Belgian Grand Prix 2021
History was made at Spa as Max Verstappen won the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, which now holds the title of shortest race ever in F1. After hours of delay, the race finally began but lasted a mere three laps before it was halted due to a heavy downpour of rain.
As a result, pole-sitter Verstappen took half points for the win while Williams’ George Russell got his first career podium finish as a reward for his fine second-place finish in qualifying.
Read on below for SBOTOP’s recap of this historic race at Spa.
Highlights of the game
Unfortunately, due to inclement weather, the real drama of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend at Spa came during qualifying. Although, what drama it was!
Williams’ George Russell defied the Belgian Grand Prix 2021 odds as he produced the performance of his life in qualifying. The young Brit looked on course for his first career pole, but Verstappen cruelly snatched it from him with a terrific lap of his own.
Still, Russell’s second-place finish was a shocker and his front-row start pushed fellow Brit and reigning Belgian GP champion Lewis Hamilton down to the second row in third alongside McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo. The surprising Sebastian Vettel finished fifth.
The rain continued to pour ahead of the race proper, which threatened to produce some treacherous racing conditions. And so it proved. The rain claimed its first casualty before the race even began as Sergio Perez slid into the barriers during his warmup lap, which looked to have ended his race.
The start was delayed amid the poor conditions, and they tried again after half an hour. However, all it took was a couple of laps behind the safety car to determine how unfit the conditions were for racing. The race was quickly suspended as the red flags came out to send the cars back to the pit lane.
The delay took so long that it gave Red Bull the time to get Perez’s car ready to start, and they succeeded as he got to start from pit lane.
After three long hours, the race finally got underway behind the safety car. But the race would last just three completed laps before the red flags returned to pull the cars back into the pits, this time for good.
Despite taking much longer than they needed, the authorities finally called a stop to the race four hours after it was scheduled to start.
Verstappen was awarded the victory, but he and the rest of the top 10 were only given half points since the race only saw two completed laps but less than 75 per cent of the race.
Russell surely won’t be complaining about the result as he came away with his first career podium finish. He likely wouldn’t have thought it would come in such a strange way, but it counts. Meanwhile, Hamilton had to settle for third.
After the race, Hamilton was one of many who voiced his criticism of the FIA and their decision to try and push through with the race despite clearly dangerous conditions unfit for racing.
“We should have called it quits, not risked drivers and most importantly refunded fans who are the heart of our sport,” Hamilton wrote on Instagram. “There was no moment today when we would have been able to race.”
Key statistics
This year’s Belgian Grand Prix entered the record books as the shortest race in Formula 1’s 71-year history. It beat out the previous record-holder, which was Australia in 1991. It also became only the sixth half-points race in F1 history and the first since Malaysia 2009.
Meanwhile, George Russell’s first career podium finish was also Williams’ first podium since Lance Stroll at the 2017 Azerbaijan GP.
Daniel Ricciardo’s fourth-place finish was his best result for McLaren, and his best result since finishing on the podium at Imola 2020.
And Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel finished in the top 5 for the third time this season after only one such finish for Ferrari last year. He had finished second in the previous race, the Hungarian Grand Prix, but was disqualified due to fuel infringement.
What’s next?
After the disappointing lack of Belgian Grand Prix 2021 highlights, F1 fans will be hoping for much more action in this upcoming weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, which is set to return for the first time since 1985.
However, Dutch GP officials are still awaiting a crucial court ruling that could make or break the race’s return.
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