The FIA Race Control’s decision to delay the start time of the Belgian Grand Prix has continued to cause a stir, and Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has recently weighed in on the matter. The 57-year-old came to the defence of the motorsports governing body, stating that it was the right call.

The Spa-Francorchamps event largely drew attention for turning out to be far from the action-packed Grand Prix many fans had expected. The Ardennes forest race, known for its wet weather conditions, saw this year’s edition delayed by 80 minutes from its original start time due to rain.

Although teams had set up their cars to race in the wet, FIA Race Director Rui Marques’ decision to allow the race to proceed only after the rain had stopped meant that several teams were unable to perform at their best in the now-dry conditions, having prepared for a wet race.

This decision has since sparked reactions across the Formula 1 paddock, but Ferrari team boss Vasseur believes it was the right move by the FIA.

Sharing his thoughts, as quoted by Motorsport, the Ferrari team principal said:

“We can’t blame them [race control] because we would be collectively the first ones to give them shit if something happened. In this sense, we have to respect their decision. I can speak frankly because I have one car pushing on the high downforce, one car pushing on the low downforce and I was comfortable to respect their decision because they are taking a huge responsibility also.”

The Belgian Grand Prix has an unfortunate history of being one of the most dangerous tracks in Formula 1, with several driver fatalities. During the 2019 season, Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert tragically passed away at the Spa circuit following an accident.

How Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton reacted to the Belgian Grand Prix delay

Scuderia Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton had also weighed in on the decision to delay the start of the Belgian Grand Prix. The 40-year-old, who was named Driver of the Day at the event, shared his thoughts, expressing that he felt the FIA was being a little too cautious.

The seven-time world champion, speaking to the media, also highlighted how the FIA kept postponing the commencement of the race, much to the frustration of the drivers. Sharing his thoughts, as quoted by Motorsport.com, the Ferrari driver stated:

“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’s comments appear to largely echo the sentiments of Max Verstappen, who also seemed far from pleased about the lengthy delay to the start of the race.

The Belgian Grand Prix was eventually won by Oscar Piastri, who beat Lando Norris to victory, with Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc completing the podium places.