#Spa Day 25

2025 Belgian Grand Prix Review Race Results Strategies and Weather Impact

Nestled in the Ardennes Forest is a race track. A track built as the fastest road circuit in Europe, a high-speed run from Spa-Francorchamps to the villages of Malmedy and Stavelot and back. The several minute long high-speed runs demanding the utmost focus from drivers. Rewarding the bold that could maintain their nerve and punishing those who couldn’t, as a slight difference in the exit of just one bend can cost several seconds down the road. A race track infamous for its danger, amassing over 50 fatalities in its storied history. In 1925 the track would host its first official Grand Prix Race, and 1950 Formula One would add the circuit to its inaugural championship season. Last weekend we saw the latest entry in the history books of THE CIRCUIT DE SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS.

The Belgian Grand Prix at Spa was as I can best describe, a constant tease. First, the weather tempting us with the prospect of wet racing only for that to be taken away. Then, on track there were so many close battles throughout the field that would ultimately lead to nothing. We spent over 3 hours considering the edge of our seats but certainly not being on them.

The racing began with “kinda damp” conditions. At the front Oscar makes the move to take the lead and hold it for the rest of the race. An early misjudgment from Lando to drain his battery WAY too early on the restart would put him in a position where he couldn’t defend after turn 1 and give Oscar the advantage up Eau Rouge and set up the overtake on the Kemmel straight. This combined with on track mistakes in later pursuit laps as well as, what turned out to be, meaningless tire strategy would keep Lando out of contention for following up his win at Silverstone with another.  At the back of the field Lewis put on a show, moving up from an 18^th place pit lane start to 7^th.  This combined with Charles Leclerc’s defense against reigning champ Max Verstappen for the final podium position extends Ferrari’s lead for second in the seemingly already decided constructor’s title. Once the track dried out after 12 laps or so the remaining battles down the grid were largely nullified.

Pirelli attempted to give us a chance at forcing teams into adverse strategy calls by, for the first time, bringing non-sequential tire compounds. Teams were given a C1 Hard, C3 Medium, and C4 Soft. The aim being to create significantly greater tire differentials, giving some opportunities for overtaking. However, between the rain bringing out the wet compounds and the efficiency today’s cars have of extending the life of the tires, this new change proved worthless. Once the crossover point to dry tires was hit, the race leader Oscar Piastri would pit to a fresh set of Mediums lending credence to it still being a two-stop race. Norris pits to a Hard compound relying on it making it to the end of the race while his rival still had one pit stop remaining. We saw how this ended. The Medium still made it to the end and, like every other team in the top ten, only went one stop. Oscar put in a lap time on lap 43 that was a full second faster than his lap 20.

From Pirelli Motorsport

Pirelli may have been on to something though. One of the few ways to actually create on-track overtaking opportunities in this generation of F1 car is through tire deltas. The difference between grip levels in the tires being so extreme that defending from a driver with fresher, softer tires is impossible, or at least difficult. The precedence is now established that sequential tire compounds are not a requirement. So, take it a step further. Start issuing a two-step gap in compounds. Give the teams a C1, C3 as a Medium, and bring out the C6 again. Really force teams to pick a strategy. Be fast early on Softs to get ahead then undercut to the Hard tire to try and hold position to the end. Conversely teams can elect to manage tires and pace early then make a late, low fuel fast run to the end while the Hard compound cars are managing their defense. Or the two stop Medium Medium Soft runners. There are options with clear directions and many teams might elect to split strategy amongst their drivers. I am glad they explored the concept, and hope something more comes of it.

Now it wouldn’t be a Grand Prix at Spa without mentioning the rain. The summer time rain delayed start procedures by almost 90 minutes, then after 4 laps behind a safety car the race began with a rolling start. Was this the right way to go about racing? Modern Formula One cars are much faster than they used to be, and much less susceptible to changing conditions. The cars are more than capable of driving in the rain, however RACING in the rain is another issue. The problems come not from the water on track but the spray that these high aero effect cars toss up in their wake. The driver behind is left looking at a wall of gray mist consuming the entire field of view. Maybe he can pick out the flashing tail light of the car ahead, but can he find the break markers trackside indicating that there is a turn ahead? With a track that already has so many fatalities to its record, where is the line drawn between pushing the 20(ish) greatest racing car drivers in the world and their own safety. Max Verstappen’s point of just leaving the cars out there longer under the safety car to dry the track and get the race going is not unvalidated. Pirelli gives some absurd stats about the “liters of water” the Intermediate and Full Wet tires can displace. The fastest way to dry out a wet track is to just let a formula one car out there. After a few laps you will see the dry line form.  The FIA disagreed. The powers that be decided a more cautious approach to the race start was the way forward. Race suspended and drivers removed from cars for 80 something minutes to let the weather roll through. After arguably too long a wait, the decision was made to do two laps behind the safety car and begin start procedures. After FOUR laps behind the safety car the standing start was aborted in favor of a rolling start. During the SC period radio calls came in from Lando Norris complaining about the amount water in his start box being unfair compared to the other side of the track. Did these complaints persuade the race director to adjust the start? Maybe. Or maybe it’s just that British bias we keep hearing about.

Racing in changing conditions has been a part of Formula One’s history since the beginning. Jackie Stewarts 1968 German Grand Prix was once held as “the best performance in the sports history,” Senna’s first win came during a rainy 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix, Hamilton holding off Kovalainen to win his first British Grand Prix in 2008 lives in F1 folklore. Even look at last year in Brazil where Max delivered a win from 17^th in a masterclass rain driving performance. Hopefully, the days of dramatic, all-time classic, races in the rain are not behind us. Maybe next year’s cars will still be able to maintain driver safety while also being able to deliver a competitive race in the rain. Time will tell.