Lewis Hamilton frustrated by Belgian GP delay: "I kept shouting, it's ready to go!"

Lewis Hamilton criticised Formula 1's decision to delay the Belgian Grand Prix start

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton believes Formula 1 "missed a trick" by opting to delay the start of the Belgian Grand Prix, arguing that a standing start and a wet start to the race would have made it much more interesting.

Starting 18th, the Briton was quickly able to dispatch a number of drivers, finishing an impressive seventh. But according to the driver, he could have done better if they'd started in the wet conditions.

"I had a lot of fun trying to make my way through. And we obviously started the race a little bit too late, I would say. I kept shouting, 'It's ready to go, it's ready to go!' And they kept going round and round and round.

"So I think they were probably overreacting from the last race where we asked them not to restart the race too early because visibility was bad. And I think this weekend they just went a bit too much the other way, because we didn’t need a rolling start.

“I definitely could have done a standing start,” Hamilton said when asked if he would have preferred lights-out on the grid rather than a rolling release.

“Especially at the end there, because it was almost a dry line. It was hardly any spray. So I definitely could have done it.”

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images

Adding his reaction to the race director's choice to postpone the race, he believed it was an "overreaction" after the British Grand Prix saw a number of DNFs.

"I think it was just a reaction to Silverstone. I think Silverstone was mega. And it just happens.

"I think we sat down and spoke about it, and most of the drivers said in the last race we shouldn't have restarted. So I think they just focused on visibility. Someone up ahead said visibility was really bad, which wasn't great, but it wasn't as bad as the last race.

"And I think they just waited, just to be sure. I think they still did a good job. Of course we did miss some of the extreme wet racing, which I think would have been nice. But for some reason the spray here is really, or this year at least, it's like going through fog. I don't know what we're going to do to try and fix it."

Following two fatal incidents at Spa-Francorchamps in the past six years, it's hard to blame Formula 1 for taking a cautious approach - particularly given how the ground-effect cars generate significant spray through the Venturi tunnels in their floors, affecting visibility. Hamilton, well-experienced in these conditions - as proven by his surge through the pack during the race - would have preferred to leverage this.