Washington: Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc urged his fellow F1 drivers not to complain if wet conditions affect racing at this weekend’s Belgium Grand Prix.
With rain expected at Spa-Francorchamps, Leclerc says impatience should never influence safety on a circuit where two drivers from other racing series have died from crashes in the past four years.
Because this weekend has a sprint-race format Saturday, qualifying for Sunday’s race takes place Friday with only one practice session. It means a heavy downpour could potentially curtail that lone practice and send drivers into qualifying without any track time.
“(Safety) needs to be the priority,” Leclerc said Thursday. “First of all, us drivers, we shouldn’t complain if we don’t have any laps if it’s not safe to do so, with everything that has happened (in the past).”
When Leclerc won the first race of his F1 career at the Belgian Grand Prix in 2019, it was the day after F2 driver Anthoine Hubert died following a multi-car crash during at Spa-Francorchamps track.
“(It) was difficult to enjoy the moment as we’d lost Anthoine the day before,” Leclerc said when asked about his first win.
Earlier this month, Dutch teenage driver Dilano van ‘t Hoff died on the Spa circuit after a crash at the Formula Regional European Championship.
On such a notoriously risky track, Leclerc says safety conditions should apply even more.
“When is it safe to start a race? This is another topic for (governing body) FIA to look closely (at) especially on a weekend like this,” Leclerc said. “To not feel the pressure of starting a race just because we didn’t have any running.”
Two years ago, six drivers from the all-female W Series needed medical checks following a heavy crash during a qualifying session on the same track, and there was also a multi-car accident in an F3 race.
Spa’s layout features a notorious flat-out uphill section known as Eau Rouge, which is followed by a blind corner sequence into Radillon.
Accidents are often caused by drivers bouncing back across the track after initial contact with barriers, leaving them wide open to be hit by other cars following behind with drivers completely unsighted for a few seconds.
“It’s really hard to put into words what we are seeing, apart from saying we are seeing nothing. We are not exaggerating when we say we don’t see anything (and) this is a really big problem for Formula One, for motorsport in general,” Leclerc said.
“There’s quite a lot of spray and then this causes quite a lot of incidents just because we cannot react to what’s in front of us.”
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas agreed.
“Visibility is a big one here if it’s raining,” the Finnish driver said.
VERSTAPPEN’S MARCH
Defending F1 champion Max Verstappen has his eyes on an eighth straight victory of a dominant season.
The runaway championship leader is already 110 points ahead of teammate Sergio Pérez in second place and chasing a 10th victory of the season to move closer to his own F1 record of 15 from last year. A third straight title already looks like a formality.
But Pérez found some much-needed form when he placed third at the Hungarian GP last Sunday, despite starting from ninth spot on a track considered the toughest in F1 for overtaking aside from Monaco.
“I have had four of five weekends where I didn’t maximize (the car’s potential) and that cost me a lot of points,” said Pérez, whose season hit a low when he placed 16th in Monaco. “After Monaco I lost some confidence after the way my crash happened, and that put me back.”
HOPEFUL HAMILTON
Lewis Hamilton is increasingly confident that Mercedes can finish the season in second place behind Red Bull in the constructors’ championship.
The seven-time F1 champion took a superb pole position in Hungary and finished in fourth place, narrowly missing out on a fourth podium in the past five races.
“It leaves us optimistic. It was amazing to have that experience Saturday, it shows there is potential in the car. The race pace was good … And we have some upgrades here this weekend,” the 38-year-old British driver said.
“It’s been a big, steep uphill climb. But we’re fighting for second in the constructors’ championship, which we didn’t really expect. My full focus is (on) securing second.”
Mercedes holds a 39-point lead over Aston Martin and leads Ferrari by 56.
Hamilton has not won since the penultimate race of the 2021 season and thinks a victory remains a long shot considering that Red Bull has won all 11 races.
“Not quite sure we can currently compete with them,” he said.
McLaren, meanwhile, has been resurgent.
Lando Norris is after a third consecutive podium, while rookie teammate Oscar Piastri seeks a third straight top-five finish.
“The car’s competitive, we’ve clearly made a big, big step,” Norris said. “Fighting for podiums, fighting for pole positions.”
Belgium features the third of six sprint races. Perez won the first one in Azerbaijan and Verstappen won in Austria.
Following the mid-season break, the season resumes on Verstappen’s home track at the Dutch Grand Prix August 27.
AP