Racing in the rain is a heady spectacle but tragic history at Spa weighs heavy | Giles Richards

The delayed start to the Belgian Grand Prix divided opinion but the FIA has a responsibility to keep drivers safe Having been a mainstay in Formula One since the championship’s inaugural world championship year in 1950, no one is taken by surprise by the capricious nature of the weather at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Yet once again this weekend it was the climate that held court at the Belgian Grand Prix, leaving the sport divided over a circuit where the appeal of racing in the rain on a track of such fearsome risk and reward makes for difficult decisions. The race on Sunday, ultimately a somewhat pedestrian affair, was won by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri after the start had been delayed for an hour and 20 minutes owing to the rain that swept in across the Ardennes mountains. This was not an unusual occurrence. In 2021 the meeting here ended in farce as all but two laps were completed behind a safety car when an afternoon deluge continued until a “result” was declared, as unedifying and insulting to the fans as it was.