Just moments before lights out at the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix the heavens opened creating a bustle of energy up and down the grid as teams scrambled to fit their cars with the blue striped, wet weather tyres. However, energy and adrenaline soon turned to confusion and frustration when the rain lifted momentarily and the start was delayed. Eventually this was confirmed to be because of a technical issue but it still raised the question of "why are we not racing in the rain?"
The race finally got underway behind the safety car twenty minutes after it's original start time but was soon red flagged when the weather took a another turn for the worse and the swimming pool chicane became exactly that, a swimming pool. Social media came alive and the same questions were repeatedly asked; "why are we not racing in the rain?", "what's the point in wet weather tyres?" and the crucial one, "why was little or nothing learnt after Belgium 2021?"
The 2021 Belgian Grand Prix became infamous in Formula One history after it was abandoned after three long, grueling hours of torrential rain and numerous attempts to race. This left hundreds of fans disappointed, dripping with rain in the grandstands and completely out of pocket. It was more than obvious that lessons needed to be learnt from that race. This is the pinnacle of motorsport and what happened on this day shouldn't be happening. Have we really learnt anything from Belgium?
Formula One cars are enabled to race in the rain due to numerous factors. First off F1's tyre manufacturer Pirelli supply each team with so-called wet weather tyres. The treads on these tyres are deep enough to displace enough water allowing the cars to race. Furthermore, the aerodynamics of each car are not effected by the rain. There is, however, occasions in which it is deemed too wet to race. This is usually when visibility is extremely low and the track is too slippery giving each driver a greater risk of aquaplaning. It does, in short, get too dangerous, even when sat behind the safety car as we saw in Japan 2014 when then the late Marussia driver Jules Bianchi aquaplaned off the circuit into a digger recovering another car. Since this moment, the safety of drivers when racing in the rain has become an important talking point in the world of motorsport and has led to many changes in rules and regulations throughout the year.
However, safety isn't only the reason as to why we're seeing wet races delayed or abandoned. In 2017 F1 introduced faster and wider cars which consequently created more spray thus reducing visibility during wet weather conditions. Unfortunately that was the biggest issue that was faced at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix and as the rain never eased up the race couldn't get underway.
In conclusion, as the cars evolve, their suitability to wet weather seems to be dwindling. Something needs to change. We can't decide on what the weather is going to do and F1 cannot afford many more races like the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix. It's all well and good with the FIA changing the rules and regulations so that we don't have a repeat of Belgium again which is fine but is it time to make the cars more suited to wet weather again like they used to be? I think the majority of people would agree with me when I say yes.
