Interrupted in the third of the 53 laps initially planned, due to weather conditions and two retirements, the GP was able to restart.

The restart was given at 2:23 p.m. (9:23 a.m. Paris time), after the track had been tested behind the safety car.

On resumption, Verstappen led in front of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), his two pursuers in the championship.

The race will be truncated in any case because it must stop three hours after the initial start, i.e. at approximately 5:00 p.m. local (10:00 a.m. French, 08:00 GMT).

The crucial countdown is therefore on: will Verstappen win the race and win his second World Championship title in a row?

Starting from pole position in this 18th race of the season (out of 22), the Dutchman (Red Bull) had retained the lead, on the first start at 2:00 p.m. local time, despite the very good start and the attempt to overtake Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari ).

At first very difficult for the pilots, immersed in clouds of water, the conditions improved after the second start, the rain easing.

"We couldn't see anything, (...) I was surprised that the start was given, it was dangerous (...) We are playing with fire, I guarantee you that there will be crashes if we start again in these conditions", had reacted on Canal + the Thai Alex Albon (Williams), who gave up due to mechanical problems.

The Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) abandoned him after an accident.

China's Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) and Germany's Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) both spun on the opening lap but continued.

Recovery vehicle on the track

The race was stopped to allow the evacuation of the two cars.

It was at this time that Frenchman Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) saw a breakdown vehicle on the track.

On board camera footage from FITV, the Frenchman is seen passing next to a truck.

An incident that angered the French: "It's unacceptable! How is it possible? I can't believe it".

This event described as "worse than unacceptable" by the director of the Alfa Romeo team Frédéric Vasseur, recalls the accident which caused the death at the age of 25 of Frenchman Jules Bianchi, on this same circuit on October 5, 2014.

In the rain, Bianchi lost control of his Marussia in turn 7 and his single-seater got stuck under a lifting device which ended up evacuating the Sauber of the German Adrian Sutil, which left the track in the previous lap.

"No respect for the life of the pilots, no respect for the memory of Jules, incredible", wrote on Instagram his father Philippe Bianchi, screenshot of the incident in support.

The interruption of the race due to the rain also brings back memories of the 2021 Belgian GP: in the deluge, Verstappen had won a mock Grand Prix, after two laps behind the safety car.

He then won half the points.

On Sunday, 75% of the distance initially planned must actually be covered by the drivers for all the points to be guaranteed.

To be titled, the 25-year-old Dutchman needs a victory and the fastest lap point.

Besides a victory, many other possibilities exist for a coronation, depending on his final position and that of Leclerc and Sergio Pérez (Red Bull): he must ultimately score eight points more than Leclerc and six more than Pérez.

These three drivers are in the same order at Suzuka after the restart, followed 26 minutes from the end by Frenchman Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Briton Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).

© 2022 AFP