STAVELOT, Belgium – Max Verstappen was declared the winner of the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix after torrential rains prevented competitors from turning any competitive laps Sunday at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Verstappen, who won the pole in a wet qualifying session Saturday, was rewarded with his sixth victory of the season despite never turning a lap at speed.
Torrential levels of rain were falling at the time the race was scheduled to start and after a soggy formation lap, it was decided to postpone the start of the race because track conditions weren’t suitable for racing.
Officials and teams waited more than two hours for track conditions to improve, but when drivers finally returned to the track for two laps behind the safety car it was determined the track still wasn’t in a raceable condition.
Those two laps behind the safety car were enough for Formula 1 officials to declare the race complete despite drivers having not turned a lap at speed.
“It is always good to win and the points are important but today is not how anyone wants to do it, especially on our 50th start with Honda. In hindsight it was very important to get pole yesterday and although it’s a big shame not to do some proper racing laps, as I really love coming to this track, it was just impossible in these conditions,” Verstappen said. “I thought maybe at 15:30 the conditions were a bit better than just now when we tried to re-start but the visibility was still very low and I understand why we couldn’t race today. For me in the lead the visibility was a lot better, even with the safety car ahead, but the guys behind me couldn’t see a single thing and if someone went off at Eau Rouge and bounced back onto the track they could have been T-boned at high speed which we do not want. It was also extremely low grip and because it kept raining all afternoon it just didn’t improve. I think today the big credit goes to the fans around the track who stayed here the whole day in the rain, wind and cold. It must have been horrible to sit in those conditions so a big thanks goes to them and they should be the real winners from today. Now we have to keep on pushing and trying to re-gain the championship lead. I’m confident we have a good car and there is a long way to go so we just need to make sure we get the best performance out of it for the rest of the season.”
Verstappen was thus awarded the victory with George Russell, still beaming after his stunning second-place qualifying effort Saturday, earning his first podium in second. Lewis Hamilton was awarded third.
Because 75 percent of the race distance was not completed, the top-10 finishers each received half points. Verstappen received 12.5 points, with Russell getting nine for second and Hamilton getting 7.5 points in third
Nicholas Latifi and Carlos Sainz Jr. were elevated to ninth and 10th, respectively, after Sergio Perez crashed his Red Bull during the drive to the grid. His team was eventually able to repair the car, but he finished last in the 20-car field and received no points.