We are just over halfway through the 2024 Formula 1 season and things are getting closer as 7 different drivers have won races this year! Max Verstappen remains at the top of the championship but is slowly being hunted down by Lando Norris. Will the McLaren success continue into this weekend?
TRACK STATS
Location: Spa, Belgium
Time Zone: Central European Summer Time (GMT+2)
First Grand Prix: 1950
Number of Laps: 44
Number of Turns: 19
Number of DRS Zones: 2
Circuit Length: 7.004 km
Race Distance: 308.052 km
Top Speed: Approximately 230 km/h
Capacity: Approximately 265,000
Temperature: Lows of 11* and highs of 24* with a 60% chance of rain on Saturday
Track Elevation: The track reaches a high of 470m above sea level with the cars consistently changing elevation.
Lap Record: 1:46.286 – Bottas (2018)
Most Wins: 6 – Michael Schumacher
Interesting Fact:
Spa-francorchamps is the longest circuit on the F1 calendar but its only half its original length. The original circuit length was 14.9 km, and it took place through the forests and rolling hills of the beautiful Ardennes region. The track was redeveloped in 1979 and has remained much the same ever since at 7.004 km in length.
2023 Belgian Grand Prix:
In 2023 Belgium played host to a sprint weekend where Red Bull put in another dominant performance. Verstappen was in pole position for both the race and the sprint with Leclerc, Perez, and Hamilton behind him for the race and Piastri, Sainz, and Leclerc behind him in the sprint.
In a captivating wet encounter on Saturday, Piastri had the better strategy and took the lead of the race after he immediately pitted for intermediate tyres. The sprint began behind the Saftey Car on mandated wet tyres and the drivers followed the safter car for a few laps. When the safety car peeled away there were 11 laps remaining. With the front cars working on opposing strategies, Verstappen had a lot of work to do after he left the wet tyres on a lap too long.
In a chaotic pit lane, it was Pierre Gasly who made the best of the wet conditions getting himself into 3rdposition after the round of pitstops. Verstappen began to eat into Piastri’s 2-secodn lead but then a safety car was called neutralising the race. Fernando Alonso had spun into the gravel after trying to overtake a Haas at Pouhon. When racing started again it was Piastri vs Verstappen and Verstappen made quick work of overtaking down the Kemmel Straight.
Hamilton was the biggest loser after receiving a penalty for causing a collision with Perez and being demoted from 4th to 7th. While trying to overtake the Red Bull, Hamilton caused damage to the sidepod of Perez’s car and he became a sitting duck, tumbling down the order and eventually having to retire the car.
Gasly kept his composure and managed to bring his Alpine back in 3rd making him the big success story of the day. Bottas, Magnussen and Zhou made up the most ground as they all gained four spots from their starting positions.
When it came to Sunday’s race, Verstappen recovered from a five-place gearbox penalty to claim his eighth successive victory of the season. Team mate Sergio Perez added to the celebrations for Red Bull as he completed a one-two result.
Verstappen gradually picked off his rivals across a tense 44 lap encounter at Spa taking P1 from Leclerc who had started the race on pole. Verstappen then managed to keep his car on the track during a mid-race shower that threatened a move from slick tyres to intermediates.
Only 18 cars finished the race after a first lap clash between Piastri and Sainz forced both into retirement. Due to the size of the track a number of drivers were reporting rain at different turns but not enough to make the swop to intermediates. By not making the swop to intermediate tyres, several drivers were slipping around the track, but everyone remained in the race.
Verstappen crossed the line 22-seconds ahead of Perez in second in a dominant display and brought it home for another Red Bull 1-2 of the season. Leclerc crossed the finish line in 3rd to complete the podium and gain some much-needed points for Ferrari.
Looking ahead to 2024:
Going into the 2024 race, it seems that things are a lot closer this year! Red Bull have been struggling the last couple of races with McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari bringing the challenge to the Red Bull team. The Spa circuit is set to be more successful for Verstappen and Perez as the circuit is better suited to their car offering a lower downforce set up.
It has been a difficult season for Perez as he remains the only driver in the top 8 of the championship to not win a race this season. Christian Horner has praised Sergio Perez's drive in Hungary as one of his strongest races in several rounds, whilst also acknowledging that the Mexican’s lack of consistency across all three days of a race weekend “needs to change”.
Hungry was an eventful weekend for Perez, who arrived at the Hungaroring in need of a good result after some tough weekends. While he performed well during Friday’s practice sessions, he suffered a disastrous Q1 exit in Saturday’s qualifying after crashing into the barriers, putting him out of the running and leaving him in P16 on the grid. He managed to cross the line in 7th after a difficult race alongside George Russell.
Will the Red Bull dominance we have become use to return this weekend, watch the Belgian Grand Prix to find out!
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