(GMM) Formula 1’s cautious approach to racing in the wet came under intense fire after a farcical Belgian GP Sunday – with Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Dr Helmut Marko leading criticism of the FIA’s long delay and refusal to start in full wet conditions.

Despite a wet setup gamble from Red Bull and others, the race was delayed for a painfully long time, beginning only after the heaviest rain had passed – and with multiple laps behind the safety car before a rolling start.

“That’s how you ruin a beautiful, classic race in the rain,” said Verstappen. “You’d be better off saying, ‘You know what, we’ll wait until it’s completely dry and then we’ll just start on slicks.’

“That’s not what a wet race is about.”

Often at loggerheads with the FIA, the quadruple world champion was highly critical once again.

“They just do what they want. They decide,” said the Dutchman. “I think it’s a shame for everyone. You’ll never really see those classic rain races again.”

Red Bull’s Marko was equally blunt: “We have to rethink the entire procedure. With two or three laps behind the safety car, we would have cleared the water from the track and been able to start an hour earlier.”

He added the delay ruined Red Bull’s strategy: “It meant our whole strategy with rain settings was no longer valid. Without any problems, it would have been a safe race.”

FIA race director Rui Marques was heavily criticised by several paddock figures and press outlets, with Marca calling the delay “the biggest nonsense in Formula 1” and Ekstra Bladet slamming F1’s “grotesque hesitation.”

Viaplay pundit and ex-F1 driver Heikki Kovalainen said: “We should be able to drive in this weather. This is a dangerous sport and you should be able to accept that. If you don’t, then you’re in the wrong sport.”

But others defended the caution. Charles Leclerc said: “On a track like this with what happened historically, I think you cannot forget about it. I’d rather be safe than too early.”

Race winner Oscar Piastri added: “Even with just Lando ahead of me, I couldn’t see a thing. You can only imagine what it’s like for the guys at the back.”

Carlos Sainz Jr., co-director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, called the decision “correct,” pointing to Spa’s recent tragic history. “Given the bad history here, it’s better to be overly safe than to err on the side of excess risk.”

Seven-time world champion Hamilton, however, sided with Verstappen: “I kept saying we were ready to go. I think they just overreacted, because last time (at Silverstone) we told them not to start right away. This weekend it was the other way around.”

“I would definitely say I agree,” he added, when asked about Verstappen’s strong comments. “We could also have just done a standing start – the line was almost dry, and there wasn’t much spray further on.”

Nico Hulkenberg called the long delay a “mood killer,” while Soy Motor’s Jesus Munoz wrote: “Formula 1 has been stolen from us. And the worst part is that it’s sure to get worse.”

23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace — amid his team’s antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR — was victorious at the Brickyard 400 after a protracted end to the race, staving off a lack of fuel to hold off a rampant Kyle Larson in second after overtime. 

“Bubba Wallace busts his bubble and wins his way to the playoffs,” the TNT broadcast said. This ends Wallace’s 100-race winless streak and gives him: a) a spot in the 2025 Cup Series playoffs, b) his third career Cup Series win, and c) 23XI Racing a statement victory amid their suit against NASCAR.  

Wallace’s win in a mostly clean Brickyard 400 (besides an incident between Ross Chastain and Michael McDowell) gives him his first NASCAR “crown jewel” victory. 

The caution was waved with six laps in regular to go as a radar that looked relatively clear turned wet. The yellow flag quickly changed to a red flag, and the race was delayed for over 25 minutes despite having less than five minutes remaining. 

Three-time NASCAR Cup Series winner Joey Logano was cruising with 26 laps to go before he blew a tire. An opportunistic Wallace immediately passed before Brad Keselowski moved into the lead after a pit stop. 

Indiana Pacers star Pascal Siakam, having led the hometown team to the NBA Finals, kicked off the festivities by driving the pace car before the Cookie Monster (of Sesame Street fame) started the race.  

“Basketball and motorsports, Pacers and Racers, go hand in hand in Indianapolis,” said IndyCar and IMS President J. Douglas Boles. “Following the Pacer’s electrifying postseason run, it’s only fitting to have Siakam join us to pace the field as NASCAR’s biggest stars compete to win the in-season challenge and add their name to the history books with a win at the Brickyard.”

“This is my home now and I’m super excited to be here,” Siakam said. “You just want to continue to do good for the city, for the state, and again it’s another cool opportunity to see the people and hang out.”

Chase Briscoe, an Indiana native, made sure to greet Siakam before the race. He led after stage 1 and finished XX overall. 

