If you know anything about Formula 1 or motorsport in general, you’ve probably heard of Spa-Francorchamps. The venue had its inaugural race in 1922 and in 1925 it hosted its first Grand Prix event. Over the years the layout has been modified several times. In its early days it was 9.31 miles (14.9 km) long, today it is only 4.352 miles (7.004 km). This makes it the longest route on the F1 calendar!
With this in mind, the Belgian Grand Prix has the lowest number of laps: 44 in total! It is interesting that this is also one of the most demanding routes for the drivers. You can experience up to 5.3g of side forces on Turn 10, also known as Pouhon. If that’s not scary enough, I suggest you watch a comparison video between a Formula 1 car and a GT car going through Turns 2 and 3, better known as Eau Rouge and Raidillon.
Anyone who has ever tried to drive a Formula 1 car in a video game on this racetrack knows that you can go full throttle from Turn 1 to Turn 5 for 23 seconds and 1,875 meters on the accelerator. I remember seeing an older Formula 1 interview in which the driver mentioned how scary it is to have to give it your all for a long time.
Going corner after corner at full throttle can be mentally and physically challenging, and F1 drivers have to endure around 82% of the lap distance at Spa. Monza is the only route on the calendar with a higher percentage in this regard. If you’ve seen the last race of the season, you may remember the disaster that happened shortly after the start process.
It could get even more complicated at Spa, as the distance from pole to the first braking zone is the third shortest on the F1 calendar at just 163 meters. Before this race, Lewis Hamilton has to be under a lot of pressure to say the least. He is currently only 8 points ahead of Max Verstappen. Lewis has won the Belgian Grand Prix 4 times and was on the podium 9 times.
Official Mercedes F1 statistics show that Lewis has driven 9,138km with his car so far this season. That is a lot more than Valtteri Bottas, who has only 8,488 km under his belt. Valtteri has never won a Belgian Grand Prix but it is hard to imagine that he will win this time. The competition is extremely tough. While it would be amazing to see how Norris, Bottas and Perez tackle Verstappen and Hamilton, the gap just seems too big at the moment.
Both Ferrari drivers come from behind, they are 6th and 7th in the overall standings. As always, the drivers will receive three training sessions, two of which will be held tomorrow. Qualifying takes place on Saturday and the main event takes place on Sunday afternoon from 3:00 p.m. CEST. We will be in touch with more information as the GP progresses.
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