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Formula 1
Belgian GP
F1 Belgian GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race day
Minute-by-minute updates of the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps
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Top five rain-affected winners in world champ history:
| Michael Schumacher | 18 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 16 |
| Ayrton Senna | 13 |
| Jenson Button | 7 |
| Juan Manuel Fangio | 5 |
Breaking news
If we get racing today, will we have a new entrant on our list of best-ever wet weather drives? https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/ranking-f1s-greatest-wet-weather-drives-5113738/5113738/
Some dissent in the ranks over our claim that The Big Bang Theory was terrible. I stand by it. Awful show.
Seinfeld, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Peep Show - now there's some TV series you can set your watch to.
Another big fact from the desk of Mr. Turner:
Before Esteban Ocon's Hungarian GP victory, you had to go back to Daniel Ricciardo's 2014 win at the Hungaroring to find a rain-affected race win scored by someone not called Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen...
Our news editor Tom Howard also has some stats to chat: Michael Schumacher is the most successful driver in Belgium with a total of six wins. Ayrton Senna is his closest challenger with five triumphs.
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If Perez's car gets fixed, it looks as though he'll be allowed to start. Mercedes sporting director Ron Meadows seemed a little puzzled by that outcome.
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Michael Masi says that the three-hour window allotted for the race began at 1500 local time, so we'll have a timed race if we get going.
Motorsport.com F1 editor Jon Noble has dug out a key regulation:
Article 38.1: Any car which does not complete a reconnaissance lap and reach the grid under its own power will not be permitted to start the race from the grid.
So, Perez won't be permitted to start from the grid - but it doesn't say he can't start the race from the pitlane...
So, if Red Bull get Perez's car fixed up, he's in.
Back to Belgium/Spa facts: In 1968, the McLaren team clinched its maiden F1 win in Belgium with founder Bruce McLaren at the wheel of a Cosworth-powered M7A.
Breaking news
With the delays and whatnot, full race distance will be set at 39 laps. But we won't reach that, whatever happens - it's just to set the 75% needed for full points.
Perez's car looks like it's ready to go - the Mexican driver is congratulating and thanking his mechanics for some swift work.
The FOM timing screen shows 43 laps as the full race distance though, so I don't know - and I don't think anyone else does either! It's probably all irrelevant anyway.
To paraphrase the late James Hunt: "we're all waiting for a race to come past, and we don't seem to be getting one".
Ferrari is the most successful F1 team in Belgium with 18 wins, followed by McLaren at 14 and Lotus at 8. That's an F1 fact, lest we need to clarify any further.
Breaking news
One hour left on the clock.
Daniel Ricciardo's getting the Mexican waves going in the crowd. A career awaits him as F1's officially appointed hypeman.
Breaking news
The clock is being frozen with an hour to go; the FIA has decided to "temporarily stop the race" to try and give us a full hour of racing.
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"The time limit is what has stopped," Masi says to Ferrari. The FIA has decided to pause the three-hour time limit in which the race must fit, under force majeure, to give more time for rain to clear.
The clock has been stopped, but we're bound by the whims of the sun. Sun-down should be about 7:30ish local time, so we've got some kind of window to get an hour's worth of action in.
Rain
Update: it's still raining.
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"I'm trying find a hole in the weather," Masi says to Mercedes' pit wall, after they complain that they're cold and want to go off and try to warm up.
Breaking news
A weather update will be provided in 15 minutes. I bet it's something along the lines of "it's still wet"...
The FIA is hoping for a break in the weather, hence the update news. Because we're not kitted out with a weather radar, I don't know what to expect at this point.
We covered Le Mans on live last week - that was considerably easier than doing this. Thankfully, we won't be going into the little hours of the morning here...
Rain
Weather update: the next weather update will be in 10 minutes.
Okay then.
The track sweeper is going the wrong way. Instant DSQ for Sweepy Jeff - race control have referred them to the stewards for further punishment.
Twitter
Liquid football.
Breaking news
17:55 weather update: The next weather update will come at 18:00.
This is hilarious.
18:00 weather update: The next weather update will come at 18:05.
Did Stewart Lee write this race?
Did Stewart Lee write this race?
What's the next weather update going to be? Stay tuned...
THEY'RE LATE. IT'S 18:06.
Maybe the real 18:05 weather update was the friends we made along the way...
Breaking news
Race will resume at 18:17.
So, that's just under 10 minutes before SOMETHING happens. Wet tyres must be fitted.
Lance Stroll has been reported to the stewards, after the rear wing was changed to a different spec.
Stroll will start from the pitlane as a result of his rear wing change. Given he was P19, that won't matter too much.
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