FIA ro review rules after after F1’s Belgian GP debacle

FIA President Jean Todt has announced that the governing body will review the Formula One’s Sporting Regulation after last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix where half points were awarded.

Weather conditions meant that last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix could not take place in its normal form. While the Formula 3 and the Porsche SuperCup took place in damp, but reasonably good circumstances, the intensity of rain increased for the start of the Belgian Grand Prix.

FIA Race Director Michael Masi decided to delay the start before the field completed a handful of formation laps befind the Safety Car. The field then waited for almost three hours before the race started. However, drivers completed only two laps behind the safety car before the race direction decided to deploy the red flag. After twenty minutes, it was decided to stop the race as weather conditions did not show any improvements.

The Sporting Regulation meant that the race officially took place thanks to the two-lap running behind the Safety Car, and as a consequence of it, half points were awarded.

FIA President Jean Todt has confirmed that the governing body will review the rules regarding these extraordinary cases when races cannot take place due to external circumstances.

“This year’s Belgian Grand Prix presented extraordinary challenges to the FIA Formula One World Championship,” said Todt in a statement. “The weather windows predicted by the forecasters did not appear throughout the day, and while a small window did appear late in the day during which there was an attempt to start the race, conditions quickly worsened again.

“Therefore, due to the lack of visibility created by the spray behind the cars, we could not run the full race in sufficiently safe conditions for the drivers, marshals, as well as the brave spectators who waited many hours in the rain, for whom I am very sorry.

“The FIA Stewards have, based on the provisions of the International Sporting Code, stopped the competition to gain more time,” added Todt, “and therefore more potential, to give the fans an F1 race. Despite these efforts, the race could not be started after the Safety Car laps, and the existing regulations have been correctly applied.

“The FIA, together with Formula 1 and the teams, will carefully review the regulations to see what can be learned and improved for the future. The findings, including the topic of points allocation, will be added to the agenda of the next F1 Commission meeting on October 5," concluded Todt.