Heavy rain, a red flag on lap three and a half-points result turned Spa 2021 into the shortest World Championship race on record.
The 2021 Belgian Grand Prix was held on 29 August 2021 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, and it was stopped on lap three because of heavy rain. Max Verstappen won, George Russell was second and Lewis Hamilton third, and half points were awarded, making it the shortest race in championship history.
Spa 2021 finished without a single lap run under green flags. Heavy rain turned the 12th round of the season into the shortest World Championship race ever recorded, and Max Verstappen took the win on a result drawn from one completed lap. The day is still discussed as one of the most controversial in modern Formula One.
Who won the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix?
Max Verstappen won for Red Bull, his sixth victory of the 2021 season and 16th in Formula One. George Russell finished second for Williams, taking his first career podium, and Lewis Hamilton was third for Mercedes. Only drivers inside the top ten received half points.
Verstappen's win was Red Bull's fourth at Spa, and their first there since Daniel Ricciardo won in 2014. It was also the first Formula One win at Spa for a Honda-powered car since 1991. Verstappen had taken pole on his final lap of qualifying, so he started from the front of a race that never really got going.
Hamilton, who had led the Drivers' Championship by eight points before the race, took third. Ricciardo finished fourth, Sebastian Vettel fifth, Pierre Gasly sixth and Esteban Ocon seventh. Charles Leclerc was eighth, Nicholas Latifi ninth and Carlos Sainz Jr. tenth, so the top ten shared points from a race that officially lasted a single lap.
A race that officially lasted one lap, decided by rain, a red flag and a rulebook the sport soon rewrote.
Why was the race stopped on lap three?
The race was planned for 44 laps, but wet conditions meant it could not run in the usual way. Laps one and two were run behind the safety car, and a red flag stopped the race on lap three. Because fewer than 75% of the planned distance was covered, the result was taken from the end of lap one.
Half points were awarded for the first time since the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix, which made it the sixth occasion in Formula One history that the rule had been used.
Race director Michael Masi said there had been a genuine attempt to race under green flag conditions before the rain got worse. The governing body also judged that delaying the event until the following day was impractical.
How did the start delays unfold?
The race was due to start at 15:00 CEST on 29 August, but persistent rain caused repeated delays. A first start attempt at 15:25 CEST was suspended after two formation laps, with the cars queued in the pit lane. The stewards then suspended the race clock at 17:00 CEST, citing force majeure.
Sergio Perez crashed on his way to the grid, and it looked as though he might miss the start. Red Bull's mechanics repaired his car during the delay after the first red flag, and he was allowed to join from the pit lane.
The race finally began from the pit lane at 18:17 CEST, after more than three hours of delays and suspended starts. Two more laps were run behind the safety car, and race control counted those laps as race laps. During the third lap the race was suspended again and never resumed, so the classification rested on the countback to the end of the first lap.
How short was the record-breaking race?
The official distance was 6.880 km (4.275 mi) across a single lap, the shortest in Formula One World Championship history by distance. It beat the previous mark of 52.920 km (32.883 mi) set at the 1991 Australian Grand Prix, and the fewest-laps record of 12 laps from the 1971 German Grand Prix.
The record was not only about distance. The race had no retirements, the eleventh World Championship Grand Prix to finish that way, and it became the twelfth championship race to finish under the safety car. As of 2026 there is still no officially recognised fastest lap for the event, which makes it unique in that respect too.
Some commentators and competitors accused Formula One of putting commercial interests ahead of paying spectators, and they argued that fans should have been refunded. Others felt that awarding half points was justified because it rewarded drivers who had qualified well, even though the scenario was far from ideal.
How was qualifying affected by the rain?
Qualifying had been scheduled for 15:00 CEST on 28 August, but extreme rainfall delayed the start to 15:12. Drivers first used full wet tyres before switching to intermediates, and the final segment proved the most dramatic of the weekend. Lando Norris crashed heavily at Raidillon, and a red flag followed.
Norris had been first in both of the earlier segments before he aquaplaned at Eau Rouge in the third. Sebastian Vettel stopped at the scene to check on him after complaining about the conditions over the radio. Norris was cleared after precautionary checks and an X-ray, and he was able to race on Sunday.
Max Verstappen took pole on his final lap, with George Russell second and Lewis Hamilton third. Russell's start was the first front-row start for Williams since the 2017 Italian Grand Prix, and it equalled his best start at the time. That result stood until he took pole at the 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix.
After the race Michael Masi admitted that it had been a mistake to let the third segment of qualifying start on time. Drivers had been calling for a delay or a red flag as conditions worsened, so the admission carried weight in the paddock.
What changed with wheel guns at Spa?
Spa was the first event where article 12.8.4 of the technical regulations was enforced. Wheel guns could only be powered by compressed air or nitrogen, and any sensors could only act passively. The change had been planned for Hungary but was postponed to Spa.