Ty Gibbs captured the one-million-dollar prize in the NASCAR In-Season Challenge by default after finishing ahead of Ty Dillon. This finishes off the eight-race gauntlet proposed by Denny Hamlin with an underdog victor. 

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The first caution of the day belonged the Ross Chastain after Michael McDowell shoved him into the wall on Lap 3. “Darn it, man. Didn’t mean to do that. Just didn’t think he’d jump on the binders that hard,” McDowell said on his radio (per Jeff Gluck of the Ahtletic). 

McDowell’s No. 71 Chevy also had some trouble: the 40-year-old pitted during the caution with damage to both his splitter and his hood. 

Bubba Wallace made a risky fuel strategy pay off with some sterling driving, winning the Brickyard 400 in double overtime at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

With the fuel tank in his No. 23 Toyota nearly dry, Wallace held off Kyle Larson on two restarts after a late red flag for rain.

Denny Hamlin finished third, followed by Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski.

With his first victory of the 2025 season and the third of his career, Wallace locked into the Cup Series playoffs after being on the bubble of a provisional points spot. He was ranked 16th in the playoff standings, 16 points above the cutline, before becoming the 13th winner in the 2025 season.

Here’s what NASCAR drivers were saying after the 23XI Racing driver’s victory in the crown jewel event.

It also was the first crown jewel victory for 23XI Racing, the team co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin. The team has been embroiled in a lawsuit with NASCAR since last year.

“Oh my gosh, man, just so proud of this team,” Wallace, whose last win was 100 starts ago at Kansas Speedway, told Marty Snider on TNT. “That adrenaline rush is crazy because I’m coming off that right now, and I’m worn out. I just want to thank everybody behind me right here, all these guys, all these men and women at Airspeed for making this possible. To overcome so much and to put these people here in Victory Lane, that’s what it’s about. It’s about these people that continue to push at me, believe in me. Man, just so proud, and I appreciate all you guys.

“Unbelievable to win here at the Brickyard, knowing how big this race is. Knowing all the noise that’s been going on in the background. To set that all aside is a testament to these people on the 23 team. It’s been getting old right around the cutline.”

Per the Associated Press, Wallace, 31, became the first Black driver to win on the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which opened in 1909.

Wallace led two times for 23 laps, including the final 15. He had about a 3-second lead on Larson when the race was stopped on Lap 156 because of a brief shower that dampened the south end of the racetrack.

The red flag to dry the racetrack lasted 18 minutes and pushed the race past the scheduled distance of 160 laps.

The 23XI Racing driver held off Kyle Larson on multiple restarts in overtime.

Despite being low on fuel, Wallace pulled away from Larson by a wide margin on the first restart on Lap 162, but the caution flew for a multicar crash. That set up another restart and raised concerns about whether Wallace had the fuel to reach the finish. With a playoff spot hanging in the balance, crew chief Charles Denike said the team nearly called Wallace into the pits before the second overtime.

But the 23XI Racing driver stayed on track and nailed the second of two impressive restarts in staving off Larson, the 2021 Cup Series champion who won at Indy last year.

“There’s nothing you can do here to pass, so no, I don’t really think there was anything I could do differently,” Larson said. “I was second gear on the first restart, and honestly, that one worked out a little bit better, but he almost got clear of me down the front stretch. And then on the second restart, he brought the pace down a little bit slower, so I needed to be first gear. It was kind of the same thing with me last year. He had the preferred lane on the inside, and it’s really hard to beat that.

“Regardless, proud of my team today. We just executed. I don’t think we passed many cars on track, but our pit crew did a good job, and our team did a good job with strategy. Happy to get a good result like that. Wish it could have been one spot better, but congrats to Bubba. That’s so cool. This is a big race, and he’s a good dude.”

Capitalizing after making a two-tire stop on Lap 119, Wallace inherited the lead on Lap 143 when Ryan Blaney pitted from first. Larson, who had made a four-tire stop two laps after Wallace, had chopped the lead in half and was gaining by about a half-second per lap when the red flew at 5:04 p.m.

Ty Gibbs finished 21st to win the inaugural In Season Challenge and the $1 million prize, beating Ty Dillon, who finished three laps down in 28th.

“It’s super cool,” Gibbs said about winning the five-race bracket. “I didn’t really focus on it for the first three weeks. Our goal, of course, is to do the best we can. The last week and this week is kind of where I started to (think), ‘OK, well, if we beat these guys, we can go win a million dollars.’ It’s a really cool deal that they put on, and hopefully they keep doing it.”

