Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team criticized F.I.A’s decision to cancel the Belgian Gran Prix. It claims that the three laps race behind a safety car has hurt everyone, the fans in particular.
The team was deprived of any points based on qualifying positions that were also enacted through the race by safety car. It could not fetch any points at the rain hit Spa-Francorchamps.
Williams, the main rival of Swiss outfit, managed to fetch 10 points on constructors championship. George Russel won the second place on podium while his team mate Nicholar Latifi finished ninth.
The double score by Williams with zero for Alfa Romeo increased the gap between the two. Williams is currently on eight position with 17 points clear of Alfa Romeo. It is highly unlikely the later would be able to catch upto its main opponent.
Alfa Romeo issued a statement which expressed its disappointment about the FIA decision. FIA pushed for the laps behind safety car to officially announce the Belgian F1 result.
“The decision not to race in these conditions was the right one, in the interest of protecting the safety of the drivers, the marshals, and the spectators themselves,” it said.
“However, the situation would have been dealt with a lot more appropriately by not having at all the ‘race’ we witnessed yesterday: this outcome hurts us all, but in particular it hurts fans of the sport, who didn’t get the show they came to see.
“We hope lessons were learnt yesterday, lessons that will improve the way we operate in the future and that put the supporters of our sport in the position they deserve to be.
“Once again, our genuine thanks go to all the fans – you were the ones to truly shine yesterday in Spa.”
The decision to handing over points was criticized by the many especially from Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.
“Today was a farce and the only people to lose out are the fans who have paid good money to watch us race,” said Hamilton on Instagram.
Alosno was shocked and expressed his opinion: “The three laps just to give the points because the conditions were the same as before, so it was a strange show for sure.”
However, Stefano Domenicali, F1 CEO, admitted that Belgian GP result was far from ideal. But he showed his eagerness to work with all stakeholders to work on all possible changes to the regulations.
The changes would ensure the stoppage of Belgian GP fiasco. It would ensure clarity and agreement of team which will define future course of action on such a scenario.
