Belgian Grand Prix 2017: Preview and Weekend Times

Opening hours

Friday August 25

Free 1: 10-00 (Sky Sport F1 HD)

Full broadcast at 15pm on Rai Sport/Rai Sport HD

Free 2: 14-00 (Sky Sport F1 HD)

Full broadcast at 18pm on Rai Sport/Rai Sport HD

Saturday 26 August

Free 3: 11:00-12:00 (Sky Sport F1 HD)

Full broadcast at 15pm on Rai Sport/Rai Sport HD

Qualifying: 14pm (Sky Sport F00 HD)

Full deferral at 18pm on Rai 15

Sunday August 27

Race: 14pm ̶ 00 laps ̶ 44km (Sky Sport F308,052 HD)

Full deferral at 21pm on Rai 10

Previous race

Let's refresh our memories while waiting for F1 to restart its engines in Spa, after a forced 4-week break that kept drivers, professionals and fans away from the tracks. In the Hungarian event, which took place at the end of July, Ferrari shined again, overshadowing the Silver Arrows, with Vettel and Kimi in red in the lead ahead of the two Mercedes of Bottas and Hamilton. A race where we saw more than one "knight" in action, with Raikkonen sacrificing the victory in favor of his title contender and teammate, while the British three-time world champion gave up important world points, to give the position back to Bottas under the checkered flag. All very nice, lots of fair play and see you after the summer, with Vettel remaining leader in the general classification ahead of Hamilton, with a 14 point advantage.

Predictions from F1GrandPrix.it

Lots of fair play, we were saying, at the Hungaroring. The global challenge is still very heated and those who thought that Ferrari would not be able to keep up with its rising rivals have had to think again. The Red Furies did not disappoint the fans' pre-holiday expectations, and they certainly don't intend to let go now that the championship finish line is getting ever closer. A new confirmation will be sought in Spa, while the Italian event that will follow immediately after will be another important round, especially on a moral level. A further boost to the team, which this year has nevertheless demonstrated, race after race, that it has the right spirit and resources to go after that title which has been absent for too long in Maranello. Spa is a track loved by all drivers, but there is one in particular who has this track in his heart and in his heart: it is Kimi Raikkonen, among his active colleagues the one with the greatest number of successes in the Ardennes , four, and the last driver to bring the Red team to triumph here, in 2009. It is therefore easy to hope for a new double after the Hungarian one, more difficult to see it materialise, given that the Mercedes with Spa, as well as with Monza, have in turn a perfect personal idyll. So will it be a defensive race for Ferrari, awaiting the Singapore GP? With eight races to go, a fourteen point lead is a significant gap from any perspective, in a season where the elastic band between the two title contenders continues to stretch and retreat. Ferrari knows it and those at Mercedes know it. Has the moment come for the long-awaited overtaking for those from Woking?

Circuit

Name: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

Place: Francorchamps, Stavelot/Spa, Ardennes, Belgium

Construction: The construction of this historic track dates back to the early 20s and the track was born from the union of the roads that connected the three towns of Stavelot, Francorchamps and Malmedy. Initially it measured 14,9 kilometers of pure adrenaline, and was immediately recognized as one of the most spectacular circuits in the world. The first car race was held in 1924. Over the years it has undergone various modifications, to slow down the cars that traveled along it at a truly high speed. It hosted the GP of formula 1 until 1970, the year in which the record lap was set by Chris Amon at an average of around 245km/h, when the drivers managed to exclude the track from the championship due to poor safety. The current track dates back to 1979, and measures approximately 7 km. Only in 1983 did the formula 1 it returned to Spa: despite the drastic change, the charm of the track had not changed, and curves like the Eau Rouge remained intact. Some changes were made to the current route over the years, the most important of which were at the “Bus Stop” chicane. Despite all this, the Spa-Francorchamps track remains a place of worship for all racing fans. In fact, Spa is the longest circuit on the calendar and it often happens that there is heavy rain in one section of the track while dry asphalt in another. In addition to being one of the drivers' favorite tracks, it is recognized by all industry experts as the most technical circuit in the world championship.

