Wet Spa: Verstappen declared Belgium F1 GP winner after two safety car laps

DPA Spa-Franchorchamps (Belgium) Max Verstappen was declared winner of the rain-hit Belgian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday and George Russell got his fir...

DPASpa-Franchorchamps (Belgium)Max Verstappen was declared winner of the rain-hit Belgian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday and George Russell got his first podium in second after drivers had completed two laps behind the safety car following a long delay.The original start never happened as teams were ordered back into the pits after two formation laps showed driving was too dangerous.The Spa-Franchorchamps race started more than three hours later in a planned one-hour format but was red-flagged again after two laps - the minimum distance required to have a classification and half points which were awarded for only the sixth time overall.Verstappen won by virtue of his top spot in qualifying ahead of the sensational Williams driver Russell and world champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes – and there was even a podium ceremony for the top three.Verstappen moved within three points of leader Hamilton in the championship, which pleased the large contingent of Dutch fans who had come to the Ardennes and braved the terrible conditions.“It’s a win but not how you want to win,” Verstappen said.“Today a big credit goes to all the fans around the track for staying here the whole day in the rain, the cold, windy conditions.“Of course now in hindsight it was very important to get that pole position. It’s a big shame to not do proper laps, but the conditions were very tricky out there.” Hamilton said that officials “knew the track wasn’t any better but they sent us out for the two laps behind the safety car to get a race. I hope the fans get their money back.“You couldn’t really see five metres in front of you. It was hard to even see down the straight. You couldn’t go flat out. It’s a shame.” Drivers had originally started the formation lap behind the safety car 25 minutes late but the start procedure was stopped after another lap because the conditions were too dangerous, mainly owing to bad visibility from spray.The delay gave Sergio Perez a lifeline as he had crashed into the barriers on the wet track while on his way to the starting grid. Red Bull were later allowed to repair the car for a possible race which Perez started last from the pit lane.Moving the race to Monday was not possible because Belgium marked the start of a triple header with the Dutch race next Sunday and the Italian GP another week later.The conditions had affected the entire race weekend in the Ardennes which has seen adverse weather many times before at F1 weekends.It was most difficult in Saturday qualifying where McLaren’s Lando Norris topped the first two sessions before his ambitions for a first pole ended in the final shoot-out when he crashed heavily in the famous Eau Rouge section.Russell was the toast of qualifying and was awarded with the points and his first podium ceremony.“We don’t often get rewarded for a great qualifying but we absolutely did today,” he said. “It’s a shame we couldn’t get this race underway but just from our side and the team’s side it was just an amazing result.”Results1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA 3:27.071 2 George Russell WILLIAMS MERCEDES +1.995s 3 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES +2.601s4 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES +4.496s 5 Sebastian Vettel ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES +7.479s 6 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI HONDA +10.177s 7 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT +11.579s 8 Charles Leclerc FERRARI +12.608s 9 Nicholas Latifi WILLIAMS MERCEDES +15.485s 10 Carlos Sainz FERRARI +16.166s 11 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT +20.590s 12 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES +22.414s 13 Antonio Giovinazzi ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI +24.163s 14 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES +27.110s 15 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA +28.329s 16 Mick Schumacher HAAS FERRARI +29.507s 17 Nikita Mazepin HAAS FERRARI +31.993s 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES +34.108s19 Kimi Räikkönen ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI +36.054s. 20 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA +38.205s