Sunday’s rainswept Belgian Grand Prix will go down in history as Formula One’s shortest ever race, and also as a leading contender for most farcical.
Just calling it a race takes a mighty stretch of the imagination – a delay of more than three hours with crowds enduring cold and rain to see a few processional laps behind the safety car in heavy spray and no overtaking.
Officially, the action lasted all of three minutes and 27 seconds with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen the winner – a result effectively decided in Saturday’s qualifying.
Half points were then handed out for only the sixth time ever.
And seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, who finished third, says the fans had been robbed and should get their money back.
He later took to Instagram to call it a “farce”, adding: “We should have just called it quits.”
Hamilton still leads Verstappen by three points in the driver’s standings.
Alan Baldwin | [email protected]