Max Verstappen Slams FIA for Keeping “Something Bad Needs to Happen” Attitude Before Making Any Pressing Reform

The Belgian Grand Prix is notorious for having unreliable weather conditions, and a similar thing happened at the Sprint race today as it was marred by poor weather and poor visibility. Amidst widespread discussions about racing safety in such conditions, Max Verstappen slammed the FIA for not making changes until something bad happens.

The Spa-Francorchamps circuit has etched its name into history books as one of the most dangerous racetracks around the world. The circuit has already seen two deaths within the span of four years at the same corner complex of Eau Rouge and Raidillion.

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The view from @Carlossainz55 shows just how little visibility there was behind those rooster tails of spray.#F1 | #BelgianGP 🇧🇪pic.twitter.com/Y4j1Szhhqb

— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) August 29, 2021

The Sprint race on Saturday was delayed because of the torrential downpour resulting in waterlogging on the track, which reduced visibility to near zero for the drivers. However, the race continued without any changes being made to account for the dangerous conditions.

Max Verstappen reveals the lousy nature of the FIA

During the Post-Sprint Press Conference, Verstappen spoke about the situation at the start of the race. He explained that throughout the four laps behind the safety car, there were points in time when he couldn’t see the safety car, despite being the lead driver.

Verstappen said, “That’s always the unfortunate thing I guess, Something bad needs to happen before that really gets changed or gets looked at.”

📸 | A lot of spray coming from the wet tyres.#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/n5kF77Y3IO

— Fastest Pitstop Live (@FastestPitLive) July 28, 2023

Ever since the 2021 Belgian GP got canceled due to the undrivable weather, there have been talks about changing the sport to improve the visibility during wet races so that racing in the wet becomes safer. However, not much has been done till now.

The Anti-Spray parts test was a failure

Recently, trials were held with anti-spray parts over the wheels of the F1 cars. These anti-spray parts were expected to reduce the water spray behind the drivers and improve visibility.

The test happened in Silverstone, and McLaren and Mercedes were the two teams who helped out with the testing. However, the results weren’t too positive. It was understood that the anti-spray parts would not really help out since the car’s floor was throwing up the major part of the water.

However, the FIA now has a lot of data that they can work with and continue their research on reducing the spray and making Formula 1 safer than ever.