Fans rage at FIA zero risk approach – Formula One may have just experienced a defining moment in its future direction as race control decided there would be no wet racing at the 2025 Belgium Grand Prix. With the start of the race delayed almost 90 minutes due to wet weather, when the action finally began on track the conditions were dry enough for the drivers to burn out their intermediate tyres in just a handful of laps.
Drivers and teams who had rightly set their cars up based on the forecast of extreme wet weather were compromised and the fans were robbed of exciting racing and instead paid to view a largely processional race in the Ardennes Forrest.
For those who hark back to the 50’s and 60’s when F1 was a blood and guts sport, this is no longer the case and rightly so. Improvements in safety mean that drivers are rarely even injured when hitting the wall at 200 mph but some were clearly frightened by the low visibility from the spray as exploratory laps were made behind the safety car.
F1 drivers gaming race control
Whether its fear or gamesmanship, only each driver will know the reason for them wishing the start of a race to be delayed. In the case of Lando Norris it was clearly the latter as his team radio messages revealed when he stated clearly the right hand side of the start/finish line was wetter than the left. Norris was on pole and so visibility wasn’t the issue but his start position was compromised by the standing water on his side of the grid.
Despite the track being a handful of laps away from being able to cope with slick tyres, race control ridiculously decided on a rolling start. This was inexplicable but for the message from Norris suggesting it was unfair to the drivers in odd numbered starting positions.
There were some who questioned the capability of the Pirelli wet rubber, yet this was never a tyre issue and the full wet tyres once again were not deployed. This year Pirelli will cart around the world 5,760 of the blue wall sided full wet tyre, yet it is almost guaranteed that they will never see the light of day and be fitted to a race car.
Whilst improving safety from the 1970’s has been a key feature in the FIA’s ongoing programme, it appears we’ve reached a tipping point where crucial decisions must be made. Motorsport is a dangerous past time and the drivers are paid far more than the danger money coal miners, for example, once received.
F1’s safety record
The question must be asked of Formula One, where must the line be drawn as far as safety issues are concerned? Have we reached the point where zero tolerance of any risk of injury is now the priority for the FIA and race control?
Fifty two drivers have died competing in Formula One and given the sport is celebrating its 75th anniversary this season, on the face of it the chances of being killed behind the wheel are high. Yet when digging a little deeper into these numbers we find the biggest killer was the Indianapolis Speedway which was part of the F1 schedule in the 1950’s and 60’s which accounted for seven of the 52 deaths.
Once we remove those who dies in testing or at historic racing events, the number falls to 32, which on average is one every two seasons. But most of these tragedies happened in the early era of F1 racing, when safety was almost not a concern at all. In fact since the high profile tragedy of Ayrton Senna’s death behind the wheel of an F1 car in 1994, only Jules Bianchi has suffered a terminal injury from F1 racing and this is now 11 years ago since the fateful Japanese Grand Prix in 2014.
Whilst discussing the statistics of F1’s meat wagon is unseemly, the reality is the probability of being killed in a modern F1 car is far less the average person being run over by a passing bus.
F1 Boss explains why Horner owed £110m
Fans say ‘courage and skill’ gone from F1
Fans from across the world have been debating the issues raised in Belgium for the past two days and Cawl n’ Qvo appears to represent some kind of consensus on the matter when stating: “Safety equipment has also changed. Just more. Roman Grosjean basically tried to commit suicide and escaped with just some mild burns on his hands.”
“Kubica had an accident that would have been fatal 100% of the time in those days, but despite being far less robust than our current cars, he didn’t suffer a single broken bone. It’s good to avoid risk wherever possible, but a philosophy in which any risk is deemed too much risk is incompatible with a sport that is supposed to reward courage and skill.”
Of course trying to understand the current risk of anything is a difficult judgement to make, but it appears the FIA have decided that if there is more than one option in terms of mitigating risk, they will opt for the one which is minimal even if the other is just marginally more risky.
John questioned whether this is a western societal issue stating: “The old have aged out of risky behaviour with the natural decrease in testosterone, and the young have less appetite for it, relative to previous generations, due to upbringing. Do you really think there hashtag mentalhealth generation wants to live in a risky world?”
Russell pleads safety first
Whatever the case, F1 is in a moment of peril and as Max Verstappen puttee matter succinctly, “It’s a bit of a shame. 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.”
The difference between Verstappen’s ideal and the one espoused by George Russell couldn’t be much further apart as the Mercedes driver bleated about poor visibility and danger stating: “As a racer you always want to get going, you love driving in the rain, but the fact is when you’re doing over 200 miles an hour out of Eau Rouge and you literally cannot see anything – you may as well have a blindfold on.”
What was once a challenge for the bravest and most fearless of motorsport competitors is now sadly too risky, despite the massive improvement in safety. The F1 2025 Belgium Grand Prix will prove to be a tipping point for the sport, particularly since regulations and precedents are only ever added to, and never taken away.
Red Bull blocks Verstappen quitting
Red Bull block Verstappen exit, but Mercedes move ‘still on’ – Max Verstappen’s Formula One future, once a topic of endless conjecture, appears to have taken a brief pause, but not quite a full stop. According to Dutch reports and insiders close to Red Bull Racing, the four-time world champion is now locked into his seat with the Milton Keynes-based team, at least contractually speaking, thanks to a clause that has quietly expired following the Belgian Grand Prix.
Verstappen finished fourth at Spa, which, while not his usual perch on the top step of the podium, was enough to cement his position in the top three of the championship standings heading into the summer break. This, crucially, voids the exit clause in his Red Bull contract that was contingent on team performance. The idea was simple: if Red Bull flopped and Max slid below the top three in the standings, he could legally wiggle free and seek greener paddocks.
That no longer applies. The clause is dead. Or at least, it’s in contractual purgatory until the lawyers say otherwise.
But as always in Formula One, just because a door is bolted shut doesn’t mean there’s not a side entrance being quietly propped open — especially if Toto Wolff has the keys…. READ MORE
The Judge, a nom de plume of an experienced F1 journalist and site founder with long-standing sources across the paddock. With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