Tire problems marred the race for multiple contenders.

After leading 40 of the first 83 laps, Austin Cindric’s No. 2 Ford suffered a right-rear failure while running first on Lap 84. Cindric was 42 laps into his stint and likely would have been pitting soon.

Team Penske teammate Joey Logano also suffered a right-rear failure on his No. 22 Ford on Lap 133 while trying to stretch his final tank of fuel to the finish.

Erik Jones, who had qualified third, finished 35th after crashing in Turn 3 on Lap 90 because his No. 43 Toyota lost its right-front tire at speed. The wheel was improperly secured on Jones’ prior pit stop.

Stage 1 winner: Chase Briscoe

Stage 2 winner: Ryan Blaney

Next: Sunday, Aug. 3, 3:30 p.m. at Iowa Speedway on USA Network

The latest NASCAR Cup Series standings are in following Sunday’s Brickyard 400, with Kyle Busch dealt a crushing blow in his pursuit of a playoff spot.

Without a win so far in 2025, Busch is looking to point his way into the postseason and was already facing a massive uphill task to do so, entering Indianapolis 39 points short of the cut line with just five regular season races to go.

NASCAR HEADLINES: Bubba Wallace stuns at the Brickyard as disqualified driver set to appeal

However, Busch is now left almost certainly needing a win to make it following Bubba Wallace’s win at the Brickyard. Wallace was the driver in 16th and on the bubble that Busch was 39 points behind, but with the 23XI driver now locked into the playoffs following his victory, the cut line has moved, and one less spot is available via points.

Alex Bowman is now the driver on the bubble, but the bad news for Busch is that he left Indianapolis sitting 81 points behind the Hendrick Motorsports star, leaving the two-time champion with a mountain to climb and then some.

Busch can, of course, lock himself in with a win over the next four races, but having not tasted a Cup Series win since 2023, he’s now massively up against it.

Whilst those were the main talking points regarding the playoff standings post-race, the regular season standings have also seen plenty of movement too.

Chase Elliott continues to lead the way at the top of the standings, however, with Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson following closely behind.

Joe Gibbs Racing duo Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell round out the regular season top five.

With that said, you can see how both the playoff and regular season standings look in full, below.

READ MORE: Kyle Busch touted for series switch as potential NASCAR ban looms

NASCAR Cup Series – Playoff standings after Indianapolis

Here is how the full playoff picture looks following Sunday’s Cup Series race at Indianapolis.

NASCAR Cup Series – Regular season standings after Indianapolis

Here is how the regular season points standings look following Sunday’s Cup Series race at Indianapolis.

READ MORE: Team Penske duo Logano and Blaney among NASCAR stars penalized at Indianapolis

Related

AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 DISCOUNT TIRE FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE
START: 10TH STAGE 1: 31ST STAGE 2: 24TH FINISH: 15TH POINTS: 17TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Austin Cindric and the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse team showed speed and resilience in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 presented by PPG at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, rebounding from a mid-race setback to finish 15th. In total, he led a race-high 40 laps throughout the day. After qualifying 10th, Cindric moved into the ninth position early and took the lead following a Lap 18 caution when the team opted to stay out. He held the point, reporting his happiness with his car’s clean air balance, before pitting under green with eight laps to go in Stage 1. The strategy dropped him to 31st at the Stage break, but staying out under caution allowed him to restart fourth for Stage 2. Cindric cycled back to the lead as others pitted, but a blown right-rear tire forced him to limp to pit road with just over 15 laps remaining in the Stage. After receiving right-side tires, he went on to finish the segment in the 24th position. Cindric received the free pass and visited pit road for four tires and fuel, and lined up 23rd – on the lead lap – for the restart. Just looking to reset after the misfortune, Cindric and the Discount Tire team fired off for the final Stage looking to make the most of the laps left before making a green flag pit stop with about 40 laps remaining. A light rain shower over Turn 1 brought out the red flag with six laps left in the crown jewel event as Cindric was scored in the 20th position, setting up an overtime finish at The Brickyard. As the chaos played out, the Team Penske driver fought through to take the checkered flag in the 15th position.

CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “We had a really strong Discount Tire Ford Mustang today. It was great to lead laps and have pace up front, just unfortunate to have a tire go down. Proud of the fight from everyone to battle back and get a solid finish out of it.”
RYAN BLANEY No. 12 MENARDS/DELTA FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE
START: 24TH STAGE 1: 12TH STAGE 2: 1ST FINISH: 7TH POINTS: 7TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney picked up his fifth stage win of the season as he and the No. 12 Menards/Delta Ford Mustang Dark Horse team turned in a seventh-place finish in Sunday’s Brickyard 400, marking their 10th top-10 result on the year. After taking the green flag from 24th, Blaney worked his way into the top-20 by the halfway point of the opening stage before crossing the line 12th in Stage 1 as varying strategies throughout the field began to unfold. Despite restarting the second segment from 24th, the No. 12 Menards/Delta Ford made its way up to third in the running order during the green flag pit cycle before a caution with 10 laps remaining in Stage 2 prompted crew chief Jonathan Hassler to leave Blaney on track to assume the lead before the field took the green with four to go. Blaney ultimately held off the No. 5 in the closing laps to secure his fifth stage win of the season. Due to maximizing their fuel window on the prior run, Blaney pit a lap early for his scheduled stop under caution, resulting in having to restart at the tail of the field, but the 12 team’s strategy put them back out in front on lap 128 before making one final trip to pit road with 10 laps to go. A brief rain shower brought out the red flag with four laps remaining with Blaney scored 22nd, setting up a green-white-checkered finish once track drying was complete. Blaney successfully evaded a multi-car incident on the backstretch during the first attempt before going from 13th to seventh on the final restart of the afternoon to rally for a top-10 result.

BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “Yeah, we pieced together a good day. Starting towards the back, it’s just hard to make up ground and pass, so we were trying to do the best job of strategy that we could. We made good moves to win the stage. I knew we were going to pay the price for it, but it was hard to give it up and nice when you’re able to hang on like that. We just scratched and clawed and were able to finish seventh. It was a day where we weren’t the best, but we made something happen, and those are the days that we should be proud of.”
JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE
START: 15TH STAGE 1: 34TH STAGE 2: 8TH FINISH: 32ND POINTS: 12TH
RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse team had the right strategy to put them in contention for the win in Sunday’s Brickyard 400, but a flat right rear tire with 26 laps to go followed by sustaining terminal damage in a multi-car incident in the closing laps ultimately resulted in a 32nd-place finish. Logano took the green flag from 15th before an early caution on lap 18 saw crew chief Paul Wolfe keep the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford on track – one of three teams to do so – as Logano lined up to restart on the front row. Logano was able to maintain his track position up until a scheduled green flag stop on lap 41 in order to flip the stage, resulting in a 34th-place finish in Stage 1. With a majority of the field pitting during the stage caution, Logano cycled back up to sixth to take the green flag for Stage 2 and settled into eighth in the running order. As the green flag pit cycle began to shape up, Logano took the lead with 17 laps remaining in the segment and was called to pit road during the same lap for four tires and fuel. A caution seven laps later brought another wave of cars down pit road, allowing Logano to get back into the top-10 prior to the restart before going on to pick up an eighth-place result in Stage 2. The varying strategies throughout the field began to take shape in the final stage as Wolfe brought Logano to pit road early in the cycle on lap 117 for right sides tires and fuel as the two-tire stop allowed Logano to jump those ahead of him and eventually take the lead once the cycle was complete. However, with 26 laps to go, Logano suffered a flat right rear tire on the backstretch that forced him to come down pit road under green. The No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford then lost power while attempting to leave the pit stall and subsequently went two laps down before rejoining the field. Following a brief red flag for rain with four laps to go, Logano lined up 27th for the first green-white-checkered attempt before a multi-car incident unraveled ahead of him just before the entrance to turn three, resulting in the No. 38 sliding down the track and making contact with the right front of the No. 22. The 22 team attempted to fix the issue on pit road, but the damage ultimately brought an end to the afternoon in Indianapolis.

LOGANO’S THOUGHTS: “We had the race-winning strategy, just unfortunately didn’t get a chance to see it all the way through after we lost the right rear. [Crew chief] Paul [Wolfe] and the guys hit on everything all day with staying out during that first caution to get us track position early and it seemed like it was only going to be a matter of holding off everyone behind us and having enough fuel for the final 20 or so laps. Disappointed to see it end that way but still proud of the effort this weekend”
The NASCAR Cup Series makes its way to Iowa Speedway on Sunday, August 3, where Ryan Blaney returns as the defending race winner. Iowa also marks the return of NBC who will broadcast the remainder of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. Race day coverage of Iowa begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday on NBC, MRN, and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Team Penske PR