Sunday’s Formula 1 Action Comes from Iconic Spa Francorchamps
Author:
Roy Brindley
With the World Driver’s Championship balancing on a knife’s edge and Spa Francorchamps – arguably the finest motor circuit on the calendar – hosting the Belgian Grand Prix, we can rightly expect to witness a thrilling motor race on Sunday.
Mercedes principal Toto Wolf knows what a huge challenge the Spa Francorchamps circuit represents for his star driver Lewis Hamilton. ?LAT/Mercedes
As Toto Wolff, Mercedes Team Principle, explained earlier in the week: “Spa is a track that we all know and love, one of the true F1 classics with its iconic corners, long-flat out sections and beautiful scenery. It’s a hugely challenging track for both the drivers and the cars, with the longest lap of the season, lots of elevation change and some very high g-forces.”
The Austrian team boss also pointed out the elements, and not just the track configuration, could add some uncertainty to proceedings by saying: “The weather is also notoriously unpredictable at Spa and always throws a curveball our way. With the Belgian Grand Prix always producing exciting and fun racing.”
Hamilton Has the Form, Max Has the Car
The World Driver’s Championship race has not been so fiercely contested in over a decade. In what has become a bitter race Lewis Hamilton currently tops the championship standings by eight points. He has taken four race victories and an identical number of second places this term.
Nevertheless, with rival Max Verstappen suffering a tire failure in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and enduring a race ending collision in the British Grand Prix, many believe Hamilton is fortunate to hold the advantage. Verstappen has the greater number of race victories with five.
Historically, unless he has been forced to retire from the race, Lewis Hamilton has finished on the podium in all 13 of his previous visits to Spa. The 36-year-old is exceptionally quick here.
Last season Hamilton was dominant at this high-speed venue. The seven-time world champion broke the track record in claiming pole position with a half-second advantage. He proceeded to lead every lap of the race and won with plenty in reserve.
But Max Verstappen’s Red Bull team have given him a much faster car this year. While the Dutch driver is yet to finish better than third at Spa, such is the pace of his 2021 Red Bull it would be a surprise if he were not stood on one of the top two podium steps by late on Sunday afternoon.
Lando Norris Is Mr Consistent
To the layman, Hamilton’s Mercedes and the Red Bull cars are vastly superior but, interestingly, it is McLaren’s Lando Norris and not Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas or Red Bull’s Sergio Perez who sits third in the World Driver’s Championship standings.
Considering that the 21-year-old Brit has never won a race and was forced into retirement at the most recent Hungarian Grand Prix, Norris has amassed an impressive points haul. Prior to his latest outing, he had completed a sequence of 15 consecutive top-10 finishes.
That said, the more viable tricast option on Sunday remains Valtteri Bottas. The Finn has garnered five third-placed finishes this season and was second and third on his last two visits to this venue.
Bottas future with Mercedes, a team he has been with since the start of 2017, was due to be clarified this weekend.
However, according to a report in the Daily Express, a decision on his future may be delayed for a few more weeks. It means the driver will be ultra-keen to underline his credentials by delivering a strong performance in Spa with a view to extending his contract for next season.
Betting Opportunities at the Back of the Grid
As usual BetVictor, William Hill, and other top online bookmakers will offer dozens of betting opportunities on the outcome of the Belgian Grand Prix. One alternative market to consider is the probability of both drivers from a single team being classified as race finishers.
It is noteworthy rookie Mick Schumacher has completed all of the eleven Formula 1 races he has contested to date. His Haas car may be slow when compared to its rivals, but it often appears to be far more reliable.
Mick Schumacher did crash heavily during practice at the Monaco GP earlier in the season, but the German driver has completed every F1 race he has contested to date.
Teammate Nikita Mazepin has been cruelly labelled ‘Mazespin’ but he has completed the full race distance nine times in 2021 and could not be blamed for a car driving into him in the pit lane last time in Hungary. It was an incident that forced him into retirement.
Both drivers have strong form at Spa in junior categories. Mazepin, one of three current Formula 1 drivers whose fathers happens to be billionaires, was victorious in the GP3 Series in 2018. Schumacher recorded his maiden European Formula 3 pole position and win at the track in 2018. In 2020 he also secured back-to-back Formula 2 podiums at the circuit.
So, if you are as happy to watch the cars circulating at the back of the field as opposed to those racing at the front, a wager on ‘both Haas cars to be classified as race finishers’ could prove both entertaining and profitable.
