F1 CEO denies commercial reasons: "That is absolutely not true"

12:33, 30 Aug 2021
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The Belgian Grand Prix looked set to be the stage for a resumption of the battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen on Sunday afternoon, but the race turned out to be a fiasco. Due to the heavy rainfall, the race control decided to stop the race without it really having started. Stefano Domenicali understands the decision very well though.
The drivers took to the track once more at around 18:15 to drive a few laps behind the Safety Car, after which the red flag finally came out. There were rumours that these laps were done purely for commercial reasons, but the CEO of Formula 1 states that this was by no means the case.
"That is absolutely not true," Domenicali responds in conversation with Motorsport-total.com. "Racing is also about responsibilities, and these are completely separate from commercial matters. They were just trying to get a race result."

Heavy rain during GP of Belgium

Race control tried a number of times to get the race started after all, but the weather got in the way. "As soon as they went out again there was a new weather forecast that it was impossible. Despite the disappointment for everyone, I think it was the right thing to do in terms of management."
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