Some teams had built wheel guns that signalled when a wheel was secure, sometimes sending the signal in anticipation of the wheel being fastened. The governing body judged that unsafe, because cars could leave the pit box before their wheels were properly secured. The practice had been used to speed up stops.
New tolerances were introduced to enforce the rule. A 0.15 second period separated the tyres being securely fastened from the dropping of the jack, and a further 0.2 seconds passed before the car was released. The FIA said it could check compliance with an intelligent wheel gun, and the new limits were designed to remove the benefit of the old practice.
What did drivers and teams say about the race?
Lewis Hamilton called the race a farce and said that money talked, and he joined Carlos Sainz Jr. in calling for ticket refunds. Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Alfa Romeo criticised the award of half points, while Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez defended it.
Hamilton believed Formula One had made a bad choice in running two laps behind the safety car before abandoning the race, and he suggested this was done to meet commercial obligations. Formula One Group chief executive Stefano Domenicali quickly rejected those claims. Haas team principal Guenther Steiner said the criteria for awarding half points might be outdated.
Max Verstappen said it was not the way he wanted to win, and George Russell was pleased with his first podium but apologised to fans for the lack of action. Christian Horner felt the decision to award points was not right even though his driver had won. Toto Wolff called the half points annoying.
Gary Anderson proposed that half points should require at least 50% of the scheduled distance, while Martin Brundle floated the idea of slow zones on the track. Mark Hughes criticised the two laps behind the safety car, arguing that they cut against the sport's own better values. Journalist Josh Suttil compared the day to the 2005 United States Grand Prix, where 14 cars withdrew and six raced.
Nigel Mansell said he would have relaxed parc ferme rules for the wet race so that teams could adjust their cars. Damon Hill called the afternoon a parade rather than a race. Pedro de la Rosa argued that the sport had reduced its risk threshold compared with earlier years.
| Position | Driver | Team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | Win; 16th career; sixth of 2021 |
| 2nd | George Russell | Williams | First career podium |
| 3rd | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Led the championship by 8 points before the race |
| 4th | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 200th Grand Prix start |
| 6th | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | Half points |
| 8th | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | Investigated for a tyre change during the delays; not penalised |
How were points decided under the rules?
The rules at the time required a minimum of two laps to be completed before any points could be awarded. Race director Michael Masi argued that the event qualified because three laps were completed, with the classification for points taken on the penultimate lap before the signal was given.
There was post-race confusion because the classification showed a completed lap, while the regulations demanded two for any points. Masi's explanation was that the third lap was counted when the cars crossed the control line in the pit lane. Critics were not satisfied, and the debate continued well after the chequered flag.
Formula One Management said after the race that it would hold talks with the teams and the FIA on changes. The discussions covered a more satisfactory minimum requirement for a classification, and possible written provisions allowing organisers to reschedule a race that was unsuitable on its original date. In October 2021 the Formula One Commission discussed how points should be awarded at shortened races, and it passed the matter to the Sporting Advisory Committee.
The Sochi Formula 3 round had earlier changed the start time of a race because of poor weather, and Masi suggested that Formula One could adopt a similar rule. In February 2022 the Formula One Commission approved new points criteria for shortened races. Those changes then needed ratification by the World Motorsport Council before they could take effect.
Did ticket holders get refunds?
No. In September 2021 Formula One and the promoters said they would look at options for ticket holders, but in December 2021 they announced there would be no refunds. Instead, attendees were offered free passes for F1TV and a chance to enter a prize draw for 2022 tickets.
Pundit Scott Mitchell argued that fans who attended deserved some compensation and that the sport risked alienating its supporters. F1TV presenters Lawrence Barretto and Will Buxton accepted that the race had to be shortened for safety reasons, but praised the fans for their perseverance.
How did the sport respond afterwards?
The sporting regulations were changed so that from 2022 a race must include at least two laps under green flag conditions before points are awarded. Later changes tied the points for shortened races more closely to distance covered, and the wording was tightened again in 2023.
A clarification at the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix showed the earlier change applied only to races that were suspended and could not be restarted. Full points were given there after 28 of 53 laps, which surprised many in the paddock who expected partial points.
Pirelli introduced a new full wet tyre for 2023, first raced at the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix, that did not need tyre blankets. Spray guards were tested by Oscar Piastri and Mick Schumacher after the 2023 British Grand Prix, but the idea was abandoned after a Ferrari test at Fiorano in May 2024.
Changes for the 2027 season will remove the three-hour clock that governed race length with stoppages, replacing it with a hard stop for racing. Zak Brown later cited the Spa race, the cancelled 2020 Australian Grand Prix and the restart at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as signs of organisational problems that needed urgent attention.