To fans’ surprise, George Russell is a driver of the Mercedes F1 team as well as a director of the Grand Prix Driver’s Association. There have been several occasions when he raised his voice for his fellow drivers. Previously, he expressed his grievances over the introduction of the DRS rules without considering most of the driver’s opinions. The young Mercedes driver, at many points, mentioned that it does not make any sense to risk drivers’ lives to make overtaking more interesting.
He noted that F1 and FIA should ask the drivers to take part in discussions before introducing such risky rules and regulations. Most importantly, George Russell believes the safety of drivers should be the top priority. On top of that, the weather forecast suggests the next Grand Prix in Belgium this next weekend will face heavy rainfall. That’s why Russell raised his voice again. He keeps the driver’s safety in mind. And that’s why he asks the governing body to call off the race next weekend.
George Russell Speaks On Behalf Of The F1 Drivers To Urge FIA To Cancel The Belgian Grand Prix Like The Emilia Romagna GP
Russell raised two questions – if Spa is safe to drive and if the weather conditions are safe. Moreover, he mentioned Spa is among the top tracks with the element of high risk attached to it. According to the Mercedes driver, other tracks are the ones in Jeddah, Monaco, and Suzuka to a certain extent. Moreover, George Russell turns the attention to an essential point that with bad weather, there is no visibility whatsoever. However, Russell added that he thinks the Belgian track is safe enough, but they must figure out a way to increase visibility.
Even in 2021, the Belgian Grand Prix was cut short after two laps due to bad weather conditions. George Russell believes that decision a couple of years back was the right call. Moreover, he paints a picture where the Spa track is safe in pouring rain when there is only one car. But it becomes dangerous when there are as many as twenty cars running at tremendous speed. Moreover, if they are unable to see anybody from the third position to the wall. Only time will tell if FIA takes a brave call to call off the race after Russell gives some logical arguments.
Two Deaths On The Same Track In Four Years
Accidents and fatalities are not new to Formula One. But the organizers should take as much preventive measures as possible. That is what Russell is asking FIA and F1 for. Recently, a teenage driver in The Netherlands, Dilano Van’t Hoff, died at the age of 18 years. He was racing at Alpine’s Formula Regional European Championship. There was a multi-car collision at the track of the Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps.
It happened just a month ago that killed the 18-year-old Dutch driver. That day it was raining cats and dogs. And it is always a high risk to race in heavy rainfall. This tragedy shocked the whole Motorsport community. Later, Lance Stroll of Aston Martin asked for changes to the circuit layout. Moreover, it was the second fatality in the gap of four years as the French driver, Anthoine Hubert, died on the same track racing in a Formula 2 event in 2019.
