Spa Track Preview

therookiereporters
12 minutes ago
2 min read

It’s time to hit the track in Belgium! Here’s your Spa Track Preview ahead of the race weekend.

Track Facts

Spa Francorchamps is the home to one of the most thrilling corners on the calendar - Eau Rouge - so are set to see the F1 cars fly past at high speeds around the 7.004km circuit in Belgium. With Sergio Perez setting the track record in 2024 (1:44.701), will anyone beat this across the 44 laps of racing action in this new era of Formula One? 1950 marked the first year we got to see cars compete in a Grand Prix around the 308.052km race distance and it has been a staple for the series ever since. With so much history laid down on this tarmac we are sure to be on the edge of our seats!

2025 Recap

Last year saw lots of on and off track action, alongside some unexpected weather which delayed the Grand Prix by 80 minutes and initially began with some slow laps behind the safety car. Norris, who started on pole, was immediately under attack by teammate Oscar Piastri, who pounced when the rolling start went green to take the lead at Les Combes. The Australian driver went on to win the race by 3 seconds after managing degradation on his medium tyres. Meanwhile, Lando chased him on fresher hard tyres, closing the winning margin by 6 seconds to take silver and make it a 1-2 finish for McLaren. Another driver who had a particularly impressive performance was Lewis Hamilton. After a torrid qualifying that put him P18 on the grid, the Brit managed to take points for Ferrari by finishing 7th overall. Off track we saw a change in leadership for Red Bull with Horner being suddenly dismissed from the team and it being Mekies first race as Team Principal for the Milton Keynes based team.

2026 Expectations

This year has seen Mercedes dominate while Ferrari is hot on their heels as we have in previous seasons. Leclerc’s Silverstone success satisfied the Tifosi alongside Hamilton’s third place finish. George Russell took his first home podium and clawed back some points on teammate Kimi Antonelli who suffered with an issue and received a penalty dropping him out of the points. We expect to see the two teams battle it out for the front row of the grid and the victory in Belgium but with many issues emerging for cars with Mercedes engines could this be the Achilles heel of the Austrian team’s success?

Weekend Schedule (Track Time)

Free Practice One: