(Motorsports news) Although Spa regularly experiences practice session cancellations due to inclement weather, this year’s Belgian Grand Prix weekend has made things more challenging than usual because there are two qualifying sessions and two races to cram in. The normal team managers’ meeting on Friday morning covered potential eventualities.
In essence, it has been decided that having a proper, normal qualifying session before Belgian’s Grand Prix is the top priority. If today’s late afternoon qualifying session is postponed due to rain, theoretically Friday’s FP1 session could count toward the Belgian grand Prix grid. However, in the event that conditions permit Saturday’s shootout ahead of the sprint to go on, that time slot could instead serve as qualifying for the main race.
Even if it doesn’t follow the standard shootout regulations for tyre usage and session time, that grid may still be used for the sprint. To prevent teams from seeing the opening practice of the weekend as a competitive session, the FIA informed teams during FP1 that the session would not be used to set up the grid. The FIA stated that running the qualifying session for the Belgian Grand Prix would take precedence, despite the fact that the weather situation was continually changing.
In order to accomplish this, “other sessions may be canceled or rescheduled, and if running a qualifying is not possible, the grid will be set by championship order.” The new points system agreed upon after the contentious 2021 Belgian GP, where half points were awarded despite the field running behind the safety car and no racing laps being completed, could be implemented for the first time this weekend if either the sprint or the main race do not run to their full distance.
The field must complete at least two racing laps under the new rules for the sprint and the grand prix without the safety car or VSC intervening before points are awarded. There are only two outcomes for the sprint. No points are given if fewer than half of the 15 scheduled laps are completed. Full points will be awarded to the top eight finishers on the customary 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis if the sprint extends beyond the 50% mark.
There are four potential outcomes for the 44-lap grand prix, though. No points are given if the leader has completed fewer than two laps. Only the top five finishers will receive points, based on a 6-4-3-2-1 system, if the race has lasted between two laps and 25% of the total distance. If the outcome is called between 25% and 50% of the time, the top nine finishers receive points according to the distribution 13-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1.
Points are awarded to the top 10 on the basis of 19-14-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1 if the finish is declared official between 50% and 75% of the distance. Finally, full points are given after a 75% distance. As mentioned, two flying laps without a safety car are required in any situation to get points.