Distance per lap: 7,004km

Number of curves: 19, nine on the right, ten on the left

Direction of travel: clockwise

Technical data:

Characteristics of the Track: Spa is the longest circuit in the entire championship and is very demanding on the engine, with sections requiring wide open throttle for twenty-two and eighteen consecutive seconds. The gear changes per lap are around fifty-five, 2.420 for the entire race, and the hourly average is around 227 km/h.

Brakes:

Rubber:

DRS zone: between curve 19 and curve 1 (with detection point before curve 18) and between curve 4 and curve 5 (with detection point before curve 2).

Previous Editions

Last 3 Editions:

2014 edition: two in free practice on Friday Mercedes they immediately proved to be the fastest, first with Nico Rosberg and then with Lewis Hamilton. On Saturday morning, at the end of free practice 3, Valtteri Bottas is on top Williams – Mercedes recorded the best time ahead of Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull – Renault) and Nico Rosberg. Qualifying: rain fell on the track shortly before the start of Q1 only to then stop and leave the track damp. There were no surprises except for Bianchi's Marussia which entered Q2. A light rain returns but doesn't mix things up, with the two Mercedes still in front. At the end of Q3 Rosberg prevailed over Hamilton with a time of 2'05''591, in the second row we find Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari). Race: moments of panic on the formation lap for Alonso when his car remains stationary, but the Asturian manages to resolve the problem and restart without problems. Rosberg got off to a bad start and allowed himself to be passed by Hamilton and Vettel, only to then overtake his compatriot a lap later and attempt to overtake his teammate, which was successful but ended with a contact in which the Englishman had the worst. In fact, the Mercedes number 44 punctured the left rear at the end of the race Kemmel and he has to complete an entire lap with the bottom touching the asphalt: due to this damage Hamilton will be forced to retire on lap 38. Meanwhile Ricciardo makes his way behind and who started 5th passes first Alonso and then Vettel, taking advantage of his lack of attention . Between the eighth and twelfth laps the leaders go to make the first pit stop, the situation is as follows: Ricciardo in the lead ahead of Kimi Rӓikkӧnen (author of an excellent strategy), Vettel, Rosberg, Bottas, Magnussen and Alonso . On lap 19 Rosberg was ahead of everyone for the second tire change and this gave him an advantage, bringing him into second position still behind Ricciardo. On the thirty-ninth lap Bottas gets the better of his Ferrari compatriot and gains third position. After 5 laps the situation remains unchanged and Daniel Ricciardo goes on to win the second race in a row ahead of Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas.

2015 edition: Ferrari celebrates its 900th GP on the Belgian track. Friday: in the first free practice it was Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) who set the best time ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull. The story repeated itself in the afternoon when but with the Australian slightly further away from the leading two, while Rosberg checked his car after the explosion of a tire which caused the red flags. Finally in FP3 on Saturday morning Lewis Hamilton preceded his teammate while Ferrari with Sebastian Vettel took third place. Qualifying: at the end of Q1 Hamilton precedes Rosberg by 15 thousandths, both on the medium compound, while they exit the Clean of Nasr, the McLaren and the Marussia. In Q2, Kimi Räikkönen's Ferrari had an engine failure and the Finn had to stop, being excluded together with Hülkenberg, Kvyat, Ericsson and Verstappen. In Q3 the battle is between the two silver arrows and in the end Hamilton wins with a super lap (sixth consecutive pole), then Rosberg, Bottas, Grosjean, Pérez, Ricciardo, Massa, Maldonado, Vettel and Sainz Jr. Race : engine problem for Hülkenberg's Force India and then for Sainz Jr., the stewards decide to repeat the starting procedure. At the start Hamilton holds the lead of the race followed by Pérez, Ricciardo and Bottas while Rosberg remains behind. The Mexican from Force India also tries to take the lead but without success, while Bottas at the Bus Stop lets Rosberg and Vettel pass him. Ricciardo goes to the pits first, then on lap 9 Pérez, Grosjean, Massa go to change tires, while a lap later it's the turn of the two Finns, Kimi Räikkönen and Valtteri Bottas: the Williams mechanics, however, mistakenly fit a medium compound tire to the right rear along with a soft three and Bottas is penalized with a drive through. Meanwhile, after Pérez's stop, Rosberg is second, ahead of Vettel. On lap 17 Grosjean passes Ricciardo first and then Pérez, while on lap 20 VSC takes over due to Ricciardo's retirement. In the final laps Grosjean closes in on Vettel, who has only made one tire change, while Max Verstappen climbs the rankings, passing Bottas for ninth place: the Dutchman also tries to pass Räikkönen, but goes long, at the end of the straight Kemmel. With two laps to go the right rear end explodes on Vettel's car, forcing him to return to the pits, abandoning the podium area. Lewis Hamilton wins, ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg. Third is Romain Grosjean.

