Carlos Sainz speaks out after Belgian GP delay: "My respect to the race director"

Carlos Sainz defended the 80-minute rain delay at the Belgian Grand Prix, citing Spa's dangerous history

Carlos Sainz has backed the race director's decision to delay the start of the Belgian Grand Prix by 80 minutes due to rain. Taking into account the history of Spa-Francorchamps, the Williams driver admitted it was "better safe than have an accident."

Finishing 18th, it was a disappointing performance from the Spaniard, who took a "gamble" starting from the pitlane with a high downforce set-up. But while there was plenty wrong with his Spa campaign, he stands by the race director's decision to delay the start of the grand prix.

Asked following the race if it could have started earlier, Sainz rejected the idea.

"In a normal track, yes, I think we could have started maybe 5-10 minutes earlier. In Spa-Francorchamps and the history of this track, it's better safe than [sorry].

"You guys got the whole race, you got to watch the full race, so I don't think it was a bad call, a safe call, but my respect to the race director because he told us after Silverstone and the accidents in Silverstone that he would play it safer here and that's what he did."

With two fatal incidents in the last six years due to poor weather conditions - Anthoine Hubert and Dilano van 't Hoff - it's no surprise that Sainz has defended this choice.

"That's why better safe than have an accident and be regretful."

Carlos Sainz, Williams

Photo by: Erik Junius

With the race starting at 4.20pm local time, 80 minutes later than the scheduled race start, the race began with a rolling start as the standing water was cleared under safety car conditions. This came after several drivers complained of poor visibility during the initial formation lap, leading the race to be red-flagged.

Heavy rain had fallen onto the circuit earlier in the day, with the Formula 3 race being cancelled due to standing water and dangerous conditions.

Sainz struggled during the race, starting from the pitlane after a "gamble" set him up for a wet race. Such a thing didn't materialise.

"We basically elected to start from the pitlane after, I think, yesterday in quali we did some... I think we went in the wrong direction with the set-up, and we were seeing something in the car that was worth a change in park ferme to change the car. That gave us also the opportunity to put a rear wing for the wet in case it was a full wet race, and the gamble didn't pay off."