Sensations of Spa: F2 Weekend Preview
- therookiereporters
- Jul 26
- 4 min read
The European leg of the F2 season is in full swing as we head to another historic circuit which is always eagerly anticipated within the season and acts as the penultimate event before the summer break.
This circuit is the definition of ‘thriller’. Situated within the country of Belgium and in the centre of the Ardennes Forest, Circuit Spa Francorchamps is a driver's paradise in terms of pure enjoyment and adrenaline as they exercise the limits of adhesion. The track is 4.352 miles in length which makes it the longest in the calendar and is a circuit where you can make all the difference through the fast, sweeping corners like Pouhon or Blanchimont or the tight hairpins and chicanes like La Source and the Bus Stop Chicane.
Favourites
Verschoor - The driver who has been in the best form the past 3 rounds will be looking to make an impact this weekend and build upon his WDC lead. With experience being a key factor at Spa, especially with the possibility of variable weather conditions, it is expected that Verschoor should be able to excel this race and produce another great result.
Crawford - Crawford is our most recent F2 winner and despite some good fortune being involved, Jak did well on capitalising on this luck to take the win in the feature race at Silverstone. The dynamic duo in DAMS and Crawford have produced consistent performances across the season so far to rack up the points and climb up the order in the title fight. Similar to Verschoor, this experience could be of advantage to Crawford again at Spa this weekend, if the essentials are executed correctly.
Fornaroli - After finally breaking a long win drought at Silverstone by claiming victory in the sprint race, Fornaroli’s focus will likely be on replicating this result at the weekend and pushing to do even better in the higher scoring feature race. His pace should be strong again this weekend as he is desperate to build some momentum as we approach the summer break.
Ones to watch
Martins - The ART team have historically done well in Spa, with the last win coming in 2024 when Zak O’Sullivan took the win in the sprint race. Martins is also a solid driver around this track and if he can maintain his usual qualifying form and mix it with a strong race like his 2023 F2 Spa performances, he will for sure be a contender this race. Martins’ luck this season has been dreadful, but will this finally change this weekend?
Dunne - Regardless of his recent rough patch of form compared to the other title contenders, Dunne cannot be ruled out as a threat to win this GP due to his rapid raw pace. If he can exert great control over the car and use the Spa circuit to be aggressive in the right moments, he will be hard to beat.
Montoya - Being the 3rd most in form driver heading into this event, he definitely has a chance to bring a few more surprises this weekend. The Colombian's resurgence in F2 as of late has come unexpectedly, but Montoya appears to be thriving on this momentum as he has finished the last 2 rounds of races within the top 5 - the only driver to achieve this. Can he go one step further and claim glory this weekend?
Track Analysis
Spa-Francorchamps is one of the most brutal circuits on the calendar for the cars, whether it’s riding kerbs or navigating bumps in the track surface, the cars always suffer around here as the drivers do their best to maximise their package. The setup difference is Spa will be a huge factor this weekend, not only due to the vast difference in the sector characteristics of S1, S3 and S2 but also the element of weather. With changeable weather conditions expected, it makes it necessary to consider where teams should prioritise that with the high downforce package or do you risk it staying dry and go for the lower downforce package to aid overtaking. This will be a key question as we progress through the weekend.
Tyre wear will also be a key factor if the weather stays dry this weekend as the constant loads the tyres get put through at every lap at Spa means the wear rate is quite high.
Speaking of tyres, the drivers will have available to them the red walled soft tyre and the yellow medium tyre for this weekend. With the tyres not being as different as Silverstone with only one softness difference, the pace difference between them shouldn't be as drastic. With the long lap at Spa though, we could still easily see fluctuations of this. Also, we may get the chance to see the wet weather tyres in action this weekend, with the forecast showing wet weather for Sunday. But with this constantly evolving, who knows what will happen!
F2 Schedule
If you want to tune into the action this weekend, here are the important times to be aware of:
FP Session - 9:05 AM Friday BST
Qualifying - 1.55 PM Friday BST
Sprint Race - 11:45 AM Saturday BST
Feature Race - 9:00 AM Sunday BST
This weekend of F2 racing is bound to be a spectacle once more. Racing fiercely weaving through the Ardennes Forest where the drivers test their courage to push to the absolute edge of grip on one of the hardest tracks to master, but once tamed this beast of a circuit will reward you in more ways than one. Which driver will profit this weekend and taste that champagne up on the podium?
Article written by Taegan Hignett
