Formula 1 is about to play the final part of the last European back-to-back before the summer break. And, as a grand finale before the break, there could not have been a better track: this weekend the world circus will stop in the splendid Spa-Francorchamps.
The track that rises in the Ardennes is one of the most anticipated of the season due to its nature, its length, its complexity and, often, also due to the weather that is not at all a given.
It is not a given, just like Formula 1 is not at this moment. Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes are competing for the title of best team of the summer, but above all they all have the same goal: to excel and try to win races and, why not, even the world titles.
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Red Bull arrives in Spa with a good advantage in both World Championships, but the recent performances shown especially by McLaren suggest a fiery second half of the season. If the MCl38s were to confirm those seen in the last races, Verstappen could start to seriously worry…
Mercedes, for its part, has shown clear steps forward. Perhaps insufficient to be able to aspire to win every weekend, but still a ray of sunshine in view of next season when the Brackley team will no longer have Lewis Hamilton with them after many years.
In all this, Ferrari will search for itself, once again. If the summer was like a vitamin for McLaren and Mercedes, for the Reds it was more of a sort of kryptonite. A sportingly disastrous period, at least in Formula 1, which made them lose the right direction in development and created such problems that they went from being the second force to the fourth. An immediate redemption is needed.
Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Belgian GP: TV schedules (Italian time)
Sky Schedule (Live)
Friday 26th July
Free Practice 1: 1.30pm – 2.30pm
Free Practice 2: 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Saturday 27th July
Free Practice 3: 12:30 – 13:30
Qualifying: 16:00 – 17:00
Sunday 28th July
Race: 3:00 pm
TV8 Schedule (Delayed)
Saturday 27th July
Qualifying: 6:30 p.m.
Sunday 28th July
Race: 6:00 pm
Motorsport.com Schedule (LIVE)
Friday 26th July
Free Practice 1: 13:00 – 14:30
Free Practice 2: 4:30pm – 6:00pm
Saturday 27th July
Free Practice 3: 12:00 – 13:30
Qualifying: 3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Sunday 28th July
Race: 2.30pm
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Belgian GP: All the numbers from Spa-Francorchamps
First Grand Prix contested: 1950
Runway length: 7,004 meters
Number of laps expected: 44
Total race distance: 308.052 kilometers
DRS Zones: 2 (Sector 1 and 3)
Record lap: 1’46″286 (Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 2018)
Nico Hulkenberg, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Images
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