Hamilton agrees with Verstappen that Belgian GP should not have been delayed

Verstappen branded race director Rui Marques’ move to bring out the red flag after a single formation lap in the rain at Spa-Francorchamps as “silly” and “way too cautious”.

Following a delay of one hour and 20 minutes – which the FIA said was due to “poor visibility” – the race eventually got under way, albeit in a rolling start after four laps behind the safety car.

Hamilton was able to switch from intermediates to dry tyres after just seven racing laps.

And when it was put to Hamilton, who made up 11 places to finish seventh, that Verstappen claimed the race should have started immediately, he replied: “I would agree. My car was set up for that, and they waited for it to dry. Especially at the end. It was a dry line with hardly any spray.”

There have been 49 driver/rider fatalities at Spa-Francorchamps in the last 100 years – most recently Dutch 18-year-old Dilano Van ‘t Hoff in 2023, and Frenchman Anthonie Hubert in a Formula Two race four years previously.

The last Formula One race at Silverstone also took place in wet conditions, and Hamilton, 40, continued: “It was just a reaction to Silverstone.

“We sat down and spoke about it after Silverstone. Lots of drivers in the last race said we shouldn’t have restarted, because of a lack of visibility. And as soon as someone up ahead said, ‘visibility is pretty bad’ which, it wasn’t great but it wasn’t as bad as the last race, they just decided to wait.

“They still did a good job. Of course we did miss some of the extreme wet weather racing, which would have been nice. But for some reason the spray here is like a fog.”

In 2021, the rain-hit race was abandoned after just two laps behind the safety car. Defending the decision to delay the start of Sunday’s event, Hamilton’s Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc said: “On a track like this you cannot forget about the history and what has happened in the past so I would rather be safe than go early.”

Oscar Piastri, who won in Belgium to extend his championship lead over Lando Norris to 16 points, continued: “We have given the FIA feedback that we would much rather be on the safe side.

“If you were being picky you might say we could have done one fewer lap behind the safety car but is the risk worth it?

“The first time we tried to start the race, with only Lando ahead, I couldn’t see a thing, so you can imagine what it is like for the guys at the back.”