2016 edition: On Friday, Rosberg and Hamilton inaugurate their return to "school", closing FP1 in command, while Raikkonen precedes Perez's Force India and Vettel's Ferrari in third place. Making his debut at the weekend in Belgium is the young Esteban Ocon, replacing Rio Haryanto at the wheel of the Manor until the end of the season. "Debut" also for Halo and for new Pirelli tire prototypes, after the sudden burst problems experienced on this track in 2015. In the afternoon, however, the two Red Bulls set the pace, with Verstappen ahead of Ricciardo. Force India is third again, this time with Hulkenberg, ahead of Vettel. The two Mercedes concentrated on long runs and finished in sixth and thirteenth position. On Saturday the temperatures drop, and the "king of Spa" Kimi Raikkonen returns to make himself heard, recording the best time, ahead of Ricciardo and his teammate Vettel. Verstappen is forced into the pits due to a gearbox problem, while Hamilton is at -55 positions on the grid due to the replacement of the engine, turbo and MGU-H and MGU-K units. Qualifying: in Q1 McLaren of Alonso, despite working on the engine during the lunch break, parks on the side of the track and leaves the field early. Hamilton, forced to start from the back, was already in the paddock giving interviews two minutes from the end, thus retaining the possibility of choosing tires for the race. Together with the two, Nasr, Ocon, Kvyat and Ericsson were also immediately excluded. Wehrlein, who had achieved an excellent eighth time in Q1, was immediately forced to return at the restart: a tire was not properly secured. Rosberg takes the lead in Q2, while Grosjean, Magnussen, Gutierrez, Palmer, Sainz and Wehrlein abandon the field. Rosberg, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Perez, Raikkonen, Massa, Bottas, Vettel, Ricciardo and Button are fighting for pole. Rosberg gets the start from the pole already in the first attempt, in 1:46.744, while behind him Verstappen, Raikkonen, Vettel, Ricciardo, Perez, Hulkenberg, Bottas, Button and Massa share the front rows. Race: when the traffic lights go out Rosberg takes off alone, while the two Ferraris immediately overtake Verstappen; the Dutchman tries to react by throwing himself inside and unleashing a carom with the two Reds. On lap 1: Rosberg, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Ricciardo, Massa, Grosjean, Bottas, Palmer, Sainz, Perez. But on the following lap the Red Bull and the two Ferraris were forced to return to the pits. On lap 4 Vettel is 15th and Raikkonen 18th. On lap 6 Magnussen is involved in a frightening accident at Eau Rouge. Safety cars on the track and, shortly afterwards, the red flag waves: the drivers temporarily park their cars in the pit lane, waiting for the barriers torn down by the Renault are put back in place. Ericsson, Sainz, Button and Wehrlein have also already retired. After about ten minutes the race resumes behind SC. On lap 11: Rosberg, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Hamilton, Massa, Kvyat, Perez, Palmer and Grosjean. Vettel 11th, Kimi 15th. At mid-race Rosberg is leader, 5 seconds ahead of Ricciardo. Raikkonen climbs into the top ten, while Hamilton changes tires and resumes his climb. On lap 26 Rosberg is still in the lead, followed by Ricciardo, Hamilton, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Massa, Perez, Vettel, Verstappen and Bottas. Last stop for Rosberg, who with just over 10 laps to go is leading ahead of Ricciardo, Hamilton, Hulkenberg, Perez, Alonso, Massa, Vettel, Bottas, and Raikkonen. Hamilton makes the last pit lap, returning fourth behind Hulkenberg. On the next lap he manages to regain third place. Rosberg goes on to win the Belgian GP ahead of Ricciardo, Hamilton, Hulkenberg, Perez, Vettel, Alonso, Bottas, Raikkonen and Massa.

