McLaren boss sees 'wisely managed' Belgian GP with delayed start

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella also commented on the FIA’s cautious decision to delay the start of the Belgian GP by over an hour, despite some drivers, including Max Verstappen, pushing to race from the very beginning.

The Belgian GP sparked more discussion for what happened before the race than for the final result itself.

It was a race with few highlights, except for Oscar Piastri’s overtake on Lando Norris at the start—which effectively secured his victory—and Lewis Hamilton’s recovery from the pit lane up to seventh place.

Some, including Max Verstappen, argued that conditions were suitable to start well before the official 4:20 PM start time, while others took a more cautious approach and supported the FIA’s decision to delay the Grand Prix.

Andrea Stella

Stella agrees with FIA cautious approach

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella also shared his thoughts on the matter in an interview with GPblog among other media on Sunday after the race: ''I think today the race was managed in a very wise way by the FIA because we knew that there was a lot of rain coming.''

''I think, in a circuit like, this if you make the calls late it may be too late and the outcome could be difficult. So I think being on the forefoot is the right approach and delaying the race allowed us to race in wet conditions.''

''Then we went into dry but in fairness we are in Spa, we didn't even know how long the dry race would have been, and we knew that there could have been wet conditions again at the end.''

The Italian added: ''I think from our position as a team, we always praise the work of the FIA when this is deserved, and I think this is one of the cases in which this should be praised.''

''I understand that it will be quite entertaining to see cars going in wet conditions, but we all should be wary that the average speed is so high that the cars just displace such a large amount of water that it's just impossible to see.''

''We have seen already in Silverstone that a car drove into the gearbox of another car because it was impossible to see it And it was lower, and there was less water. So we don't want to see the same in Spa. So well done by the FIA.''

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