George Russell Belgium Netherlands F1 Formula One Sport Motorsport on watch George Russell Belgium Netherlands

Formula One on weather watch ahead of Belgian Grand Prix

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George Russell has raised the prospect of this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix being cancelled amid poor weather.Heavy rain fell over the Spa-Francorchamps on Thursday, with the grizzly weather expected to continue throughout the weekend.Although the forecast is better for Sunday’s Grand Prix, the weather is notoriously difficult to predict in the Ardennes and there is a fear in the paddock that the weekend’s running – which features a sprint race on Saturday – could be heavily disrupted.Indeed, it is understood Formula One are already looking into potential changes to the timetable.The FIA’s decision to run in the wet conditions will be heightened following the death of 18-year-old Dilano Van 't Hoff at Spa-Francorchamps earlier this month.The Dutch teenager was killed after a crash in a rain-hit Formula Regional European Championship race on 1 July."Obviously to have a race cancelled is not perfect for anybody, but we don’t want to see another huge incident that we have just seen," said Russell, director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association."The conditions are safe and suitable enough to drive for one Formula One car.

But when you have got 20 cars on track at once, anybody from third position backwards literally cannot see 20, 30, 40 metres ahead of them."We have no visibility whatsoever.

To give it some perspective, it is like driving down the motorway in pouring rain, and turning your windscreen wipers off. That is how it feels in the cockpit."It was only a matter of time before the incident in the FRECA race happened.

Drivers do not go flat out on the straight because they cannot see, someone gets rear-ended, and then there is a car in the middle of the track."I also fear a little bit for the junior categories.

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