Best edition for Authors:

1970 edition: the Corsican Grand Prix begins in a difficult atmosphere for everyone, as only three days earlier Bruce McLaren had died while testing a Can-Am car near Goodwood. In a season where British teams will conquer podiums far and wide, the only team from across the Channel to be in real difficulty was BRM. The main cause was due to the twelve-cylinder engine, powerful but too brutal for the chassis on which it was mounted, making life very difficult for the two drivers: Jackie Oliver and the Mexican Pedro Rodríguez. However, in qualifying the latter managed to bring the disastrous P153 project to the third row with the sixth time. He understands that if he wants to get the better of his rivals he will have to take advantage of the long straights of the Belgian track and hope that the gear selector doesn't abandon him: one of the major concerns along with the engine which could arise at any moment during the 28 laps. Sunday: at the start Rodríguez manages to beat Brabham and Ickx at the start, then in succession Rindt, Stewart and finally Amon, taking the lead of the race to everyone's great surprise. He manages to keep the head of the group but inside he is afraid that during the 14 kilometers of the long route - this is its original conformation - anything could have happened. But that doesn't happen and he manages to deliver the power of the big BMR engine smoothly. But at the start of the last lap he sees in his mirrors Chris Amon's March – Ford, which on the last lap had lapped so fast as to beat the pole set by Stewart on Saturday. Thus begins a long head-to-head battle, where Amon catches up in the mixed sections, the Mexican in the straights. The New Zealander attempts a last desperate attack on The Source but Rodríguez once again holds his own, crossing the finish line in first place with an average hourly speed of 241 km/h, the highest of all time. It is his second success in Formula One after Kyalami 1967, aboard the Cooper T81.

Best Readers Edition:

2009 edition: in FP1 on Friday morning the fastest is Jarno Trulli su Toyota followed by Jenson Button on Brawn and Fernando Alonso on Renault. In FP2 the best time was set by Lewis Hamilton on McLaren – Mercedes; finally in FP3 on Saturday morning the best time went to Nick Heidfeld on BMW – Sauber. Qualifying: at the end of Q3 there was a front row occupied only by Italian drivers (this hadn't happened since Australia 2005) with Giancarlo Fisichella on Force India – Mercedes grabbing pole ahead of Jarno Trulli; Kimi Räikkӧnen's first Ferrari was sixth. Race: at the start the Brawn gets stuck on the line Rubens Barrichello, who was fourth, while Räikkӧnen thanks to KERS manages to get behind Fisichella; Trulli was unlucky and had to return to the pits to replace the front wing after being hit by Heidfeld. During the first lap Button, the world champion Hamilton, Alguersuari and Grosjean were forced to retire, ending up together in a carambola. After a few laps under the safety car, the race can restart, and once again the Ferrari Finn uses the extra energy to take the lead and take the lead. Thus begins a head-to-head with the Italian which also continues during the two pit stops, but both the mechanics and the driver from the Maranello team are faster and always maintain the lead of the race. After 44 laps Räikkӧnen manages to win with less than a second ahead of "Fisico", Vettel comes third on Red Bull, taking advantage of an excellent third stint to get the better of Kubica and Heidfeld in the final laps, while both Alonso and Trulli were forced to retire.

