.

Mercedes operator George Russell likened racing successful the bedewed with a clump of cars to driving down the motorway successful dense rainfall without windscreen wipers.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc added: "We are not exaggerating erstwhile we accidental we don't spot anything. We truly don't spot anything."

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