McLaren gunning for F1 win – What to watch for at 2023 Belgian GP

But the team will hope to make a “significant step” in Belgium by introducing a new floor – what many consider a key ingredient to a team’s success under the new ground effect regulations.

“The floor will be instrumented so that we can see if it is sucking more, and how many points of downforce we get out of it,” team principal Otmar Szafnauer told Autosport. He added that the upgrades could see the A523 gain two tenths of a second per lap, which could put it solidly at the front of the midfield.

Mercedes will also be bringing small updates to Belgium – confirmed by Toto Wolff after a frustrating weekend in Hungary: “We will be bringing updates this weekend as part of our ongoing development programme. We hope this will be another small step forward in improving the W14.

“As we have seen at many races this year though, it is hard to predict where we will be relative to our competitors. Wherever the true pace of our car is here, we want to maximise the outcome in this final race before the summer shutdown.”

 

Wet weather chaos

Rainfall is expected throughout the weekend at Spa – turning a once fast and flowing circuit into a 4.3-mile slip-and-slide. In the past, torrential rain has caused chaos – most notoriously in 2021.

Prior to the final part of qualifying, the conditions had been already deemed dangerous by most drivers before Lando Norris span wildly on Eau Rouge and crashed heavily into a barrier. The following day, spectators were only able to watch a few laps behind the safety car before the race was officially abandoned.

Similar conditions could be expected this weekend, potentially resulting in a mixed grid for Saturday’s sprint race and Sunday’s grand prix.

 

McLaren’s hot streak

Arguably, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could be Verstappen’s closest competitors in Belgium – the poor qualifying performance of Sergio Perez has resulted recently in a struggle for podium places.

An upgrade package which was first implemented at the British Grand Prix has resulted in back-to-back podiums for the Woking-based marque and the new characteristics of the MCL60 should match nicely with the medium to high speed layout of Spa. This, combined with the red hot form of Norris and Piastri, could result in another McLaren podium or even surprise race victory.

Having already secured the record for the most consecutive race victories in Hungary – Verstappen claiming win number 12 of 12 so far this season – Red Bull could perhaps lower its guard, and have confirmed to have already begun development on its 2024 car.

“With the limitation with the wind tunnel time that we have, we have to make our choices and so of course we’re having to put a lot of focus into next year now to make sure that we don’t fall behind,” team principal Christian Horner told Sky Sports. “Because the others, you can see McLaren have made a big step, we’re expecting others to do likewise later in the year, particularly with the extra time they have available to them.”

This could potentially leave the RB19 vulnerable – starting in Belgium.

 

Sprint race weekend

The Belgian GP will host the third sprint race of the season – a format that has been met with a mixed reception in 2023 after a bleak first outing in Azerbaijan followed by an action-packed weekend in Austria.

The revised format – which aimed to remove the risk of racing wheel-to-wheel by introducing sole qualifying sessions for the sprint and grand prix – has proved ineffective in producing different race winners with the results of the sprint race often just a foreshadowing for what’s to come. Belgium is expected to be no different.

Although Spa-Francorchamps may be the longest circuit on the F1 calendar, the ability to follow closely to the car in front is a recurring issue that is only amplified on high-speed circuits, making overtaking much more difficult. Thankfully, the weather could be a great equaliser.

With only one practice session before heading straight into grand prix qualifying on Friday afternoon, drivers will be able to navigate potentially hazardous conditions with little preparation, potentially resulting in a mixed grid. Similar conditions on Saturday could result in just as much carnage and possibly the most entertaining race of the season so far – at least from a spectators point of view!

 

Eau Rouge safety fears

After the tragic death of 18-year-old Dilano van ‘t Hoff at Spa in early July, concerns over the safety of the Spa circuit have continued to grow – Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll making their feelings toward the infamous Eau Rouge corner sequence quite clear ahead of this weekend’s wet weather action:

“We’re losing lives in that corner, it has to change,” said Stroll. “For me it’s not even a discussion. They need to do something.”

“It does feel risky,” Gasly added at the start of the month. “It reminds me of situations I’ve been in in the younger categories in Spa in similar conditions, and being fully honest, there were times where I did feel in massive danger just with poor visibility. There were situations where it just feels pretty unsafe.”

Writing for Motor Sport, Chris Medland laid out the potential future of the circuit – opining that both sides need to be willing to make concessions. While driver safety does need to be improved, Spa-Francorchamps may need “long term security as a host circuit” before, in return for the investment, circuit organisers can “address its biggest issues”.

The circuit has already been announced on the F1 calendar for 2024, but if fears continue to grow, it could potentially signal its last stand as a grand prix venue.