Spa's F1 Grand Prix will be remembered as the first to include no racing.
Lewis Hamilton, who criticized the Belgian Grand Prix's failure as "a farce", has accused Formula 1 and its rain-hit race of being cynical.
Hamilton stated that drivers were only sent for two laps behind safety cars in order to get an official result.
He wrote on Instagram: "We should've called it quits. Not risked drivers. And most importantly, refunded fans, who are the heart and soul of our sport."
He said, "There was no time today when we would've been able to race."
F1 rules require that the field completes two laps to earn points.
Hamilton stated on Sky: "Money talks. It was the first lap of the race. Today's choice was a poor one for the sport.
Hamilton acknowledged that conditions made it impossible for the race to be held due to poor visibility at the high-speed track. However, he stated that there was no reason not to send the cars again as conditions were still bad.
George Russell was able to claim his first podium with Saturday's sensational qualifying lap
The race started at 14:00 BST, but was delayed for half an hour. After two laps at 14.30 BST, the drivers were called back to pits.
The race was stopped for nearly three hours, and then two laps behind the safety car at 17.17 BST were completed.
Hamilton's claims were rejected by the FIA, which stated that the intention was to do all possible to win a race.
Michael Masi, race director, said that the cars were sent out for the last time to "see what the conditions were like".
He said, "We all were aiming for the window we believed was there. We thought there was some way to get some racing in with a weather band. You all know how quickly the weather changes at this location and how quickly the weather deteriorates so fast that we couldn’t."
F1 stated in a statement that they were "disappointed for all fans at the track, at home" and added: "The weather conditions unfortunately didn't improve sufficiently to allow us to complete more laps."
Hamilton compared the situation to last year’s cancelled Australian Grand Prix. F1 flew from Melbourne to check out the coronavirus pandemic that was sweeping the globe.
Hamilton spoke out hours before the Australian race was cancelled. When asked why, Hamilton replied, "Cash is King."
He said Sunday in the official Belgian news conference: "Use being in Melbourne last summer, there are some similarities to how today's been down, but at minimum everyone's safe.
"I don’t know the politics behind the sport, but my main concern is that the fans should get their money back. I don’t know if they will, or if they won’t by doing the two laps. As a sport, we have better values.
Zak Brown, chief executive officer of McLaren Racing, stated that F1 must "review" its situation and added that "We need to find a better solution for the sport."
"I don’t believe anyone would today say that it felt right to call that a race."
Half points will be awarded for completing at least two laps or less than 75% of the race distance.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the race, beating Hamilton and Williams driver George Russell. Hamilton was cut to three points by Verstappen, and Russell finished second in qualifying Saturday.
Questions about the award of points
Fernando Alonso, two-time world champion, said that it was wrong to award points for racing that had not occurred.
He said that it was an early Christmas for some of them. "There were gifts today with some people because we didn’t race, but you still get points and the position. It's a bit surprising."
Sebastian Vettel from Aston Martin was fifth and was among many other drivers who agreed. "It clearly was not a race so we shouldn't have points", said Sebastian Vettel, who added that it felt "really strange" to receive points.
Alonso was just one of the many drivers who expressed their sympathies to the fans, who had been out in bad weather for hours and didn't see a grand prix.
He said, "It's sad for the people." "With this weather, they have been always supporting, and after this pandemic now to see them, is so nice, and when you can't give them anything it is terribly tragic. It's a very strange day today.
Visibility was an issue for drivers trying to follow the safety car around circuit.
Drivers unanimously agree to not race
All drivers agreed that the conditions were too dangerous for them to race.
Verstappen stated that it just didn't feel right. Although the fans won't be happy with today's events, they should consider safety at the final.
"You can't race like this if you don't know where you are going or where your car is ahead."
Hamilton said that he couldn't just go straight down the straight, because he wasn't there. Eau Rouge was quite tricky. The worst thing would have been to have a crash like yesterday with Lando [Norris]. We wouldn't be able see if there was a driver in middle of the road.
Russell stated, "We might as well have driven up the straights blind at points. That's how it would be at a race begin and it would have ended in chaos."
