Yesterday’s tragedy at Spa, when 18-year-old Dutchman Dilano van ‘t Hoff died on a drenched track in poor visibility during a FRECA youth series race, sparked another wave of talk about the risks of motorsport, it was inevitable.
In addition, the accident that killed him took place on the same part of the Belgian circuit as the tragic incident that killed French racer Antoine Hubert in August 2019 and left Juan Manuel Correa with serious leg injuries.
“I’m not exactly sure what caused it – a dangerous track or just high speeds and bad visibility,” said Fernando Alonso when asked about another drama at Spa. Visibility is a very serious issue in wet racing. On some circuits, where the speeds are high, we see almost nothing. And there it is simply impossible to see if there is an obstacle in front of you.
It’s not that we can’t run on a wet track, but when the race has to be stopped with red flags or the start time delayed, it irritates the fans. But now our cars just work like that, and the visibility is really so bad that we just can’t fly on certain tracks and at certain speeds.
Although I cannot say for sure whether the problem that led to the accident is related to the characteristics of the Spa track, personally I would change this dangerous part of the circle. We cannot allow such tragedies to be repeated, and this must be the last.”
Lance Stroll, his partner in Aston Martin, agrees with the two-time world champion, and Nico Hulkenberg put it very succinctly: “Rain racing sometimes becomes Russian roulette.
Most likely, the owners of the famous Belgian circuit will have to spend money on the next modification of the dangerous section, where numerous accidents have occurred in several years, and the consequences of some incidents were very serious.
There is no doubt that the FIA will analyze the circumstances of the Van’t Hoff accident in the most detailed way, present a full report and, among other things, propose measures to prevent such tragedies. It remains to be hoped that the usual statement “The race takes place in all weather conditions” will not be subjected to a too radical correction, and that Formula 1 will not lose the rainy races, which often become the decoration of the season .
Damon Hill, world champion in 1996, suggested on the broadcast of the Belgian TV channel RTBF: “The FIA will investigate whether something can be done with the safety cage so that it can withstand even such severe impacts.
Visibility is another issue. I often raced in the rain at Spa, but is it worth going to the track if you can’t see anything? Riders love to overcome difficulties and fly in such conditions, so it is probably not necessary to completely eliminate the risk factor. In general, these two elements will contradict each other.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
