Lewis Hamilton agrees with Max Verstappen as FIA decisions judged at F1 Belgian GP

Lewis Hamilton believes race control was overly cautious at the Belgian Grand Prix, suggesting the delayed start was a direct “reaction” to the chaos that followed a safety car restart at Silverstone earlier this month.

The start of the Spa-Francorchamps race was delayed by over an hour due to heavy rain, with cars having to head back to the pitlane after completing the formation lap behind the safety car.

When the race did get underway, following four laps behind the SC, the FIA opted for a rolling start in response to the damp conditions, instead of the usual standing start from the grid.

Although Oscar Piastri managed to overtake McLaren teammate Lando Norris for the lead into Les Combes, there was little action further down the order on the first lap under green flag conditions.

The track also quickly dried out thanks to the circuit’s drainage system, with drivers ditching their intermediate tyres as early as lap 11 of 44.

Most then ran to the end on the same set of tyres, leading to a relatively uneventful race at a track typically known for producing exciting contests.

Asked if he agreed with Max Verstappen’s opinion that the race should have started without the extended safety car period, Hamilton told the media including Crash.net: “I would agree. “My car was set up for that as well. They waited for it to dry.”

The Ferrari F1 driver also believes the rolling start was unnecessary, as he claimed the conditions were safe enough for the normal start procedure to be executed.

“Definitely could have done a standing start,” he said. "Especially at the end there. It was almost a dry line. It was hot in the spray. So definitely could have done it.”

Lewis Hamilton: 'It was a reaction to Silverstone'

At the last round in Silverstone, the safety car returned to the pits during the middle of the race while the track was still soaked and the visibility was poor.

Just half a lap into the restart, Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar rear-ended the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli at Copse and spun heavily into the barriers, forcing another lengthy caution period.

Hamilton believes it was this particular incident that prompted race control to play it too safe in Spa, even when the conditions were optimum enough to go racing.

“I think it was just a reaction to Silverstone,” he said. “I think Silverstone was mega and it just happens.

“We sat down and spoke about it. And the drivers said in the last race we shouldn't have restarted. So I think they just focused on visibility.

“As soon as someone said, up ahead [that] visibility was really bad, which it wasn't great. It wasn't as bad as the last race. And I think they just waited just to be sure.

“I think they still did a good job. Of course, we did miss some of the extreme wet racing, which I think would have been nice. But for some reason, the spray here is really, well, this year at least, it's like going through fog. I don't know what we're going to do to try and fix it.”