Max Verstappen was the eventual winner of a farcical 2021 F1 Belgian GP with the race results being classified after just three laps completed at Spa-Francorchamps.
Half points were awarded to the drivers and teams as more than two laps were completed, but less than 75 percent of the full race distance.
Rain caused havoc over the course of Sunday, with Sergio Perez crashing on his way to the grid, then after a 25 minute delay to the 15:00 CEST start time, the race was eventually red flagged.
At 18:17 CEST we went racing behind the Safety Car, but with just two laps completed another red flag was given and the race was eventually called off at 18:45 CEST.
F1 Belgium GP 2021 – Full Race Results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Race time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 0:03:27.071 |
| 2 | George Russell | Williams | +1.995s |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +2.601s |
| 4 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | +4.496s |
| 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | +7.479s |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | +10.177s |
| 7 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | +11.579s |
| 8 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +12.608s |
| 9 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | +15.484s |
| 10 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +16.166s |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | +20.590s |
| 12 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | +22.414s |
| 13 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | +24.163s |
| 14 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +27.109s |
| 15 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | +28.329s |
| 16 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | +29.507s |
| 17 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | +31.993s |
| 18 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | +36.054s |
| 19 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | +38.205s |
| 20 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +44.108s |
Reaction to 2021 Belgian GP from the drivers
Following the race many drivers were critical of the decisions made from the race director, with Max Verstappen of the opinion that the race should have began at the scheduled time of 15:00 CEST.
“Now in hindsight it was very important to get that pole position but of course it’s a big shame to not do proper laps,” Verstappen said after the race. “But the conditions were very tricky out there.
“I mean, I said it at 15:30 like, ‘let’s go’. I think the conditions were decent, but the visibility was very low, so I think if we would have started at three o’clock we had a better chance. But nevertheless, after that it just stayed really wet and it kept raining.
“Of course, it’s a win but it’s not how you want to win. I think for today, big credit goes to all the fans around the track to stay here. The whole day in the rain, in the cold, windy conditions, so I think they’re actually the bigger winners today”
Hamilton brands 2021 Belgian GP a farce
Meanwhile, Verstappen’s title rival Lewis Hamilton was much more scathing in his assessment of the handling of the 2021 Belgian GP.
“Today was a farce and the only people to lose out are the fans who have paid good money to watch us race,” Hamilton said.
“Of course you can’t do anything about the weather but we have sophisticated equipment to tell us what’s going on and it was clear the weather wasn’t going to let up. We were sent out for one reason and one reason only.
“Two laps behind a safety car where there is no possibility to gain or lose a place or provide entertainment for fans isn’t racing. We should have just called it quits, not risked the drivers and more importantly refunded the fans who are the heart of our sport.”
