Charles Leclerc says nobody should complain if Formula 1 puts safety first and does not run at times during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend due to the weather.
Persistent rain throughout Thursday is a precursor to further threats on both Friday and Saturday, with three competitive sessions set to take place as part of the sprint weekend. Two years on from the called-off event at Spa-Francorchamps where just two laps behind the safety car were completed, Leclerc says the safety concerns with the venue should make drivers and fans understanding if tough decisions need to be made again.
“I think there are some changes that could make a difference,” Leclerc said. “First of all, the walls on the straight after Eau Rouge, we should have a bit more space on the left and right. If you lose control of the car, the way it is done at the moment you are bouncing on the walls and you have a very high chance of finding yourself in the way. I think this is probably a change we should consider in the future.
“Then to change the layout of Eau Rouge, for example, we find ourselves (at other times) in the season in those particular conditions — being fast in a straight — we have that everywhere and that is going to be difficult to do anything else other than that. You can always change the layout, but I don’t think it is fair to say this is what should be done.
“Then the two biggest problems after that is visibility. Visibility is really difficult to put into words … apart from saying we are seeing nothing – we are not exaggerating when we say we don’t see anything, we really don’t see anything when it’s raining.
“This is a really big problem for Formula 1, for motorsport in general. Any single-seaters, we have quite a bit of downforce and there is quite a lot of spray and then this causes quite a lot of incidents because we cannot react to what is in front. Easy to say that, much more difficult to find a solution, but I know that the FIA is on it and trying to do the best on that.
“Then the last thing is, when is it safe to start a race? This is another topic for the FIA to look closely, especially on a weekend like this where it seems we will have quite a lot of rain throughout, to not feel the pressure of starting a race just because we didn’t have any running.
“We could be in that situation this weekend. It’s obvious to say, but safety should come first and this needs to be the priority. People, and first of all us drivers, shouldn’t complain if we don’t have any laps because it is not safe to do so, with everything that has happened.”
Leclerc’s comments were backed up by his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz, who believes there’s a limit to what conditions the drivers should be asked to race in.
“If I can see in the car, then of course I will recommend to the race director and make sure we try and run,” Sainz said. “But at the same time, if you cannot see, it’s leaving everything down to luck and fate. I think we’ve learned our lessons recently and I think we need to not fall too much into the pressure of having to run just because we need to put on a show and because it’s the right thing for the sport, if the conditions are not safe enough.”
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However, Sainz says he doesn’t feel Spa itself is unsafe as a venue, with only the weather creating scenarios that need addressing, following the death of Dilano van T’Hoff in a Formula Regional race at Spa earlier this month.
“I will go out there, whatever the conditions are,” said Sainz. “But obviously as drivers we always need to give guidance to the FIA if we can actually see in case of an accident or anything in front of us, how many meters ahead we can see. All 20 drivers, we are asked for our opinion and I will give my opinion at the time.
“My number one priority will always be safety, but also as soon as everything is ready, I will be the first one screaming to run at this beautiful track. Because I love driving it in the dry, but I also love driving it in the wet. I actually think it’s more fun to drive in the wet than in the dry, especially those corners.
“I might differ a bit here. I don’t think the track lacks any safety attributes. I think the changes they’ve done over the years have made the truck a lot safer. I think it’s unfortunate what happened with Anthoine (Hubert, who was fatally injured in a crash during a Formula 2 race in 2019), but it’s more due to the conditions.
“What happened last time, a month ago here… that could happen in any category, in any racetrack in the world, when there’s no visibility and a car spins in the middle of a straight — we all cannot see (anything). It’s down to luck. This is why before green-flagging a session, before green-flagging a restart of the race where the cars are so closely bunched up, you need to be really sure that it’s not down to luck whether we’re going to see an accident or not.”