F1 2025 Spa - Francorchamps Pre-Race Thread

Fair weather for all 3 days overall!

Fri 25
Showers
21°C/14C

Sat 26
Partly Cloudy
21°/13°

Sun 27
Partly Cloudy
21°/14°

 

Spa-Francorchamps: Eau Rouge, unpredictable weather…

Ferrari’s wins at Spa-Francorchamps since the turn of the millennium:

2001 – Michael Schumacher
Win #5 at Spa, equalling Ayrton’s record number of wins at the track
Dominant drive from P3 to the top step
Became F1’s all-time win record holder (52 wins at the time)
A certain Jos… Verstappen didn’t qualify for the race

2002 – Michael Schumacher
Controlled the race from pole
Rubens Barrichello made it a Ferrari 1–2
Victory #10 of the season — pure domination!

2007 – Kimi Räikkönen
Pole position
Rain? Lots of it!
Fastest lap of the race
His 3rd win at Spa in 4 years. The King of the Ardennes!

2009 – Kimi Räikkönen
The Iceman strikes again — with a bit of KERS magic.
Ferrari’s only win that season
Out-dragged Fisichella’s Force India at the restart
Celebrated with a... ice cream (??)

2019 – Charles Leclerc
The Monegasque’s very first F1 win — and a very emotional one.
Pole position: check
Race win: check
"This one is for Antoine…"

Fun fact: Spa is Ferrari’s most successful track after Monza, with 18 victories!

 

I'm hoping for a Ferrari showing. Forza

 

The Ardennes has a huge place in USMC history. I'm behind Charles in this . Semper Fi.

 

Be interesting to see how Mercedes run in the cooler temps. Slight chance of rain on Sunday morning. Possibly green up the track a bit. Should be fun as qualy and race should be dry.

 

I think the biggest challenge of the weekend is who I'm going to root for. I don't think I can be an RB fan anymore. I feel like I'd be shaking hands with Jos. I'm disappointed that Max bows that much to daddy. I do like McLaren... but I'm in a love/hate with Zak and don't like how they've been allowed to do the things they've done. Mercedes is out... although I like Kimi. Ferrari has just gotten too hard to root for. I mean decades trying to get your collective sh-t together and you still can't with one of the greatest drives of all time... love him or hate him... you can't deny his skill. I don't know. F1 is getting harder and harder to like. I'm hoping Spa (my favorite race of the year) brings some excitement.

 

His skills in a cheater merc and a cheater Ferrari in China.

 

I had a similar delimma when MS was let go from Ferrari--
after thinking about it was quite a long time, I decided to root for particular drivers instead of the teams.

The real problem with Ferrari at the moment is that it is run by <ahem> Italians.

 

If Ferrari has a good showing it will be more of a miracle than an upgrade. Ironically since Lewis left Mercedes the team hasn't seemed so toxic to me. I like what I see George doing...and Kimi. Ferrari and Mercedes seem to be the tempreture ying and yang. If Max is truly going to move to Mercedes, I can imagine that his RB will have problems this weekend (not in qualifying but in the race) to kick in the contract clause that allows him to leave early. If so, that gives McLaren a walk in the park and Ferrari vs Mercedes for the third spot on the podium.

 

i saw my very first GP there in 1968 (sorta)
Dad was hunting for any remnants of his old aid stations he'd set up in the area, particularly Malmedy.

we didn't know anything about the race and got stuck in the crowd on the then road to Malmedy.

Bruce Maclaren won. sitting on the hood of our Opel Cadet watching the race was fun.

a genuine "road race" !

 

My first F1 experience (aside from the Questor GP in 1971) was the 1978 Belgian GP…but at the awful (at least it was back then) Zolder. It was worth it just to see Mario utterly dominate the field in the brilliant Lotus 79. If ever a car and a driver were perfectly matched right out of the shop…..

 

Both Mario and Ronnie were very much in tune with the Lotus. One of my favorite pairings in F1 ever.

 

Pirelli have made a significant tweak to their tyre selection for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.
For example, at the British Grand Prix last time out, the C2, C3 and C4 tyres were available to teams at Silverstone.
This isn’t the case at Spa, with Pirelli bringing the C1, C3 and C4 tyre.

By avoiding the C2 tyre, Pirelli hopes it opens up more tyre strategies and spices up the show.

 

Oh, good. More tire drama…….World Tire Managers Championship.

 

We have to admit it is lol!

 

Autosport is reporting that if forecast rain actually happens it would cock up Pirelli’s little plan….I wasn’t interested enough to read past the headline.

 

Given the variation in weather at times in this region - no need to read further lol

 

Weather as predicted today

Sat 26
Partly Cloudy
24°/15°
15% - chance of rain

Sun 27
Showers
20°/13°
58% - shower through the day

 

Who gets the win after 3 parade laps?

 

Sir Lewis Hamilton.

 

Why not let the teams decide which compounds to use? Bring all seven (or however many exist).

 

That's awesome, I love a good rain race!!!

For the life of me though I don't understand why it's such a big deal today as compared to the past. I see to remember them going full tilt thru nightmarish deluges back in the day. Now they stop the race or parade them behind the safety car while they all cry? Makes no sense.