Belgian Grand Prix 2021 - Poor weather forces race at Spa-Francorchamps to be abandoned
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Updated 29/08/2021 at 20:51 GMT
The weather in Belgium had been poor all weekend, with Lando Norris suffering a spectacular crash during qualifying on Saturday and Sergio Perez slid off during the warm-up lap on Sunday. Perez’s crash in his Red Bull prompted the race to be delayed and after a second formation lap behind the Safety Car, the drivers were taken into the pits with conditions deemed too dangerous to race.
Red Bull's Dutch driver Max Verstappen looks on during the drivers' line up on the starting grid before the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Spa on August 29, 2021.
Image credit: Getty Images
A rain-soaked Belgian Grand Prix saw racing stopped twice with Max Verstappen in line to receive half points for a win after the race was abandoned.
The drama started before the cars had even lined up on the grid, with Sergio Perez sliding into the tyre wall in treacherous conditions. At this point, the Mexican’s race looked to have ended before it had started.
However, it was soon decided during the formation laps that the race couldn’t start, which bought enough time for Red Bull to repair Perez’s car in time to start from the pit lane.
It was decided that the three-hour window for the race to be completed started at 15:00 local time (14:00 BST), but the clock was stopped after two hours in order to give the FIA a chance to complete some racing.
The Safety Car led 20 cars around the track at 18:17 local time (17:17 BTS) to complete two laps at a very slow pace in order to give the FIA the safety net of awarding half points for a race that has still technically been observed.
Another red flag saw the drivers return to the garages to shelter from the rain, with it seemingly highly unlikely that any more racing will take place at Spa.
Race Control gave the weather every chance to clear, but it failed to improve and the race was called off.
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