F1 seeking to improve wet-weather visibility after Spa debacle

Formula 1

F1 seeking to improve wet-weather visibility after Spa debacle

The Belgian GP was rained off after two laps behind the safety car

Ian Parkes

Thursday 4 November 2021 14:14

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F1 and the FIA have joined forces to work on improving visibility for drivers during wet weather conditions.

The move comes as a response primarily to this year's Belgian Grand Prix that was called off after lengthy rain delays and just two laps behind the safety car.

FIA chief technical officer Pat Symonds has spearheaded recent discussions with the drivers to garner their thoughts on what unfolded at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, and their experiences in general of racing in the wet.

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F1 managing director Ross Brawn is hoping next year's aerodynamically revised cars will alleviate in some small part the current issues, although is hoping the work being done behind the scenes will play a role beyond 2022.

"In terms of rain there's been some quite interesting work starting to be done now on the spray and the visibility," said Brawn.

"Pat Symonds and some of the FIA people spoke to some of the drivers in the last couple of races about their experiences at Spa, and their general experiences, particularly drivers who have raced other cars.

"Fernando [Alonso] was quite interesting because he said the ability to race in the rain is much better in a sportscar than it is in a Formula 1 car.

"Some aspects you'd think might be quite challenging, with a windscreen, the wipers and all the rest of it, but he said the way the spray comes off the car is different.

"We're going to study the spray of the new cars. We have some thoughts that it might be a little bit improved. But it's definitely something we're going to look at to see how we change things."

Brawn concedes one area that cannot be tackled is aquaplaning once the level of wet reaches a certain point, but visibility can at least be tackled.

"The two big issues in wet racing are visibility and aquaplaning," added Brawn. "The aquaplaning is a challenge for the tyres, and beyond a certain point, you can't resolve.

"But the visibility is maybe something we can improve, and has now entered into our list of things that we're we're looking at, and seeing if we can have an influence on and make an improvement."