Feature

Chris Medland’s 2016 Belgian Grand Prix preview

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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

GALLERY: F1 drivers on summer break

How Eric Boullier keeps McLaren on its toes

Pascal Wehrlein interview: The rookie who wants to lead

F1i Classic - Mayhem, monsoon and the mother of all Belgian Grand Prix

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew 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.