Alfa Romeo criticises F1’s handling of shortened Belgian GP
After heavy rain and poor visibility at Spa-Francorchamps prevented any racing laps from being completed on Sunday, the Belgian GP was eventually aborted with just two-and-a-half laps carried out behind the safety car.
The decision to award the top-10 finishers half-points despite no racing taken place caused controversy and followed hours of delays, confusion and two red flags.
In a statement issued on Monday morning, Alfa Romeo took aim at F1’s handling of the situation and said it hopes “lessons were learnt” to help “improve the way we operate in the future”.
“A huge thank you to all the incredible fans that spent hours in the elements for the race to start,” the statement read. “With your patience and determination, you are the true ‘Drivers of the Day’.
“For months, we have been looking forward to having the stands full of fans supporting our team and our sport: unfortunately, we weren’t able to put up a show for you yesterday.
“The decision not to race in these conditions was the right one, in the interest of protecting the safety of the drivers, the marshals and the spectators themselves.
“However, the situation would have been dealt with a lot more appropriately by not having at all the ‘race’ we witnessed yesterday: this outcome hurts us all, but in particular it hurts fans of the sport, who didn’t get the show they came to see.
“We hope lessons were learnt yesterday, lessons that will improve the way we operate in the future and that put the supporters of our sport in the position they deserve to be.
“Once again, our genuine thanks go to all the fans — you were the ones to truly shine yesterday in Spa.”
Alfa Romeo came away from the weekend with zero points, while rivals Williams boosted its grip on eighth place in the constructors’ championship to move 17 points clear of the Swiss outfit.
George Russell was second in the final declared result, while Nicholas Latifi was ninth as Williams scored a total of 10 points in Belgium.
Alfa Romeo drivers Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen were classified 13th and 19th respectively.
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