Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has defended the decision to award half points at the Belgian GP.
The Belgian GP was a shambles from start to finish. The finish in question saw the drivers awarded half points. Many were quick to question the decision, but Ecclestone has supported the authorities for doing it.
Ecclestone backed the idea to award half points to the top ten drivers, and defended the decision.
“Max Verstappen, George Russell, and all the others risked their bums in qualifying and did a fantastic job,” Ecclestone said, as reported by F1-Insider.
“It is therefore only right that it should be appreciated. Perhaps one should think more about distributing points in qualifying than before.
Not all smooth sailing
However, Ecclestone has also called out the FIA and F1 in general for how they conducted the race, and suggested the whole thing screamed financial incentive.
“It was a disaster,” Ecclestone said.
“You have no influence on the weather, how you deal with it, but you do. You could tell that nobody wanted to take responsibility and make decisions. So they flew like in weightless space. And in the end, they did everything wrong together.
“On the one hand, to really hope that the weather will improve and that the route will dry off. Second, so that you don’t look like you are now. Because it couldn’t be more revealing than stopping after exactly two rounds. Now everyone knows it was only for commercial reasons.”
Ecclestone concluded by saying that F1 should do the right thing and refund the fans who attended the race at Spa.
“With the money that the rights holders earned from their two cheating rounds, they should compensate the fans who stayed in the rain for ten hours. There would still be enough profit left.”