Verstappen on Spa safety: 'Otherwise we can't have rain races anymore'
Ahead of the Formula 1 weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, several F1 drivers spoke out about the safety of the circuit. In the wake of the tragic accident of 18-year-old Dilano van 't Hoff, the subject came under a magnifying glass, but according to Max Verstappen, there is not much the sport can do to make the iconic circuit safer.
Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez, among others, commented that it is not up to them to worry about the track and that drivers should simply trust the race management. Verstappen fully concurred with the words of his colleagues and stressed that the sport is already doing all it can to make the circuits as safe as possible.
Verstappen on Spa-Francorchamps safety
"There are always things that can be done better, but we are also racing in Monaco, which I think is way more dangerous than here. But we race there because it's deemed safe enough. Accidents happen, unfortunately. And honestly, when you look back at the accident that happened, it's just extremely unfortunate the way it happened," Verstappen explained to various media including GPblog.
He continued: "I don't think there's a lot you can do or change for it to be a lot safer, because there are also other tracks out there that if you have a crash and you're back onto the track and there's very low visibility, that can happen again. It's just a bit, I guess, unlucky in a way as well that it happens at Spa. Two times quite close to each other."
The Red Bull Racing driver added that drivers have to trust the race management in such conditions. "You also listen to the safety car a bit. You think he will know if it's safe or not. But the visibility is going to be bad anyway, otherwise, we cannot have any rain races anymore," Verstappen said.
Shame they haven't sorted the spray guards, as that would reduce the spray and improve visibility.
As Stockton Rush famously said, overly policed safety stifles innovation and if you want things to be 100% safe, then don't get out of bed!
Good comment. Looking forward to another World Champ masterclass weekend winning the Sprint, Race and fastest lap to pick up another 34 Maxpoints.
Stunned by Verstappen's comments. Monaco is a very slow, safe circuit which, with bad conditions, could lead to a bad accident. Spa is something entirely different and I suspect he knows this. Fatalities are to be expected if things go wrong. I hope the organisers either red flag the race or keep a safety car on the track until visibility and grip considerations are tolerable. And Max, understand the FIA does not necessarily have the drivers' interests at heart.
As others have mentioned, there is a certain amount of risk that can never be removed (e.g. Zanardi on an oval during the day with good visibility). Leveraging technology and safety oriented rules/regulations can help to mitigate the risk, but it never truly remove it. Hey F1, how about more focus on safety in these types of scenarios vs saving a few tires to appease the "green crowd". F1 is supposed to be the pinnacle of technology, let's invest (time and $$$) in that.
I agree, i am not for "overprotection", but it shouldn't have to be a bad thing to overall make things a bit safer. It should be considered progress, maturing. And yeah, the "green" label starts to feel emptier and emptier every day when things go like this. Of course, it's still cars driving insanely fast, which is inherently dangerous, which is why many external risks should be majorly reduced. Either way, mistakes will still be made, and conditions can still be exceptional, emphasis on the 'exceptional'. Because it's eventually still about the racing, not the crashing.
I agree, 100% safety will never be achieved, or at least not in near future. Motorsports remains a dangerous sport, and there will be more fatalities unfortunately. In F1, we've seen tremendous safety improvements since Senna's accident. I doubt we will have had way more fatalities between Senna and Bianchi. You actually raised a very good point that got all my attention. There's a way to further enhance safety in such kind of scenarios. These machines are full of sensors, and also equipped with GPS. If a car stops in the middle of the track, he will send a signal to all other cars behind. Depending on the distance, cars behind get different levels of warnings, through lights in the cockpit for example. Like red being very close, to yellow and green. Also a delta time could be imposed depending on the degree of warning. The tech exist already. The FIA now only need to invest some $£€¥, or in whatever currency they would like to invest. Such a system (or something similar), would have saved the life of two young drivers in very recent years. I hope they don't wait until something similar happen in F1.
Yeah, i have been thinking about that for a while as well. When Sainz (or Albon) crashed and ended up half on the track, almost getting a heart attack from all the cars speeding by so closely, with Gasly picking up half a Rolex billboard etc., that should've been a moment where the "Virtual Safety Car" kicks in inside the cars, limiting their speed automatically and indeed give indications on where it happened or where the car is at the moment. Especially when visibility is poor in the wet conditions, because if such a situation would end up in a pile up, that would just be embarrassing on top of unnecessarily dangerous.
GPS is not accurate enough. It can be off by several meters to 10s of meters. The European replacement was meant to be far more accurate, but has not launched yet So by being off that much, you will be too late anyway.
All the drivers know the risks attached to motor racing and accidents occur even at the safest of the circuits. Spa is an old school high speed track with its breathtaking atmosphere and a jubilant crowd. Should the FIA take it out of the calendar for safety concerns? I won’t suggest that. That would be cruel to f1 fans. Street racing circuits are more dangerous than the traditional ones but still they are growing every year, why is FIA introducing more and more street circuits?
I agree that risks are part of the sport, but it seems odd how one track just looks more dangerous than others. Can't there be more Tecpro barriers, or something less intrusive than a layout change? But yeah, it's also odd how there's more street tracks. I find it odd both because it's in the STREET, meaning pollution in a populated area, it's just not 'green' any way you spin it. And yeah, it doesn't specifically compliment the safety measures implemented over the years. But it does look like most of the serious crashes predominantly happen on tracks (Zhou & Max Silverstone are the ones i recall). There are crashes on street tracks as well, but they seem less severe individually, but i could be wrong. I honestly don't really have a track style preference, i like looking at race track layouts, and i also like some scenery, so my ideal track would probably be something inbetween, a bit of construction and a bit of nature.
That is why I like Mexico for example. The stadium part feels like urbanism. That said, incidents on street tracks are less severe because the average speed is (mudh) lower.
That's probably true about the street track speed, and it's also known that drivers like to go wide on tracks, even if it's not allowed (track limits), so they carry extra speed if things go wrong. But yeah i forgot about Mexico, i do really like the stadium part, seeing them drive through and be surrounded by thousands of people all of a sudden, it looks almost surreal, that is pretty unique indeed.
In future years, why not just reschedule Spa for after the summer break with Zandvoort, wouldn't it be less chance of rain by end August or early September? You can probably pull up Monza to replace it, more chance of heatwave rather than high showers
Yeah, i find it weird how they plan the races seemingly randomly and then complain about the weather. Would they know by now that there's much more chance at rain for some tracks as opposed to some others? Of course, the weather is still as unpredictable as the weather. Because it's Summer here in Holland, but we've had rain pretty much all week (Spa is a couple hundred kilometers from my house, fairly similar weather, as well as similar to the UK in general). August 27th is still in Summer, and it could actually be a scolding hot day/week, but yeah, it could also be an early Autumn. So idk what i am saying, we've had the wettest April in like 100 years, also driest May or something, so it's all over the place anyway.
True.......there are a couple of issues here...... 1. Spray from the tyres which can be fixed by changing tyre specs 2. Mist - Cant do anything about it
Mud flaps. Surely if a driver is capable of inventing the F1 steering wheel he can also put his skills to this.
Its not the question of mud flaps.....those can help in the rain.....but if its misty, what can you do? You wont be able to see anything far ahead and drivers are unable to react going at 320+kmph
Popular on GPBlog
Kelly Piquet shines during baby shower on Max Verstappen's brand new yacht
British media respond to Verstappen's 'flawless' Japanese Grand Prix drive where he 'stole' victory
Verstappen's win makes Russell wonder: 'Would McLaren be 1 or 5 tenths quicker?'
