Danger at Spa? “Worst emotion of my life” | “We see nothing, not exaggerating”

Up-and-coming driver Dilano van 't Hoff died in a crash at Spa last month, and four years ago F2 driver Anthoine Hubert lost his life on the circuit that will again host the F1 Belgian Grand Prix this weekend.

Drivers arrived to Spa in wet weather with more rain predicted for the days ahead, meaning safety is at the forefront of their minds.

“There are some changes which would make a difference,” said Charles Leclerc, who won his first F1 grand prix the day after Hubert’s death in 2019 and dedicated the moment to him. 

“The walls after the straights, after Eau Rouge, we should have more space. If you lose control you bounce on the walls - this is a change to consider. 

“The two biggest problems? Visibility. It is difficult to put into words what we see. 

“We see nothing, we are not exaggerating, when it is raining. This is a big problem for motorsport in general. 

“Single-seaters have a lot of downforce, there is a lot of spray, and a lot of incidents. It is difficult to find a solution.

“The last thing is; when is it safe to start a race? This is another topic for the FIA to look at closely. To not feel the pressure of starting a race if we haven’t had any running.

“Us drivers should not complain if we don’t have any laps if it isn’t safe.”

Pierre Gasly, a friend of Hubert’s, will lead a run around the circuit in memory of the F2 driver and Dilano van 't Hoff.

"I'm someone that is emotional," said Gasly.

"I think I link places with emotions. I've had the worst emotions of my life here. But at the same time, it's one of my favourite tracks, so it's very contradictory.

"I love this track, and I love racing this track, but at the same time I'll never forget what I felt going down these stairs when my parents told me the news.

"It's obviously tough, but I accept the sport that we do, and it's things you have got to live with. It's also life, as sad as it can be."

Carlos Sainz added: “We should be disciplined with safety. It is the No1 priority. If it’s not safe to run, we must find solutions with a Safety Car. 

“But don’t fall into the pressure of running just to put on a show. If we can’t see, and it’s down to luck if we crash… I’m not a big fan of this. We must take the smart decision.”

Sergio Perez said: “Visibility can be really poor. We are in the hands of the Race Director - we will fully trust him.”

Kevin Magnussen: “It’s not easy to judge the conditions before sending the cars out. The spray from a Safety Car is not too bad but then you send the Formula 1 cars out and it’s different. 

“The spray has become worse with ground-effect cars, that’s an issue they’ve got to deal with.”

Valtteri Bottas: “It is a safety issue. All the drivers have put this issue on the table and the FIA are working on it.”