Pressiteade
Afteryesterday’s wet qualifying session, Esteban was due to start the race in eighthand Fernando in twelfth, but, both drivers inherited a position after SergioPerez’s crash on the lap to the grid.
Withpersistent rain falling in Spa, the first formation laps under the Safety Carbegan at 15:25 local time after an initial delay to proceedings. Conditionswere deemed unsafe with the race red-flagged. With a break in the weather, therace restarted at 18:17, again under the Safety Car, before the second andfinal red flag brought the Grand Prix to a close with half points awarded as aresult of three laps being completed.
EstebanOcon, started P8, finished P7:
“Firstly,I feel sorry for all the fans out there at the track today. Thank you to themfor their patience and their enthusiasm at waiting all afternoon to see someaction. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t possible today with the rain, and safetyhas to be the priority. The correct decision was made to stop the race, socredit to the FIA and Michael Masi for trying their best and making the rightcall in the end. The conditions were really tough out there, especially thelack of visibility. We pick up three points today, and now we look ahead toZandvoort where hopefully the weather will be better.”
FernandoAlonso, started P12, finished P11:
“Itwas the correct decision to stop the race given the conditions. But I thinkit’s strange that points are scored for this weekend. It was only ever a redflag situation out on track and we only drove laps under the Safety Car, so itwasn’t a race. Everyone involved tried their best, so it’s nobody’s fault, butit’s a shame. Despite all of this the spectators were amazing all weekend andit was good to see them back no matter the weather.”
Marcin Budkowski, Executive Director:
“Itwas a shame we weren’t able to race today, especially at such a great circuit.The FIA and Formula 1 tried everything to get the race underway, but the rainjust wouldn’t stop. Safety has to take precedent in these situations and ourdrivers confirmed over the radio during the laps under the Safety Car that itwasn’t safe to race, especially because of the lack of visibility. The correctdecision was made to abort the race. Credit to the fans who remained at thecircuit in the grandstands all afternoon and thanks for their fantastic supportall weekend. We move onto Zandvoort hungry to resume racing and we look forwardto trying out an exciting new track.”
