Oh, how boring was the Belgian GP - while that was not necessary!

21:33, 27 Jul

Updated: 22:51, 27 Jul

byLudo van Denderen

A prominent member of one of the top teams summed up the afternoon in one sentence: "Well, that was boring, wasn't it guys?" A clear analysis, which probably no fan in the stands or at home watching TV could argue against. Because oh what a dull Grand Prix this was, and it didn't have to be.

After the start was postponed by almost an hour and a half because of the - according to the race control - too wet conditions and there were laps of driving behind the safety car, the sting was immediately taken out of the race - with a terribly boring Grand Prix to follow through the Belgian Ardennes as a result.

Safety first?

Was it really unsafe? According to some drivers, the spray of water was too bad to start the race. Afterwards, the drivers of the winning team McLaren, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, pointed out that the drivers had insisted on dealing more conservatively with wet conditions. Better to wait a little longer inside, than to risk major accidents.

But Max Verstappen thought it was all nonsense. At three o'clock, as planned: that's when the reigning world champion wanted to start. "It was not even raining," he grumbled to the international media, including GPblog.

"And of course between Turn 1 and 5 was quite a bit of water, but if you do two or three laps behind the safety car, then it would have been a lot more clear. And the rest of the track was anyway ready to go."

Max Verstappen was disappointed with the race in Belgium

Mekies didn't get a rainy race

It also doesn't seem to fit Formula 1, where the twenty best drivers in the world compete against each other. The fact that there was not a single DNF on a circuit like Spa proved that the wait was too long before the drivers were released.

Too long, as later Laurent Mekies, the new team principal of the Austrian racing team, also said. His team had made choices with a wet race in mind. "And in the end, the rain came, but we didn't get a rainy race," said the Frenchman, who saw that Verstappen had no chance to overtake in dry conditions.

No podium for the Dutchman, who was visibly disappointed with how the day had developed. "I knew that they would be a bit more cautious after Silverstone, but this also didn't make sense. Then it's better to say you know what let's wait until it's completely dry, and then we just start on slicks. Because this is not really wet weather racing for me."

Max Verstappen failed to get by Charles Leclerc

Verstappen's title chances diminished again

Verstappen also knew: Rain can make a driver with less material still win - as the Dutchman did regularly in the past. In dry conditions, he was helpless. Again. Because there is the discussion whether we should have started earlier, but the story could also be that Oscar Piastri managed to increase his lead in the world championship again.

Verstappen is now 81 points behind the Australian, which could have been different under slightly different circumstances...