Oscar Piastri capitalised on a scruffy performance from McLaren team-mate Lando Norris at Spa-Francorchamps to win the Belgian Grand Prix.
That was, however, only after an 80-minute delay to the start amid poor visibility due to the difficult conditions in the Ardennes Forest.
Max Verstappen and George Russell did not see eye to eye on that decision by race control, which has again brought the issue of F1 racing in the wet to the fore.
Here is how media from around the world reacted to the thirteenth round of the F1 season, the Belgian Grand Prix.
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🇬🇧 The Times - Verstappen slams 80-minute rain delay – but Russell says that view is stupid
British broadsheet The Times ran with the division amongst the drivers over the contentious call to delay the start of the Belgian Grand Prix by 80 minutes.
In particular, it focused on the opinions of Verstappen and Russell, two of the more outspoken from the current cohort.
The Dutchman did not believe the race at Spa-Francorchamps should have been delayed at all, whilst the Mercedes driver argued it would have been "stupidity" to start on time.
🇳🇱 De Telegraaf - Mercedes gathers its heads together after the Belgian Grand Prix: 'Worst performance of the season'
Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf addressed Mercedes' difficult weekend in the Ardennes, with the Brackley-based squad due to hold talks with its drivers ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The team wants to discuss where things have gone wrong with the W16, which Russell took to four podiums in the opening six rounds of the year. In the subsequent seven, only the Briton's win and Kimi Antonelli's maiden trip to the rostrum at the Canadian Grand Prix have added to that haul.
The four-time grand prix winner was particularly forthright about the team's current form, calling it the "worst performance" of its campaign. He finished sixth with Antonelli down in P16.
🇮🇹 La Gazzetta dello Sport - Verstappen slams Race Direction in Belgium: "They're being too cautious, so there won't be any more wet races."
La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Italian publication, followed a similar route to The Times, zeroing in on Verstappen's dissatisfaction at race control at Spa-Francorchamps.
Specifically, it highlighted how the Red Bull driver suggested that, with the direction F1 is going in, there will no longer be "classic wet races" anymore.
The four-time F1 drivers' champion felt things had swung from one extreme to the other after the British Grand Prix, after which it was agreed there would be a more cautious approach employed.
🇺🇸 The Washington Post - Delayed start at Belgian Grand Prix highlights Formula 1's challenge with racing in the rain
United States-based paper The Washington Post tackled the 80-minute delay as well, underlining the difficulty F1 has in getting decisions correct when adverse weather rolls in.
It highlighted the inherent danger of Spa-Francorchamps, and in particular the Eau Rouge-Raidillon section of the circuit, which has seen two fatalities in the past six years.
First, Anthoine Hubert lost his life there racing in F2 in 2019, but FRECA driver Dilano van 't Hoff died following a crash in similar conditions to those seen on Sunday in 2023.
🇩🇪 BILD - Clause in the contract: Spa result decides Verstappen's future
German outlet BILD addressed the now redundant clause in Verstappen's contract that would have allowed him to leave Red Bull if he was outside the top three in the drivers' title fight by the summer break.
That is now not possible, rendering that provision null and void, because he leads fourth-place driver Russell by 28 points with only the 25 from the Hungarian Grand Prix still on offer before the annual summer shutdown.
Conveniently for the Mercedes driver, his team is the one most closely linked to Verstappen, so it is a net gain for him, at least for 2026 - with a new contract seemingly on its way to the Briton.
🇯🇵 The Japan Times - Oscar Piastri uses earlier disappointment as fuel to win Belgian Grand Prix
Japanese newspaper The Japan Times focused on how Piastri turned around the disappointment he felt after missing out on pole in qualifying.
The Australian channelled it into victory over McLaren team-mate Lando Norris. In doing so, he extended his F1 drivers' championship lead from nine points to 16.
"I was pretty disappointed with myself after yesterday, but turns out starting second at Spa is not too bad after all," the eight-time grand prix winner said.
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365’s Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they dissect the Belgian Grand Prix and look ahead to Hungary. The 80-minute delay is a major talking point, as is Lewis Hamilton’s brutal self-critical comment.
Rather watch the podcast? Then click here!
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