RECORD

Test lap: 1:45.778 – M Webber – Red Bull Renault – 2010
Race lap: 1:47.263 – S Vettel – Red Bull Renault - 2009
Distance: 1h20:39.066 – K Raikkonen – Ferrari – 2007
Driver victories: 6 – M Schumacher
Team victories: 16 – Ferrari
Driver pole: 4 – J Fangio, A Prost, A Senna
Pole team: 13 – Ferrari
Best driver laps: 6 – At Prost
Best team laps: 17 – Ferrari
Driver podiums: 9 – M Schumacher
Team podiums: 45 – Ferrari

Hall of Fame

1. 1925* A Ascari – Alfa Romeo
2. 1930* L Chiron – Bugatti
3. 1931* W Grover Williams and C Conelli – Bugatti
4. 1933* T Nuvolari – Maserati
5. 1934* R Dreyfus – Bugatti
6. 1935* R Caracciola – Mercedes
7. 1937* R Hasse – Auto Union
8. 1939* H Lang – Mercedes
9. 1946* And Chaboud – Delage
10. 1947* J Wimille – Alfa Romeo
11. 1949* L Rosier – Talbot
12. 1950 J Fangio – Alfa Romeo
13. 1951 N Farina – Alfa Romeo
14. 1952 At Ascari – Ferrari
15. 1953 At Ascari – Ferrari
16. 1954 J Fangio – Maserati
17. 1955 J Fangio – Mercedes
18. 1956 P Collins – Ferrari
19. 1958 T Brooks – Vanwall
20. 1960 J Brabham – Cooper Climax
21. 1961 P Hill – Ferrari
22. 1962 J Clark – Lotus Climax
23. 1963 J Clark – Lotus Climax
24. 1964 J Clark – Lotus Climax
25. 1965 J Clark – Lotus Climax
26. 1966 J Surtees – Ferrari
27. 1967 D Gurney – Eagle Weslake
28. 1968 B McLaren – McLaren Ford
29. 1970 P Rodriguez – BRM
30. 1972 E Fittipaldi – Lotus Ford
31. 1973 J Stewart – Tyrrell Ford
32. 1974 E Fittipaldi – McLaren Ford
33. 1975 N Lauda – Ferrari
34. 1976 N Lauda – Ferrari
35. 1977 G Nilsson – Lotus Ford
36. 1978 M Andretti – Lotus Ford
37. 1979 J Scheckter – Ferrari
38. 1980 D Pironi – Ligier Ford
39. 1981 C Reutemann – Williams Ford
40. 1982 J Watson – McLaren Ford
41. 1983 At Prost – Renault
42. 1984 M Alboreto – Ferrari
43. 1985 At Senna – Lotus Renault
44. 1986 N Mansell – Williams Honda
45. 1987 A Prost – McLaren TAG
46. 1988 At Senna – McLaren Honda
47. 1989 At Senna – McLaren Honda
48. 1990 At Senna – McLaren Honda
49. 1991 At Senna – McLaren Honda
50. 1992 M Schumacher – Benetton Ford
51. 1993 D Hill – Williams Renault
52. 1994 D Hill – Williams Renault
53. 1995 M Schumacher – Benetton Renault
54. 1996 M Schumacher – Ferrari
55. 1997 M Schumacher – Ferrari
56. 1998 D Hill – Jordan Mugen Honda
57. 1999 D Coulthard – McLaren Mercedes
58. 2000 M Häkkinen – McLaren Mercedes
59. 2001 M Schumacher – Ferrari
60. 2002 M Schumacher – Ferrari
61. 2004 K Raikkonen – McLaren Mercedes
62. 2005 K Raikkonen – McLaren Mercedes
63. 2007 K Raikkonen – Ferrari
64. 2008 F Massa – Ferrari
65. 2009 K Raikkonen – Ferrari
66. 2010 L Hamilton – McLaren Mercedes
67. 2011 S Vettel – Red Bull Renault
68. 2012 J Button – McLaren Mercedes
69. 2013 S Vettel – Red Bull Renault
70. 2014 D Ricciardo – Red Bull Renault
71. 2015 L Hamilton – Mercedes
72. 2016 N Rosberg – Mercedes

Sources: Brembo, Pirelli