Belgian GP: questions and answers

What's up? The Belgian Grand Prix on the high-speed Spa-Francorchamps circuit is the 13th of 21 World Championship races this year. After a four-week summer break, the second half of the World Cup begins in the Ardennes. 44 laps are driven over a total distance of 308,052 kilometers. With its long straights, fast corners and significant elevation changes, Spa places enormous demands on drivers, cars and pit crews. In addition, the Ardennes are always good for rain, although the weather forecast so far this year promises a dry race. Who is favorite? On paper Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari. Maranello has the fastest car in the field, which is ideal on a high-speed circuit like Spa. However, the Reds have repeatedly deprived themselves of the reward for their work in recent months. Mistakes at the command post, poorly timed pit stops and one or two slip-ups from top star Vettel prevented better results.

World Championship leader Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes are the competitors in the fight for victory. The Silvers are no longer quite as dominant as in previous years, but they took advantage of every Ferrari weakness and are ahead in both World Championship rankings. Once again, Ferrari and Mercedes are likely to fight for victory, Red Bull is usually not a contender for the top spot in Spa due to the weak Renault engine. Not good conditions for the Dutchman Max Verstappen, whose numerous fans will color entire stands in orange. Will Ferrari turn things around? Vettel has to win in any case, another victory for Hamilton on Sunday (15.10:31 p.m.) would be fatal for Ferrari. Even if Vettel finishes second behind Hamilton, the gap would grow to XNUMX points. The chances are good for the Reds, the nature of the track in Spa suits the Ferrari engine, which is extremely powerful this year. As always, the weather can also be an important factor. Rain recently played into Mercedes' hands, but with a dry track everything speaks in Ferrari's favor. If Maranello has done his homework during the summer break and Vettel avoids mistakes like the slip-up at Hockenheim, Ferrari could start the second half of the season with a great sense of success. What happened at Spa? The circuit in the Ardennes has a long motorsport tradition. In 1950, five-time Formula 1 world champion Juan Manuel Fangio won the first Belgian Grand Prix here; at that time the track was still just under 16 km long. The course is inextricably linked to the name Michael Schumacher: in 1991, the record world champion drove his first Formula 1 race in Spa in a Jordan, and in 1992 he won his first of 91 Grand Prix victories in a Benetton. Schumacher won at Spa a total of six times, including in 1995 from 16th place on the grid. In 1985, a tragedy happened in Spa: During the 1000 km race of the World Sports Car Championship, Stefan Bellof died after an accident in the infamous Eau Rouge curve.

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Belgian GP: questions and answers

Formula 1 is back from the summer break. Here you can find the most important questions and answers about the Belgian Grand Prix.

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