FIA have to be bold with their decisions: F1 driver George Russell weighs in on wet Spa danger

George Russell has urged the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) to make “bold” decisions during this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, amid concerns that rain may endanger the drivers at Spa-Francorchamps. According to Sky Sports, Formula One returns to Spa four weeks after racing driver Dilano van ‘t Hoff was killed in an accident during the Formula Regional European Championship at the Belgian circuit.

In the early section of the Kemmel Straight, Van ‘t Hoff, 18, was engaged in a multi-car crash in wet circumstances. Wet weather is expected to disrupt Qualifying, the Sprint Shootout, and the Sprint itself on Friday and Saturday of the Sprint weekend.

“At the moment it’s constant communication with the FIA following the tragic passing of Dilano in FRECA. The two questions are: Is Spa safe enough? Then, it’s a question of the conditions. Motorsport will always be dangerous when you’re travelling at this speed,” Russell was quoted as saying by Sky Sports. “If you were to put a ranking of risk of all of the circuits, for sure Spa is one of the riskier circuits along with Jeddah, Monaco and Suzuka to a degree. Then the combination of the weather, it’s very challenging,” Russell said.

“Fortunately the weather looks better on Sunday, so that will be going ahead. But following recent events, I think the FIA have to be bold with their decisions when it comes to safety and visibility,” he added. “The visibility, we just have no visibility whatsoever. The way I describe it is driving down a motorway in pouring rain and turning your windscreen wipers off. So not really any short-term solutions. I personally think Spa is safe enough, we just need to find a solution for the visibility,” the Mercedes driver further added.

Due to heavy rain at Spa in 2021, only one official lap was completed, and half points were controversially handed to the top ten drivers. Rain also played a factor in Qualifying on Saturday, when Lando Norris suffered a major collision at Eau Rouge, and the FIA was chastised for its decision-making that weekend.

Fernando Alonso believes that the spray from F1’s current larger and wider vehicles obstructs visibility more than the weather. “We will keep an eye on visibility, I think that is the biggest factor for us. Grip level is normally fine, no problem. Aquaplaning should be under control as well because we don’t expect huge levels of rain for standing water. It’s just visibility the biggest question mark,” Alonso said.

“In Budapest in FP1 when it rained, visibility was borderline so it’s not a track-specific thing, it’s not just Spa where visibility is lower. It’s the nature of the cars right now with the ground-effect and big tyres that spray is bigger than in the past,” he added. Max Verstappen, the championship leader, also hinted that the cars, rather than the courses, are a key impact in the rain.

“Honestly, I don’t think it’s really track related. You have dangerous corners, yes, and in the wet there’s always more risk, but I think everyone is competent enough to make the right calls. If you can drive, you can drive, and if it’s too wet, it’s too wet,” commented the Red Bull driver. The 2023 Belgian Grand Prix will be held on Sunday at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. (ANI)

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