Sebastian Vettel expressed sympathy for spectators who saw hardly any running on the first day of practice for the Belgian GP today.
Vettel was one of many drivers who did a minimal amount of laps on a day that saw rain falling constantly.
“There’s nobody to blame,” said the German. “It’s not the best weather for us, because there’s too much water. Obviously we’d love to go out, but we can’t. It’s a shame, especially for the people around the track.
“I think they’ve been very brave today, it’s quite windy and maybe not so nice to spend your day in the grandstands. Hopefully they’ll come back tomorrow with dry clothes and we’ll have some sunshine. That’s the forecast.
“I think in the end we can’t race in these conditions. If you’re by yourself then obviously you can ease off on the straights. You can’t really stay full throttle, there’s too much water, the tyres cannot get rid of the water, the drainage is not made for these conditions.
“If you imagine you race, if you are behind someone, on top of all that you can’t see. It’s pretty bad for us, our cars are not made for that much rain. The forecast looks good though, so hopefully all the people will come back tomorrow and have a nice weekend.”
Vettel said he wasn’t frustrated to not be able to enjoy a proper day in the car after such a long break since the last race: “It’s just one more night, it doesn’t really matter! I like rain, and it’s good to see that after a long time and a long summer that there’s also some rain, but maybe it’s not the best day for that.”
Adam Cooper F1 