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Hill Lauds McLaren F1 CEO Zak Brown for His Outspoken Remarks on Belgian GP ‘Farce’

Published 08/30/2021, 5:38 AM EDT

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via Reuters

The Belgian Grand Prix did not really turn out the way everyone had hoped for. Rain delays and red flags hit the race, and eventually, the drivers did just two laps behind the safety car. McLaren CEO Zak Brown took to social media to apologize and sympathize with the fans present on the track, as they did not get any racing action.

Former F1 world champion Damon Hill praised the gesture of Brown. He further stated that the race would satisfy no team and no true fan of the sport.

Read this story: F1 Drivers Fighting on Track

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Damon Hill praised McLaren CEO as he called for an ‘explanation’ from the organizers

The 1996 world champion took to social media to express his views on the race and praised the McLaren CEO. Hill stated in his tweet, “Thanks for this Zak. Spoken like a thoughtful, concerned race fan first and above all other considerations. No one can be totally satisfied with today’s ‘race’.”

Zak Brown had earlier sent out a message for the fans after the debacle of the race.

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” Hi, fans here in Spa. That was certainly a disappointing day. We wanted to race, the drivers wanted to race and, of course, we know you wanted to see a race and that’s not what you saw. That’s not what we participated in, a very difficult situation and I think needs a bit of an explanation.

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I think the FIA did everything they could to put on a race. They obviously can’t control the weather. They do need to put the drivers’ safety first. The conditions were not raceable. “The regulations state [that] after you do a few laps, it can be called a race. I think that needs to be reviewed,” said Brown.

We hope that something like this doesn’t happen again: Zak Brown

The McLaren CEO stated the teams will certainly meet with the FIA to discuss the regulations regarding the Belgian Grand Prix. He also mentioned that he hoped a situation like this never occurs again.

I don’t think there’s anyone that would argue the weather was safe to race in, but we need a better solution as a sport. When that type of situation happens, the outcome should not be a race after three laps behind a safety car. That is what the rules say.

via Reuters

But I think that now needs to be reviewed, by all of us, to learn from today and realize if we are getting this type of situation, what would we do differently to make sure the outcome is that everyone gets their racing–whether that’s the following day, whether it’s coming back.

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It’s quite complicated with the schedule, but I don’t think anyone would say today it felt right calling that a race. So we will get to work on this and hope that something like this doesn’t happen again.” said Brown after the race.

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FIA decided to award half points for the race which meant that Mclaren was able to extend their lead from Ferrari by 3 points in the constructors’ championship.

Should we regard Belgian GP as a race? Let us know.

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Written by:

Devang Chauhan

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Devang Chauhan is an F1 author at EssentiallySports. Having completed his graduation in Journalism and Mass Communication, he has a keen eye for writing engaging and detailed articles on F1. Previously a writer for Sports Social's 'Chase Your Sport' Magazine, Devang has been an ardent follower of the sport for over a decade and has attended two editions of the Indian Grand Prix.
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