‘I am at home among the trees.’
Whether you’re from Woking, Maranello, Brackley or Hinwil, the 4.3-mile ribbon of asphalt that winds its way through the Tolkienesque Ardennes forest is, for all intents and purposes, home turf. The fabled Spa-Francorchamps is the definition of a drivers’ circuit – a truly unforgiving test of man and machine, with the power to stir the soul of any racer. No wonder then that the Belgian Grand Prix holds a special place in all our hearts, especially for those of us at McLaren, as it was the scene of the team’s first grand prix win back in 1968 – with none other than our eponymous founder, Bruce McLaren, behind the wheel.
As we make the hallowed pilgrimage to Belgium once more, get the thoughts of Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris and McLaren F1 Team Principal Andreas Seidl, and discover what to watch out for during Formula 1’s latest foray in the forest.
How to follow
| Round | 7 |
| Where | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps |
| When | 28 – 30 August |
| Start time | 15:10 local, 14:10 BST, 09:10 EDT |
| Follow | TEAMStream and the McLaren App for exclusive commentary and insight |
What they say
“After the second triple-header of this season we’ve had a couple of days to rest and get ready for the next one. Up next is Spa, one of my favourite tracks on the calendar. Knowing how the car is behaving this season, I hope we can put together a strong race weekend. In general, we’ve performed well over the opening stint of races and I hope Barcelona was a turning point in my season. We need to carry forward all the positive energy built in Spain because the Constructors’ Championship is extremely tight and leaving points behind is not an option if we want to stay in the fight.
“As we go to Spa again this year, we’ll take the time to remember Anthoine, who sadly passed away there last year. He was an exciting young talent that was taken from us too soon, and we’ll always remember him wherever we race, but even more in Spa.”
“The Belgian Grand Prix weekend is one I always look forward to. Spa is one of my favourite circuits in Formula 1 and is such great fun to drive. It’s a fast and flowing track with plenty of opportunities to overtake, which is a bit of a contrast to Spain. I had a good race there last year until an issue on the final lap, so I’m looking forward to getting back out on track again and going for it.
“This race also feels like a second home grand prix for me, because of my dual British/Belgian citizenship and the family I have there. I’ll be running a special helmet this weekend as well, so keep an eye out for the reveal of that ahead of Friday.
“Finally, this weekend we take the time to remember Anthoine Hubert, who tragically lost his life at Spa last year. The whole racing community was shocked and saddened by what happened, and he’ll be in our thoughts as we go racing again this year.”
“Following a weekend away from the racetrack, and a chance for the team and drivers to rest and recharge, we’re ready to get going again with another European triple-header. First stop on the road is Belgium, an exciting and historic track. We’ve performed well over the opening stint of the season, but we know that we face a challenge in the Constructors’ Championship, with third to sixth place separated only by a small amount of points. Reliability, race operations and extracting maximum performance from the car are all critical to staying in this fight.
“Finally, I would like to echo the comments of both drivers as we remember the loss of Anthoine Hubert at the Belgian Grand Prix last year. Our thoughts remain with his family and friends and we wish Juan Manuel Correa well in his continued recovery.”
What the stats say
Despite all the magic of Spa, it’s not been the happiest of hunting grounds for Carlos, with a handful of retirements and a solitary point to show for his efforts in F1. Nevertheless, he enjoyed success here in his junior single-seater days, most notably with a brace of Formula Renault 3.5 victories in 2014, and he’ll be hoping for a much-deserved change of fortune this year.
Like Carlos, Lando has enjoyed junior-formula success here, with an F2 podium and F3 win to his name. He looked set to build on that immediately in F1 with a storming fifth place after a lighting start, only for a loss of engine power to scupper his chances on the final lap.
Following Bruce’s initial win in 1968, McLaren has won this revered race a further 13 times, most recently with Jenson Button in 2012. And from 1987 to 1991 we won the race for five consecutive years, with Alain Prost in ’87 and Ayrton Senna on the following four occasions – a remarkable winning run that no other team has achieved here.
What to watch out for
Spa’s abundance of straights means we’re going from one extreme to another when it comes to overtaking. According to McLaren F1 Head of Strategy and Sporting Randy Singh: “Spa is very different to Spain. It’s one of the easiest circuits of the year to overtake on, which means you’re not as worried about getting caught up in traffic.
“And the DRS impact is quite big, so you don’t necessarily lose much time – if any – overtaking someone who’s slower. It’s a very different race weekend altogether compared to the one we had in Spain: your focus is much more on race performance than on qualifying performance.”
Despite drivers only needing to complete 44 tours of the circuit to see the chequered flag, the 4.3-mile track is the longest on the calendar and this can prove to be a headache from a strategy point of view as teams attempt to make the call to box at exactly the right time. “Because it’s such a long lap, you have fewer chances to pit,” explains Randy and this becomes particularly challenging when Spa’s notoriously changeable weather conditions play a hand in proceedings: “The weather can make this race really interesting, and you could be on the track for around two minutes before your next chance to pit, compared to somewhere like Austria where you have the chance to pit every 70 seconds.”