Track: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Number of Laps: 44
Circuit Length: 4.4 miles (7km)
Race Length: 191.4 miles (308.1km)
Start Time: 13:00 BST
Fastest Lap: 1:44.503 (Jarno Trulli, Panasonic Toyota Racing, 2009)
Fastest Race Lap: 1:47.263 (Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing Renault, 2009)
2014 Pole Position: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG Petronas, 2:05.591, Intermediate Tyres
2014 Race Winner: Daniel Ricciardo, Infiniti Red Bull Racing Renault
Tyre Compounds: Soft, Medium, Intermediate, Wet
First F1 Grand Prix: 1950
Most Wins: Michael Schumacher (6), Scuderia Ferrari (16)
Formula One returns from its summer break this weekend, with the legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps hosting the penultimate race in Europe this season, the Belgian Grand Prix.
It was at this race last year that the rivalry between Mercedes team mates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg hit breaking point, with the pair coming together and sustaining damage on the second lap at the Le Combes chicane. Hamilton would retire, whilst Nico Rosberg finished second – perhaps ominously behind that year’s Hungarian Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo.
Sebastian Vettel took victory four weeks ago in Budapest, and will be looking to take back to back wins for the first time in 18 months. It’ll be interesting to see whether Ferrari have out-developed Mercedes over the break to help him do that. Keep an eye, too, on Kimi Raikkonen. The 2007 world champion had a dismal, bad luck ridden start to the year and will be looking to bounce back this time around, and will no doubt be keen to do so at the circuit where he has already won four times before.
Excluding their six wins around Spa as an engine supplier to McLaren, neither Mercedes nor their drivers have had the best of luck around this circuit. Juan Manuel Fangio took the team’s only Formula One win at Spa in 1955, with two previous wins by Hermann Lang and Rudolf Caracciola the only other occasions a Silver Arrows driver has stood on the top step. Indeed, World Championship leader Lewis Hamilton has only won this race once (in 2010), after being stripped of the win in 2008.
The beneficiary of that decision was Felipe Massa. Now a Williams driver, he will want to utilise the high speed first and final sectors to the car’s advantages. He is yet to win a Grand Prix since 2008, and should the Mercs slip up for a second year in a row he will undoubtedly be ready to pounce, as will his team mate Valtteri Bottas – who is yet to win a race at all.
An interesting thing to be on the lookout for is the start. A lot of the computer systems & engineer advice that drivers received on clutch settings has been banned from this race onwards, returning full control to the drivers with simply the two paddles and the throttle. To make things just a little harder with the traditional system, Spa’s start finish straight is on a slight angle, meaning the drivers have to hold the brake pedal too.
