But in 2025, F1 is starting to feel more like cricket — with rain prompting delays, long waits, and uncertainty over whether we’ll actually see any action at all.
That was once again the case at the Belgian Grand Prix.
A downpour soaked Spa-Francorchamps just before lights out, prompting the FIA to delay the start by over an hour. Five laps behind the Safety Car followed before the race finally began with a rolling start — on what was by then a mostly drying track.
For some, it was a sensible call. Spa is one of the most dangerous circuits in the world, with recent wet-weather incidents in junior categories tragically claiming the lives of F2 driver Anthoine Hubert in 2019 and FRECA driver Dilano van ’t Hoff in 2023.
Visibility, in particular, has become a major sticking point — not grip levels, but the sheer inability of drivers to see anything through the spray kicked up by modern cars.
But for others, the FIA’s handling of the situation once again felt like an overcorrection.
Leading that charge was Max Verstappen, who criticised the governing body’s “extreme” caution and suggested the delay cost fans the kind of proper wet race they came to see.
“Miles earlier. I mean one hour earlier,” Verstappen told Sky Sports when asked when the race should have started. “It was just a bit of a shame.”
“Of course, they took a very cautious approach. We spoke about it after Silverstone to be a little more cautious because there was quite a lot of water there.
“But this, for me, was then the other extreme of waiting.”
The four-time world champion argued that if F1 isn’t willing to race in the wet anymore, then it needs to be honest about it.
“It just ruins a nice classic wet race as well,” he said. “So we either still try to push to go for a proper wet race or we just say, you know what, we stop racing in the wet and we just wait for it to be dry. But that’s not what you want, right?”
The delay had direct consequences for Verstappen and Red Bull. They had set up his car with a high-downforce rear wing, expecting a fully wet race. As the track dried and rivals switched to slicks, their gamble backfired.
“That compromises then of course today with the rear wing,” Verstappen explained.
But for all the frustration from drivers and fans, the FIA’s hands may be tied.
Modern wet tyres can clear up to 85 litres of water per second — but all that water ends up as spray, creating a blinding wall behind each car. Ironically, the very tyre designed for the worst conditions can’t be used safely in a race scenario.
It’s a paradox the FIA and Pirelli are working to fix ahead of the 2026 rule changes, but for now, delays and Safety Cars are becoming the norm.
That leaves us with a difficult question: is Formula 1 doing the right thing by prioritising safety over spectacle, or is it becoming too cautious for its own good?
What do you think? Has F1 become too cautious when it comes to wet-weather racing?
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