Magazine: Why F1's Belgian GP descended into farce

The appalling conditions at Spa meant that Formula 1 was right to call off the race, but the decision to award points based on the brief time behind the safety car confused many. Lewis Hamilton was among those who thought that fans had been short-changed.

Autosport GP Editor Alex Kalinauckas outlines what happened, why things went the way they did and puts forward what F1 needs to do to save face. He also explains how George Russell was able to qualify second in a Williams that has struggled to score points all year.

FIA Formula 3, W Series and the Porsche Supercup did manage races at Spa, and our coverage of those leads a World of Sport section that also includes the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup visit to Brands Hatch and the final race in the regular NASCAR Cup season.

The British Touring Car Championship entertained with three contests at Thruxton. Marcus Simmons was there to see how reigning champion Ash Sutton opened up a useful points lead, while Josh Cook and Adam Morgan joined Sutton as race winners.

There were new victors in the support paddock at Thruxton, which leads our club coverage. Jenson Button’s historic racing debut and action from the Oulton Park Gold Cup are also part of our 19-page National section.

There was plenty of drama as Extreme E travelled to Greenland, as Matt Kew reports. Andretti United pairing Timmy Hansen and Catie Munnings emerged from an event full of mechanical gremlins and incidents to take their first series victory.

MotoGP visited Silverstone, where Fabio Quartararo tightened his grip on the championship with his fifth 2021 win, while Aleix Espargaro made history with Aprilia and Valentino Rossi bid an emotional farewell to his British fans.

Autosport also took part in a special charity karting event last week, co-organised by Le Mans winner David Brabham, and Haydn Cobb tells all about how we got on – and, more importantly, how much money was raised for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

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