Half points awarded after rain-soaked Belgian Grand Prix
Breaking News
Half points have been awarded to the drivers after a rain-soaked Belgian Grand Prix was stopped after just three laps. Following a three hour stoppage period, racing resumed behind the safety car but shortly stopped. Max Verstappen takes the biggest points haul of 12.5 points whilst George Russell's P2 in qualifying turns directly into nine World Championship points. Lewis Hamilton retains the championship lead with his third place, but the difference is cut down to three.
Wet wet wet
As a result of penalties and a poor qualifying session, Valtteri Bottas started the event in the midfield and therefore didn't score points. In contrast, his rival for the 2022 Mercedes seat George Russell started from P2 in his Williams. Following his big crash, Lando Norris took a five-place grid penalty for a new gearbox and started in 15th. Sergio Perez crashed on the way to the grid and was lifted out of the tyre wall by a crane.
After a 25 minute delay, the formation lap got underway. Pole-sitter Verstappen said the conditions were good enough to race, but all other drivers disagreed. Race director Michael Masi dropped the red flag. The red flag remaining in place for around three hours after stewards gave the go-ahead to stop the clock with one hour of race time remaining. In the meantime, Red Bull Racing had fixed Perez's car and the FIA allowed him to start from the back.
A classification was confirmed after two laps were completed under the safety car. The red flag dropped again on lap three. With a little under 50 minutes remaining on the clock, it became a case of waiting for the clock to run out before a result was confirmed. The decision to not resume the race came with 30 minutes left on the clock.