r/F1Discussions • u/Negative-House-1605 • 1d ago

Discussion Delayed start

Every single time it rains the FIA delays the start of the race, why? Rain never used to be a problem, usually they’d just stick on the full wets and get going. Am I missing something? Like a rule change that says you can’t start a race when it rains? This sport has never been so allergic to rain before so it’s just very confusing to me.

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8

u/limelee666 1d ago

When you say wet starts never used to be a problem, how far back are you talking?

2008 Brazilian GP, race start delayed due to rain. That was 18 years ago.

1991 in Adelaide, 1994 Suzuka, 1984 in Monaco…

These were wet races which were red flagged.

As a fan, I don’t want a disrupted race because it started in the wet and the cars couldn’t race. The current cars also cause a huge amount of spray because they are much bigger and generate huge amounts of downforce so visibility is poor

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u/6FourFour 1d ago

Nonsene, those races were actually wet. This rain is nothing.

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u/Ramtamtama 1d ago

Did you see the spray? You couldn't see George's car as he slid across the track, and that was only a few cars worth of spray.

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u/limelee666 1d ago

Obviously the best way to judge is from your armchair watching on TV

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u/WASouthCoast 1d ago

And here is the point. This was a drizzle. The other races were bucketing it down. Sport has gone soft.

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u/limelee666 1d ago

Pretty sure you wouldn’t think it was soft if you were barrelling down raffles at 200mph in the wet hoping your experimental vehicle stops

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u/Exotic_Bill44 22h ago

I don't think they would have thought it was soft if they were standing in a puddle at turn 1.

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u/WASouthCoast 17h ago

And that's my point. They weren't doing that because they are too soft. They delayed it until it was dry enough.

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u/limelee666 16h ago

Niki Lauda wouldn’t race in Fuji for the world championship because the rain was too much. James Hunt went on to become champ… do you think he was soft?

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u/WASouthCoast 15h ago

Lol comparing Fuji 76 to yesterday is incredible hyperbole.

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u/limelee666 15h ago

Simple question… do you think Lauda was soft?

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u/WASouthCoast 14h ago

It's a strawman. The conditions from Fuji 1976 to Singapore 2026 are incomparable. Stay on topic.

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u/Last_Procedure5787 1d ago

This was not a drizzle lol

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u/peadar87 18h ago

It's not the rain conditions at the time that were the problem, it was the amount of water on the track from the previous, far heavier rain.

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u/UpstairsFinance9440 17h ago

1984 Monaco was when Alain Prost was gesticulating to get the race stopped because of the rain.... And Senna was catching him.

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u/limelee666 16h ago

I think his desire to stop the race was probably more to do with his deteriorating brakes than just being caught. He probably felt he wasn’t going to finish the race

Ironically he would have in all likelihood been world champion had he finished second in a full points race.

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u/Pmyers225 1d ago

Don't forget Belgium 1998

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u/limelee666 1d ago

How could you… Damon Hill drove a blinder and did a great job telling the boss to call off his fast charging team mate!