FIA chief says F1 cars should be designed to drive in the rain

FIA President Jean Todt believes that future F1 cars should be able to drive in the rain, following the farcical end to the Belgian GP last month. Todt, who was a part of the Ferrari F1 team for over a decade and has been involved in racing since the 60s, thinks that FIA and F1 would have been criticized had the race gone ahead and resulted in a few accidents.  

“There were many who criticized what was decided at Spa [by not racing], but what would have happened if, after the start, we had had an accident with 10 cars that resulted in injured drivers or worse. We would have been massacred. And even without injuries, we would have been criticized. For the 2025 regulations, we must think about having cars that can be driven even in the rain,” said Todt. 

The FIA chief then laid the blame squarely on the drivers, stating that F1 legend Niki Lauda gave up racing in the rain citing safety in the 70s, but now every driver does it.

“Do you remember [Niki] Lauda at Fuji in ’76? He was the only one of the drivers to give up racing in the rain. Today, every driver thinks as Lauda did then.”

F1 will bring in new regulations in 2025, which will see the use of eco-friendly sustainable fuels and more dependency on electric components. New regulations will be enforced from the next season with better aerodynamics, which will allow for much closer – and competitive – racing.

This year’s Belgian GP ran just two laps, both behind the safety laps, following torrential rain, which made the circuit unsafe for close racing. The two laps were the minimum required for a race to be classified as a completed race and half points were rewarded to the top 10 drivers. The short race was won by Max Verstappen, with Williams’ George Russell and Lewis Hamilton completing the top three. 

Hamilton was unhappy with the FIA and F1’s decision to run a two-lap race and called it a farce. 

“Today was a farce and the only people to lose out are the fans who have paid good money to watch us race,” said Hamilton. 

The seven-time drivers champion thinks that the race should have been called off and fans should have been refunded their money. The Hungarian and Imola Grand Prix were also affected by rain earlier this season, but the rain wasn’t strong enough to call off the race.