What time does the Belgian Grand Prix start? What channel is the Belgian Grand Prix on? The answers to all of that and more in F1i’s race preview
That’s it, summer’s over. OK, not quite, but for F1 it’s back to work as racing resumes this weekend with the Belgian Grand Prix. A punishing and action-packed schedule awaits, with nine races in 13 weeks ahead of us to decide - among other things - the 2016 drivers’ champion. Lewis Hamilton heads to Spa-Francorchamps with a 19-point lead over team-mate Nico Rosberg but is expected to take a power uint penalty at one of the next two races which will give Rosberg a golden opportunity to erase some of that deficit. The pair have history at Spa from 2014, and with the amount of collisions between the two so far this season, who would bet against another in what is often a dramatic race at the iconic circuit?
FORM GUIDE
It may seem quite a long time ago, but Hamilton won the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim to continue his excellent form which has seen him win six of the past seven races. For Rosberg, a poor start and the resurgence of Red Bull meant he was limited to fourth place. While Red Bull is less likely to be a threat at Spa, Daniel Ricciardo did win in Belgium in 2014, while Max Verstappen will be roared on by a huge number of Dutch fans. Ferrari will hope for a more competitive weekend after slipping behind Red Bull in the pecking order, while Williams should be strong as it fight with Force India for the accolade of best of the rest. Manor may also be a threat to Renault thanks to Spa’s long straights, with Esteban Ocon making his grand prix debut for the team having replaced Rio Haryanto.
2015 RESULT
Pole position: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 1:47.197
Top three: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Romain Grosjean (Lotus)
Fastest lap: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), 1:52.416
SESSION TIMES (All times local)
FP1: 10:00 - 11:30
FP2: 14:00 - 15:30
FP3: 11:00 - 12:00
Qualifying: 14:00 - 15:00
Race: 1400
TYRE CHOICES
WEATHER FORECAST
You’re not going to believe this, but there is currently expected to be no rain during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend. Seriously, the forecast is glorious. At Spa. As it stands, the teams will be met with unexpectedly high temperatures, with 30C forecast for all three days of the race weekend, and the current highest chance of rain standing at 10% on both Friday and Saturday. Sunday could be a degree or two cooler, and is currently saying there will be a 0% chance of wet weather. We don’t believe it either.
UK TELEVISION TIMINGS (All times UK)
Sky Sports F1 - Live coverage
FP1 - 0845
FP2 - 1245
FP3 - 0945
Qualifying - 1200
Race - 1130
Channel 4 - Live coverage
FP1 - 0855
FP2 - 1255
FP3 - 0955
Qualifying - 1155
Race - 1200
PODIUM PREDICTION
1st - Lewis Hamilton
2nd - Nico Rosberg
3rd - Max Verstappen
2015 BEST SHOT
Andrew LewinAndrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.