The Belgian Grand Prix ended in a big fiasco. First the race was postponed for hours and then they had to drive three laps behind the safety car to come to a result. Should there have been points awarded for this Grand Prix? We asked several editors of the Dutch and English edition of GPblog.
Bram Huisers - Editor GPblog NL
In the end, rules are rules, so from a championship point of view, it makes sense that they would want to hand out points in the end, but it's not entirely fair. There was not a single race lap in which the drivers were able to overtake each other and therefore it is not fair that points were handed out. If the FIA wanted to hand out points they should have let the field go behind the Safety Car.
Because of the crash of Lando Norris on Saturday the FIA will probably have been more careful with the track conditions. It is understandable that they couldn't do a race, but then you shouldn't hand out points. No race is no points. Or take the risk that accidents happen, but then at least you have a race where the drivers have to fight for positions.
Femke Notermans - Editor GPblog NL
In my opinion, no points should have been awarded. I hope that after the Belgian GP the FIA will change the rules, so that at least 50% of the race has to be driven without a Safety Car in order to award points. If the drivers are not allowed to overtake, then it's just not a race.
Especially for the fans present it is unfair how the FIA acted. To drive two laps after hours of waiting and call that a race with points is unfair.
Matt Gretton - Editor-in-Chief GPblog UK
It's a tricky situation and you can look at it in different ways. The drivers have been given their positions based on their merits. Qualifying went normally, albeit in the rain, and any driver frustrated at not having scored more points can look to their performance on Saturday. Except for Sergio Perez, who literally lost points on Sunday. But it is ridiculous that points were awarded. The FIA, F1 and teams need to look at the rules that practically got the Belgian Grand Prix in trouble. In fact, the holes in the regulations were found by this event.
The definition of a race: "A contest between vehicles to see who travels the fastest over a given course." Since overtaking behind the Safety Car is not allowed, you can't call the few laps we saw a race. To compare this to the points handed out after every other Grand Prix is a disgrace. Of course, they followed the rules and that was that. In the future, it's important for everyone to review this. My suggestion would be to make sure that those two laps (maybe increase to 10%) are done under green flag. That way, there is a race and competition on the track in front of the fans. Laps behind the Safety Car will not be counted, so we will not see such an empty farce again.
Tim Kraaij - Editor-in-Chief GPblog NL
A scenario like the Belgian Grand Prix should never be allowed to happen again. We have had races in the past where drivers received half of the points, but in all cases the race was on. This has never been the case at the Belgian GP. Of course it is nice that drivers are rewarded for their qualification, but you should race on Sunday for points.
F1, FIA and teams should look for a new regulation in which more clarity is given about such a situation. At least a couple of laps should be raced before we start honoring drivers on the podium. For the rest, there should be a clear plan that a race can be finished later, or maybe not be raced at all. The most ideal situation would be if F1 could just run in these kind of conditions, but that is a bit too much to ask for in the short term.