Charles Leclerc offers 'historic' FIA defence after Belgian GP delay

Charles Leclerc defended the FIA over the 80-minute delay at the Belgian Grand Prix, insisting the sport "cannot forget" how "historically" dangerous Spa-Francorchamps has proven to be in the wet.

During the wet formation lap, the race was red-flagged and not restarted for 80 minutes due to poor visibility, by at which point some dry patches had started to appear on the circuit. 

Whilst all drivers started on the intermediates, everyone had switched to slicks within the opening stages of the grand prix. 

It resulted in minimal overtakes, with not one change having occurred in the top eight for the final 32 laps. 

Post-race, some criticised the length of the delay waiting for all the showers to pass, whilst Leclerc defended the decision to wait until it was absolutely safe to continue.

Discussing if the race was delayed for too long, Leclerc told media: "I think it's always fine-tuning. On a track like this with what happened historically, I think you cannot forget about it. 

"For that reason, I'd rather be safe than too early. It's a constant discussion, and we'll probably feed the people that made this decision back that maybe it was a little bit on the late side, but I wouldn't have changed anything."

Piastri joins Leclerc in FIA defence

Race winner Oscar Piastri echoed Leclerc's defence of the FIA's decision to delay the race, although did question if four laps were required behind the safety car. 

The safety car led the pack for four laps following the delay, before green flag running resumed. By which point, much of the circuit had dry patches and the spray was minimal. 

However, the situation was very different during the initial formation lap, with Piastri having revealed that he could not see McLaren team-mate Lando Norris ahead.

"I think the past few years, particularly here, we've given the FIA feedback that we would much rather be on the safe side than risk anything," said Piastri.

"I think that's what we did. If you were to be picky, maybe we could have done one less formation lap. But in the grand scheme of things, if that's one lap too early, is it worth it? No. 

"Also, us three are the worst people to ask because we have the least amount of cars in front of us. For someone at the back, the first time we tried to start the race, even for myself with just Lando ahead, I couldn't see a thing. 

"You can only imagine what it's like for the guys at the back. That's always a tough thing to balance because the guys at the front have an easier time than the guys at the back."